We live in a world where people have become consumed with greed. We take more from the world than what we need to survive which goes against the laws of nature. For example, a tree does not drink more water from the earth than what it needs to survive, nor do the animals eat more than what they need to sustain themselves. The laws of nature can't continue to be ignored without dire consequences... look around at our world today and we see increasing numbers of natural catastrophes, countries at war, poverty, and crime. All of these things are driven by our greed and hate.

We buy a bigger house than we need, can't really afford, and we buy it on credit that we probably didn't truly qualify for. We then fill the house with the latest tech gadgets and stuff that we want because "everyone else has it" and then once we have it we rarely use it. Sound familiar?

We have led ourselves to believe that success as a human being is defined by what we have acquired materially. How many times do you see someone that buys this "lie", and are totally devastated emotionally when they lose their material things. They feel they are hopeless, useless, worthless, and become depressed because they have "lost everything". How sad is this? No wonder we have an epidemic of drug use. What will it take for people to realize that self-worth is not tied to their bank account?

It is greed that has caused the financial crisis in the world today. We tend to point the finger at Wall Street, the banks and even the government because it's easier to place blame everywhere else than to take ownership of our own actions. I'm certainly not implying the banks and Wall Street didn't play a starring role in this tragedy; but somewhere along the way I believe we all played a role in creating the economic mess we have today.

Greed breeds hate. In hate there is no love and no understanding. Without love and understanding we are destined for tragedies of epic proportions. We are competitive with each other instead of cooperative which also goes against the laws of nature. One of my favorite quotes illustrates the importance of cooperation: “Even after all this time the sun has never told the earth "You owe me". Look what happens with a love like that...it lights the whole sky." - Hafiz. That is very powerful, and also very eye opening when you stop and think about it. We are always feeling like someone or something owes us. We breed entitlement in ourselves and in our children. The reality is that we are not entitled to anything in this life except the pursuit of our souls highest potential...to live lives of love and follow our soul's passion with the talents each of us possess from the moment our soul enters a body and we breathe air for the very first time.

Conflicts at home and around the world stem from our need to have more, control more, and be the biggest and the best. Our inflated ego and arrogance get in the way of being cooperative; our lack of willingness to attempt to understand and celebrate differences between people perpetuates a cycle of hate.

We've all heard it said many times in many ways that the answer to all our problems is simply one word, one concept: "LOVE". It sounds to simple to be true. You know the old saying, " if it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is". So we choose to think that love also falls under that same sentiment. Our cynical minds convince us that love can't be that simple, but really it is just that simple. If you just accept it and believe it; love can create miracles. My "God" is Love...and Love has no religion. Love is the purest form of energy, and within it there can be no greed, no competition, no hate...nothing negative can penetrate it or survive in the presence of love.

It doesn't take the government to fix our problems; it takes each of us to truly believe in our ability to change the world with love. Replace greed by taking only what you need, and share the rest. I'm not saying to give away all your worldy possessions and be penniless! I'm saying that we should get to understand our needs better and live within our means. It is not greedy to have a 7 bedroom house if you have true need for it and it serves a valid purpose. On the other hand, if there are only two of you and you buy a 25,000 sq ft house and aren't really utilizing the space for something constructive then you may want to re-evaluate your perspective on "needs vs nice-to-show-off". See what I mean?

The true value and measure for success as human beings is our capacity to love, cooperate and share that love with each other. I'm sure you have all seen what miracles can occur in the presence of people demonstrating love and kindness to others. It is scientific fact that we are wired for kindness and cooperation; however, we have let the desire for money, fortune and fame to shut off our true nature. We have become like cows, stumbling along mindlessly through life, following the crowd that perpetuates greed and hate, We are too afraid to leave the crowd for fear of societal ridicule that we never find our own true selves or our own true potential for greatness.

But, what if we began to wake up from this nightmare we've been living and realized we have a choice between the world we have created, and the world as it was intended. Wouldn't it be a better place if each of us chose to live in love and compassion for each other? It can happen one person at a time. It starts with me...how about you?