Ten Old Ideas And A New Prayer for 2009

As we start of the tenth year of the new millennium, consider ten old ideas and a new prayer, offered as a small thanks:
1. More than ever, we’re in it together.


“The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village”
Marshall McLuhan, from Understanding Media The Extensions of Man
(He wrote that about 30 years before the internet)

2. Compassion sets us free.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Albert Einstein

3. Seek strength to forgive.


“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”
Abraham Lincoln






4. Get less things.



“You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.”

Eric Hoffer




5. Dream ideas that are unstoppable.

“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo

An example of an unstoppable idea is electronic freedom. As John Perry Barlow said, "The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it."



6. Change the world.


“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead


7. Take the right path, not the easy road.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”
Eleanor Roosevelt



8. Try something new.


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain





9. Pick the right fight.


“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.”
Johnathan Kozol, On Being a Teacher






image from betterworld.net

10. Inspire the planet!



A new prayer, that after a difficult year, may 2009 bring you:

Community that connects
Compassion that lifts spirits
Strength that forgives grudges
Priorities that prize people
Faith in big dreams,
Courage to changes the world
Inspiration to take more chances
Focus to give direction
Wisdom that chart a sound course
Character to do what’s difficult and right
Love that light your world and mine