As multifaceted as we human beings may be, once our existential needs are covered, we all finally strive for the same thing: We want to be perpetually happy and satisfied and we want to be able to live our lives without worries and cares. This search for harmony and inner peace, for self-realization, or however we like to describe this state, as our top objective in life, is practically the same in all the different methods of representing human needs. Not least the advertising industry also frequently attempts to make use of this striving for happiness and harmony.

From our experience we know that wherever we are or whatever we do certain rules prevail. On the roads these are the traffic regulations, in football the rules of play, in nature there are the natural laws. For those that respect these rules the corresponding activities or deeds are easier to accomplish than for those who violate these rules and therefore have to be reprimanded in one way or another.

Web seminar on personal growth (personal spiritual growth).

Goal:	To get a basic understanding of personal growth. Emphasis on higher consciousness.
Basis:	Book : «ABC of awareness: Personal development as the meaning of life»
Context:	Spirituality: overview and personal spiritual growth
Starting:	About end August 2007, the seminar will only take place if there is enough demand for it.
Duration:	About 3 months
Prerequisite:	None
Time required:	On average about two to three hours per week
Cost:	No cost, free

Remarks:

We saw an increasing number of people searching for keywords like the meaning of life, purpose of life, spirit of life, philosophy of life, etc. on our site. Therefore we thought it could be helpful to write some sort of overview or summary where you can find information about the meaning of life on this site.

About the meaning of life

The question about the meaning of life is probably as old as human beings. And it is a very fundamental question, too. You shouldn't expect anybody to answer this question in one simple sentence. You have to deal yourself with questions about the meaning of life and with spirituality. Over time you will then hopefully find your own answer to the meaning of life. What matters most for you is actually the meaning and purpose of your own life and not a very general meaning of life.

The more the better? or from maximation to optimisation

During the past years we have got used to increase our materialistic wealth in an impetuous speed. Lika a mighty fly-wheel the economical development took its course. You only had to take your seat and automatically got carried away. No wonder that questions about meaning and purpose of this development were ignored. Now as this fly-wheel turns slower and some people even prophesy its stop or backward turn, it's possible again to pose questions.

It's not long ago - our grandparents have still experienced this time - when every additional Dollar or Euro in the purse lead to a growth in life quality. In other words: Not long ago, more materialistic possession automatically ment an improvement in the life situation. Most of us have taken over this "the-more-the-better-principle" without thinking reflecting and follow it as a sheer habit. This is the only explanation, why even wealthy nations fall into a depressive mood, when the personal incomes suddenly don't rise any more or when the industrial turnovers and profits stagnate. We must find out for ourselves, if we could live a fortunate life with todays income respectively if we would need more materialistic wealth for that purpose. This question we should ask ourselves however, since from a certain level on, more materialistic wealth doesn't automatically mean more satisfaction and joy. Some time or other we will have enough to eat, enough clothing, an enough large home, enough jewelery, enough mobility etc.

• What drives us as human beings?
• Why do we exist? What is the purpose of life?
• What do we strive for?

«Time for change» is about your life, your objectives and your decisions. We are convinced that basic human needs are the same everywhere and finally we all strive for the same thing:

  In a separate chapter we have already referred to the need for the regular monitoring of our progress towards successfully achieving our objectives. Since the lack of this monitoring of our progress or the unsuitability of the decisionmaking criteria are frequently the stumbling blocks to living the basic rights of existence we would like to briefly come back to this point.

It is frequently insufficient to simply take the basic rights of existence as the objective for life. As a rule it is necessary – or at least it is very useful - to consider at the same time how we will assess our personal progress towards living the basic rights of existence. It is especially important to be clear that in letting go of the old objectives it is also important to let go of their assessment criteria.

  As logical and plausible as development with respect to the basic rights of existence may appear to be, its translation into the practicality of everyday life is not that easy. It is in fact a very serious and demanding undertaking, which demands considerable energy and cannot simply be achieved «on the side».

It is not that difficult to see as an observer what we or others should actually do in order to live the basic rights of existence in a given situation. However it is exactly what we really should do which is generally the main difficulty. The difficulty doesn’t lie in the theory or in the strategy but in carrying it out in practice.

He who works on his own personal development, is as a rule convinced that this is the right way for him and that he is doing the right thing. Otherwise he would presumably do something else...

In many cases therefore sooner or later arises the desire to convince other people of his path. This person also wants to help others to find the «right» path. This often ends in great disappointment if the closest people such as his life partner, his children, parents, good friends etc. react negatively. Especially if they don’t wish to know anything of the «only correct» way, the best path or goal.

  In past chapters we have emphasized again and again how important it is to set your own personal goals for life. In addition of course it is also necessary to carry out regular checks on, or to monitor, whether we are also really getting closer to our goals. In the case of most companies for example objectives and budgets are set for one year and the achievement of these objectives is periodically reviewed, at least once each year. What has proved to be useful for companies can also be very helpful for us personally.

The monitoring of our progress must thereby be adapted to the selected goals. We must be clear about how we want to measure our development, according to which criteria we wish to make the assessment of whether we have got closer to our goal. The goal and the respective assessment criteria for progress on the way to the goal belong closely together. If we have set ourselves the goal of learning to play the piano, then we can for example measure our progress by using pieces of music which we are able to play. Our body weight or the state of our savings account have little to do with this, and are hence unsuitable as assessment criteria for progress in piano playing. What appears so obvious in this example however often leads to difficulties and problems in our daily life.

  The effect of the mutual activation of tuning bowls and the overlapping of similar-coloured spheres in a group of people as mentioned above can easily be observed in seminars: Many companies and organizations allow their staff - and in particular management staff – to participate in further training courses. It is always amazing that in such seminars moral and ethical aspects are also tackled with great vigour and plans for solving such aspects are drawn up. People resolve to do many things, but later in their daily life back at the workplace, they actually do not translate any of this or at least extremely little of it into action. External forces are very often cited with great regret as reasons for this, which had the effect that the discussed themes could not be implemented by the person concerned. This person naturally hopes that all the other participants in the seminar will not find themselves stuck with such unpleasant constraints.