Moving ourselves to the background and others to the foreground is evidence that the (spiritual) search is achieving its purpose.

Being fearless doesn't mean living a life devoid of fear, but living a life in which our fears don't hold us back

In theory we are all equal before the law. In practice, there are overwhelming privileges that come with winning the birth lottery.

All around the country, individuals are choosing to redefine their lives and the pursuit of happiness in ways much closer to the original notion put forth by our Founding Fathers. Their notion of the "pursuit of happiness" wasn't just about acquiring money and power, but about doing your part to add to the civic happiness of the community.

So great becomes the fear of losing what we have that many of us rush back to hide under the temporary shelter of convention rather than follow the path of self-discovery wherever it might lead. Given adequate time and sufficient fear, we may hide so long that we hardly notice we're slowly suffocating.

Money and power by themselves are a two-legged stool. You can balance on them for a while, but eventually you're going to topple over.

More young people are volunteering than ever before. More people are including service to others on their busy lives' to do list. The promise of America is embedded deep in our DNA, calling us to a much less shallow search for happiness and meaning.