Be one person

This Evening Primrose has a clear and beautiful identity.

After seeing ​a photo​ of two enslaved boys, and learning that "slavery did not end

with Abraham Lincoln," then 8-year-old Vivienne Harr said:

"Compassion is not compassion without action. We need to do something."

So, like any young child, she went with "the only business experience I had": a lemonade stand.

But, Vivienne had a bigger vision than doing it for one day. She wanted to raise $100,000.

So, she "made a stand" at her lemonade stand for 365 days straight, rain or shine,

to "end child slavery." The world stood with her.

On day #52, New York Times, Pulitzer prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof retweeted Vivienne, and her moment became a movement. The New York Times, Bloomberg TV, The BBC World News, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Parenting Magazine, The New York Daily News,

The Huffington Post, FOX, Yahoo News, MSN, AOL, Food & Wine, Town & Country, Real Simple

—and media outlets across the country and around the world from Australia to Brazil

to France to Hong Kong—have covered the Make a Stand movement.

On day #173, Mayor Michael Bloomberg invited Vivienne to Times Square

to sell her famous lemonade. It was there that she reached her goal—donating $101,320

to Not For Sale, a leading anti-slavery organization.

When her parents said: "You did it, honey. You're done,"

Vivienne said: "Is child slavery done? Then I am not done."

Vivienne continued her daily stand for a full 365 days, at which point she decided

to bottle her organic, Fair Trade "lemon-aid"—becoming the first child in American history

to bottle her lemonade-stand lemonade. She has won numerous awards for her work

and is now an honorary member of the World Affairs Council.

Make a Stand became a new way of doing business:

A for-profit Social Purpose Company striving to end child slavery in our lifetime.

On November 12, 2013, The New York Times article "​In a Lemonade Stand,

The Transformation of a Corporation​" positioned Vivienne's company as the poster child

for social purpose companies in America. " If done right, [Make a Stand] could not just raise money to end child slavery, but perhaps create a role model for nonprofits and all types of businesses." Make a Stand Lemon-aid is now served in over 150 stores across the West Coast and as part of the foodservice programs at Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, Oracle, Intel, Salesforce, Netflix and Linkedin.​

The children's book she illustrated with her mother will be published in December, 2013.

A feature length-documentary film (titled: #standwithme) about Vivienne's story will be released

in theaters across America on February 1, 2014. Vivienne will also host a new network TV series called "Kid Mission Possible," which will air in ​​2014.​

Of their roughly 230 million users, Twitter gave Vivienne the honor of ​ringing the bell at their IPO​

in New York on November 7, 2013 because executives believed she is

"symbolic of how Twitter can be used to change the world."

Miss Vivienne has decided to travel the world and continue to be a global voice against child slavery. "I want to end child slavery in my lifetime. I believe we can do it if we all stand together."

Vivienne Harr is 9 years old

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Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

www.pinterest.com/mreenhunt

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blog:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com         gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.turbochargedreading.blogspot.com    for extra TCR information

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com         just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

How to be successful at everything

"I completely agree with Leo and should you feel that you are being held back with these ideals

to work towards then perhaps you’ll find my sister blog www.innermindreading.blogspot.co.uk

to be helpful or to re-read many of the articles below. I think that each point is worth far more than 

a single read through and might be printed and ‘meditated’ on or thought about during your day." M'reen

                                 Photo by M'reen. Skipton Castle up at the left. Yorkshire UK

HOW TO BE A SUCCESS AT EVERYTHING

12 TOOLS FOR MORE MINDFUL LIVING

LIVING A MORE MINDFUL LIFE IS WORTH THE EFFORT, BUT REMEMBERING TO FOCUS AND KEEP YOUR MIND IN THE MOMENT IS DIFFICULT.

HERE IS A TOOLSET DESIGNED TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS.

LEO BABAUTA

The focus of my life in recent months has been living mindfully, and while I don’t always remember 

to do that, I have learned a few things worth sharing.

The first is a mindful life is worth the effort. It’s a life where we awaken from the dream state 

we’re most often submerged in--the state of having your mind anywhere but the present moment,

locked in thoughts about what you’re going to do later, about something someone else said,

about something you’re stressing about or angry about. The state of mind where we’re lost

in our smartphones and social media.

It’s worth the effort, because being awake means we’re not missing life as we walk through it.

Being awake means we’re conscious of what’s going on inside us, as it happens, and so can make more conscious choices rather than acting on our impulses all the time.

The second thing I’ve learned is that we forget. We forget, over and over, to be awake.

And that’s okay. Being mindful is a process of forgetting, and then remembering.

Repeatedly. Just as breathing is a process of exhaling, and then inhaling, repeatedly.

The third is that mindful living isn’t just one thing. It’s not just meditation. Nor is it just focusing

on the sensations around you, right now in this moment. I’ve found mindful living to be a set 

of very related tools, perhaps all different ways of getting at the same thing, but each 

useful in its own regard.

THE TOOLSET

1. Meditation. 

Meditation is where mindful living starts. And it’s not complicated: you can sit still

for even just one minute a day to start with (work up to three to five minutes after a week),

and turn your attention to your body and then your breath. Notice when your thoughts wander

from your breath, and gently return to the breath. Repeat until the minute is up.

2. Be Awake. 

Meditation is practice for being awake, which is not being in the dream state (mind wandering

into a train of thought, getting lost in the online world, thinking about past offenses, stressing about the future, etc.) but being awake to the present, to what is. Being awake is something you can do throughout the day, all the time, if you remember. Remembering is the trick.

3. Watch Urges. 

When I quit smoking in 2005, the most useful tool I learned was watching my urges to smoke. 

I would sit there and watch the urge rise and fall, until it was gone, without acting on it.

It taught me that I am not my urges, that I don’t have to act on my urges, and this helped me change all my other habits. Watch your urge to check email or social media, to eat something sweet or fried, to drink alcohol, to watch TV, to be distracted, to procrastinate. These urges will come and go,

and you don’t have to act on them.

4. Watch Ideals. 

We all have ideals, all the time. We have an ideal that our day will go perfectly, that people will be kind and respectful to us; that we will be perfect, that we’ll ace an exam or important meeting, 

that we’ll never fail. Of course, we know from experience that those ideals are not real, that they don’t come true, that they aren’t realistic. But we still have them, and they cause our stress and fears 

and grief over something/someone we’ve lost. By letting go of ideals, we can

let go of our suffering.

5. Accept People and Life As They Are. 

When I stopped trying to change a loved one, and accepted him for who he was, I was able to just be with him and enjoy my time with him. This acceptance has the same effect for anything you do--accept a co-worker, a child, a spouse, but also accept a “bad” situation, an unpleasant feeling; 

an annoying sound. When we stop trying to fight the way things are, when we accept what is, 

we are much more at peace.

6. Let Go of Expectations. 

This is really the same thing as the previous two items, but I’ve found it useful nonetheless. 

It’s useful to watch your expectations with an upcoming situation, with a new project or business, 

and see that it’s not real and that it’s causing you stress and disappointment.

We cause our own pain, and we can relieve it by letting go of the expectations that are causing it. 

Toss your expectations into the ocean.

7. Become okay with Discomfort. 

The fear of discomfort is huge--it causes people to be stuck in their old bad habits, to not start the business they want to start, to be stuck in a job they don’t really like, because we tend to stick to the known and comfortable rather than try something unknown and uncomfortable. It’s why many people don’t eat vegetables or exercise, why they eat junk, why they don’t start something new. But we can be okay with discomfort, with practice.

Start with things that are a little uncomfortable, and keep expanding your comfort zone.

8. Watch Your Resistance. 

When you try to do something uncomfortable, or try to give up something you like or are used to, you’ll find resistance. But you can just watch the resistance, and be curious about it. Watch your resistance to things that annoy you--a loud sound that interrupts your concentration, for example. 

It’s not the sound that’s the problem; it’s your resistance to the sound. The same is true of resistance to food we don’t like, to being too cold or hot, to being hungry. The problem isn’t the sensation of the food, cold, heat or hunger--it’s our resistance to them. Watch the resistance, and feel it melt. 

This resistance, by the way, is why I’m doing my Year of Living Without.

9. Be Curious. 

Too often we are stuck in our ways, and think we know how things should be, how people are. 

Instead, be curious. Find out. Experiment. Let go of what you think you know.

When you start a new project or venture, if you feel the fear of failure, instead of thinking,

“Oh no, I’m going to fail” or “Oh no, I don’t know how this will turn out”, try thinking, “Let’s see. 

Let’s find out.” And then there isn’t the fear of failure, but the joy of being curious and finding out. 

Learn to be okay with not knowing.

10. Be Grateful. 

We complain about everything. But life is a miracle. Find something to be grateful about in everything you do. Be grateful when you’re doing a new habit, and you’ll stick to it longer. Be grateful when you’re with someone, and you’ll be happier with them. Life is amazing, if you learn to appreciate it.

11. Let Go of Control. 

We often think we control things, but that’s only an illusion. Our obsession with organization and goals and productivity, for example, are rooted in the illusion that we can control life. But life is uncontrollable, and just when we think we have things under control, something unexpected comes up to disrupt everything. And then we’re frustrated because things didn’t go the way we wanted. Instead, practice letting go of control, and learn to flow.

12. Be Compassionate. 

This sounds trite, but compassion for others can change the way you feel about the world, 

on a day-to-day basis. And compassion for yourself is life-changing.

These two things need remembering, though, so mindful living is about remembering

to be compassionate after you forget.

That seems like a lot to digest and remember, and I often forget all of this stuff, 

but then I remember, and say, “Ah, I was doing it again!” And then I practice again.

And then I forget, but I reflect, and I learn, and I practice again.

This is the process of learning mindfulness. It’s forgetting, and then remembering, again and again.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3023459/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/12-tools-for-more-mindful-living

Perhaps you’d like to checkout my sister blog www.innermindreading.blogspot.com

and find easy, fast and efficient ways of working with the issues or little unpleasantness’s in your life.

I am now featuring aspects of my upcoming internet programme to teach Inner Mind Reading.