From dream to vision...

A vision without an action is just a dream.An action without a vision is a labor.A vision with action can change the world.

I heard that quote many and many years ago. Along the time, other time was mentioned as its author - as far as I know, nobody knows it, but it was engraved in an old church...

It doesn't matter - it touched me in a different way.

I have been a dreamer, I have just declared that to you, but it was after this quote that I started to give importance to the action that turns the dream into a vision, into a reality.

Dreams are good: physical dreams help your body somehow, "cleaning" your brain of useless images or warning you that something is wrong; mystical dreams transform lives around the world by creating new paths for human race to follow, and spiritual dreams help you to develop certain qualities you perhaps did not realize you need to do.

But the most fascinating of all are those dreams we have with our open eyes... Perhaps looking at something or just talking with other people. Those dreams when you challenge your present reality and you wonder if it would be possible for you to live life in a different way. Then, you wake up and go on to another direction eventually forgetting that dream.

However, if you are able to catch your dream and start to change whatever you have to change so that dream becomes a reality, which means you had a vision, a glimpse of a possible future.

There are no real statistics, but it is known that visionaries are able to fulfill their dreams at some point in their lives. And, in the cases they couldn't, still the generated so much change in their own lives that it was worthwhile to even try.

And that is what I did. I still remember that day, living a low middle class area in Sao Paulo, my birthplace, when I saw a plane crossing the blue sky. And I wondered if one day I would be there... Now, I look behind and I can see my visions have been fulfilled. Now, I can say I have a very wonderful life because one day I did not allow that dream to go dormant; I pursued it, and made it real. I am sure you are doing the same too.

And from dreamers we become visionaries, in the creation of a new world and a new life.

Can democracy survive?

As a social species, we need to organize ourselves. Even when anarchy or chaos reigns, still we, as humans, organize ourselves in some way, as it is shown in the many attempts during history to establish a society without a government where everyone was equal. As some people say, these societies naturally reached a point where "everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others".

Therefore, one of the crucial questions we have to ask ourselves at this new century is: what is the best way to organize our societies?

That is a question for world scholars and those people who are engaged in these topics. "Organize" does not only mean defining the type of government, its meaning is broader than that. And it is so important that an idea comes, and very soon.

As we see, the world looks like a ship without a captain, trying to find its route on the waves of life. There is no logic in what is happening, and there shouldn't be as we are during a confluence period.

Before, we had the horrible struggle between democracy - a system that started in the past and provided an enticing way to put people on the rule of themselves - and non-democracy - varying from dictatorship to systems where a party, a small group of people, ruled over the rest.

I am saying before... I am aware this struggle still exists, but I can see it is part of a transition period.

On one hand, democracy got corrupted, sorry, there is no other word. At some places, dictators openly use democracy to justify their rule, as they are able to convince others to vote on them forever, taking one of the big benefits that came with democracy which is the variety of opinions and possibilities. At others, corruption is literal and power is split between those with more money or more influence.

On the other hand, people are awakening, and fast. They are overthrowing their own governments, demanding more participation and fighting for their own liberty. Sometimes, just as it happens when you awake after a deep sleep and you are not sure what you are doing, they make more wrongs than rights, but it is their learning process...

So, what will come then? That was the question, more focused into economics, Peter Drucker used to ask too. In fact, he predicted a time when poor would cross that invisible line and will fight the rich.

Economy is just part of the whole picture, and a small one, as we move from one world system to another.

While others probably are seeing a big hurricane coming, and very fast, where governments will be replaced either by chaos or tyrants, I am on the side of the dreamers. I think we are creating a new world, where all our learning from past mistakes will make earth into a real paradise. I do believe in that...

Methods for managing time

Time Management is a kind of modern science, offering multiple tools and methods to deal with what seems unmanageable for many: time, agenda and productivity. But from a humanistic point of view, there are effective ways to handle this.

While time management focuses mostly on managing your clock and time, 24 hours per day by generating complex agendas, humanistic approach focuses on the consciousness of the time, the attitude we have towards it and proactive habits.

To handle it, the ideal is a perfect balance between understanding the URGENCY that time imposes on you and the IMPORTANCE of the different events. The correlation between the two generates what we call PRIORITIZATION. In other words, you have time to do everything you want by understanding importance and urgency as it is easier to allocate energy and time. Although it sounds logical it is not that easy to do; we tend to spend more time doing things we like, for instance, reading this blog, than doing that important project for your job... Why? Because in our consciousness, importance and urgency are not registered, except if there is a danger around. Consciousness records not only what you know, but that with which it is aligned according to values and goals in life, and most of the time, those thinks we like...

We need to have several dialogues with the self, explaining actions, and establishing its importance and urgency. The attitude is vital for success in time management and this inner dialogue will help with that.

And talking about time management, what about the collective time? Although a balanced approach that gives importance to time, but without generating stress, helps the person in managing their energy and effectively fulfill their commitments, but to manage the collective time, which is basically not being late for meetings and how to deal with the others being late, the individual needs a different approach. It requires a different way of thinking about time by using technology to avoid problems and conflicts, while generating the positive energy that is needed for working together to function effectively.

What I have mentioned up to this point will be better if you develop certain proactive habits in your life as simple as getting up to meditate 45 minutes daily in the morning. These habits are considered proactive because they enable you to organize your energy and time, creating a positive chain reaction during the day. It is a kind of anchor for your time.

By working on your consciousness, the bottom line is that you will the time is not your enemy, but an excellent partner for your success.

Valuing your money

For the common person, the main difference between capitalism and socialism, or communism, should be clear when it reaches their pockets. The dream of a person in a capitalist system should be earning more and more, whilst the dream of a person in a socialist system would be to earn the enough for their own lives and something to spend extra... Beyond ideologies, money is in the minds of people.

Money has emerged around millennia ago, used as a method of exchanging, better communication and even as an improvement to human civilization. Sometime ago, people started noticing money turned into a smaller god...

Religions went against them, people from all backgrounds are chasing after them... It is a hated-loved god, but no less a god that intimidates and defines how we should behave, what is important and even how we should live our life.

Trying to avoid money has not been successful, although there is a trend of a more humanized use. That was clear in Davos and in the WUF7, two events that gathered the world attention and pointed to a different direction than money...

Is it our little god threatened? Not really... Our society lives on money for too long to just quit that. What is happening is a redefinition of money... Better, it is a redefinition of life as itself.

Many years ago, I heard the explanation about money from Dadi Janki, Brahma Kumaris' leader. A teacher of meditation related what Dadi talked in relation to money: it is the fruit of mind and body, combined.

Good money is exactly like that: your thoughts, emotions and feelings combined with your time and physical, or brain energy. Money is sacred in this sense, since it came from a lot of work from your side.

With that awareness, you can use money in a worthwhile way, so that you don't spend it just like that. After listening to the explanation, I've realized spending money is kind of an art.

It is good to use money for your own needs and others' needs, when they rely or depend on you. Use your money for saving for the future, for one or another thing that gives you extra joy, then donate how much you can to a place that tunes to your own sense of being.

And you see money coming to you... Instead of being a lesser god, money turns back to be an instrument for our civilization and our desire to expand and innovate. Money ceases to be a dream and it becomes a means for that dream you have to come true.