
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
the lesson

Each of us has been given an immeasurable gift, a specific role to play in the celestial story, so great and so vast, it can hardly be seen. As our eyes open, and we realize the truth of this invisible prize, not only do we reclaim our own grand possibilities, but we also help everyone else to do the same.
My own path to discovering life’s true meaning began at a very young age. As a small child, nothing made sense to me. I constantly wondered: why are people who have so much, so unhappy, so angry and so afraid? Years later, I realized that happiness and contentment have little to do with visible accomplishments and more to do with spiritual understanding. That’s when I not only found some real peace, but also my true purpose in life.
Then I had the good fortune of working closely with an enlightened individual, Vernon Howard. He taught me that for those willing to discover the truth of themselves, real life offers a way to realize a completely different order of reality rooted in a higher level of being. At that point, my search for meaning ended, and the work of living in a meaningful way began.
When one gets disconnected from what is truly meaningful in life, it’s good to remember that whatever happens to us, no matter what its nature seems to be, happens for the good of us. Every experience can be used for our higher transformation. As I now teach my students, this is why all things good come to those for whom the good is all things.
Right now, this very present moment is God’s life expressed. Everything that ever was, or will be, the totality of possibilities – light and dark – all the essential elements and energies one needs to change, are in this presence moment. We cannot know our true nature apart from being present to and fully aware of each moment. As long as we live outside of this living now, we have no choice but to wander through an imagined world, isolated from what is real, captives of the limitations inherent in thought. Yes, the lesson is a hard one, but in the end – if we persist – we come to realize what the saints, sages, and masters have been telling us all along: within each of us already dwells the meaning of life, and who we are in reality is its living, never-ending expression.
– Guy Finley


Explore More Meaning
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compassionate producer. loving daughter. wisdom seeker.
Maia Monasterios is an award-winning director, producer, and writer of such projects as PBS History Detectives stories including: Vietnam Diary, Titanic Luxury Liner Picture Frame, Clint Black's Rogue Book and The Beatles Autographs. [http://www.indiegogo.com/Vietnam-Veterans-Forgive-and-Heal]
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multicultural leader. laureate poet. inspirational transformer.
Lucia De García is the founder, president, and CEO of Élan International of Newport Beach. She founded the Multicultural Institute for Leadership and has been recognized for her achievements in international business and multicultural advancement. [www.luciadegarcia.com]
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