“Transformation is taking place everywhere on earth in micro and macro ways. These small and large breakthroughs are underreported and sometimes invisible. However, conscious and committed human beings everywhere are generating new possibilities and profound new ways of being that are at the cutting edge of an evolutionary leap.”
— Lynne Twist
Lynne Twist is a global visionary and activist dedicated to creating a future that is environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just. Over the past forty years, she has worked in 50 countries with over 100,000 individuals along with many organizations, companies, and businesses. She is the co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance, the founder of the Soul of Money Institute, and author of the bestselling book The Soul of Money.
Twist believes that hope is the innerspring of creating a better world. While many are depressed and frightened about the future, this enthusiastic optimist believes that we can make a better future together as friends, partners, and pioneers.
What is the key to this transformation? In this up-tempo paperback,Twist tells her own story of discovering purpose through service aimed at leaving the planet better than she found it. A “committed life,” she explains is “a life governed not by my desires, by my wants, or even by my needs, but rather by what I’m committed to.”
Fortunately, she is not the only one who thinks this way. Throughout the book, she presents profiles of extraordinary individuals and organizations who have modeled for us ways of living a committed life. Here are a few of them:
- Buckminster Fuller
- Mother Teresa
- est (Erhard Seminars Training)
- The Hunger Project
- Nobel Women’s Initiative
- Van Jones
- Jane Goodall
- Paul Hawken
- Bryan Stevensen
- Sara Vetter
The inspiring stories of these committed individuals and organizations will speak to those are looking for their own ways to serve. “If you are looking for where to focus your talent and energy,” Twist advises, “consider taking on ending hunger and poverty, changing the destructive dream of the modern world, generating effective action on reversing global warming, empowering women and girls, or contributing to creating a more inclusive, fair, and ecological economy. There’s so much to be done, urgently, but there is still time, and we can do it.”
This book is full of stories about mentors, but sometimes inspiring stories are not enough. To have the courage to get going, we need some hard-won advice, and Twist provides that as well. In a chapter on “Being Tested,” she discusses how to handle competing commitments, overcommitment and overwhelm, illnesses and healing, and discovering that some things are not yours to do. She discusses navigating through loss and failure with resilience. She evokes and demonstrates the spiritual practices of compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, openness, and vision.
Spirituality is often defined as the search for meaning and purpose in life. For Lynne Twist, the on-ramp to the spiritual path is committed service to something larger than herself, where with vision and perseverance she can make a difference. From a position of enthusiasm (another spiritual practice), she not only illustrates how to find meaning and purpose, she assures you that you can do it.
