How does one effectively re-invent themself in the latter half of life; rise to their highest,  best self? This is a brief description of how the science of happiness and spiritual  awakening transformed my human experience. 

Ever had a Dark Night of the Soul?  

A gut-wrenching, self-introspective nightmare whereupon awakening your heart and  soul know that everything you thought you knew is no longer true,…and  simultaneously,…you intuit that nothing will ever be the same again?  

Jung said we are born three times: physical birth, the birth of Ego, and a spiritual birth  of Consciousness. Thusly, I have been born three times.  

Circa July 2021, I consciously awakened to new possibilities for a happier, healthier  path forward. 

I desperately needed to become more spiritual; to find my purpose. Spirituality is one element from Tal’s SPIRE model that individuals can work on to  create an upward cycle of happier wholebeing. My focus had been on the PIRE  (Physical, Intellectual, Relational, Emotional) portion of SPIRE, rationalizing that the  Spiritual element would come after another business, wise investments, and banking  more money. As the Uber-talented, Meg Nocero, reminds us in her page-turning  memoir, “Butterfly Awakens”,… 

“We make plans, God laughs”.  

Indeed, God was having a cosmic chuckle at my expense. Luckily, I knew “this, too,  shall pass.” 

The deflated American Dream was my life. My chef partner committed suicide on  opening night of our restaurant, the .com bust killed an approved and 75%-funded  resort development, and we were mere speed bumps in the Great Recession losing  90% of our net worth. Massive stress, self-loathing, and depression ensued. I needed  to get re-“inSPIREd”. In the shadow of my Dark Nights, the universe was calling with  my calling,…would I slow down enough to listen? 

SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES: 

Mindfulness. The ordinary can be elevated to extraordinary through mindful presence. Purpose. A purposeful life is a spiritual life.

MINDFULNESS 

Tal teaches that mindfulness leads to purpose. So, having quit my soul-sucking job,  gotten divorced with loving kindness, eliminated alcohol and reduced eating processed  sugars (sorry, Ben & Jer), I dove into Buddhism, Taoism, Yoga, Breathwork. Expert  teachers guided me: Lao Tzu, Patangali, Buddha, James Nestor, Ram Das, Alan Watts,  Eckhart Tolle, Micheal Singer, Thich Nath Han, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ralph Waldo Emerson,  Frankl, Blake, and more. 

Subsequently, these Spiritual practices, readings, and lectures helped me determine a  more self-concordant, purposeful path forward. 

INSPIRATIONS 

These thoughts serve as reminders to re-center, grounding in the Eternal Now! Rumi wisdom,… 

…“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.  

Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” 

From Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence”,… 

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand  

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower 

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 

And Eternity in an hour” 

Melville’s haunt,… 

“so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti,  

full of peace and joy,  

but encompassed by  

all the horrors of the half known life.” 

Jon Kabat-Zinn,… 

”Knowing what you are doing while you are doing it  

is the essence of mindfulness practice.” 

Thich Naht Han spoke to my suffering soul,… 

“living in the past…open to depression; in the future….open to anxiety;  only in the present are we open."  

Eckhart Tolle’s wisdom,…  

“the moment you completely accept your non-peace,  

your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace…  

this is the miracle of surrender.”  

Channeling Ralph Waldo Emerson,… 

Spirituality is in everything at every moment. feel the unity of all things. I am one with  everything and everything is one with me. The mundane now: extraordinary! 

Einstein 

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The  other is as though everything is a miracle.”  

Having found more mindful presence, being happier with what I have and no longer  hyper-focused on what I didn’t have, enter Shakespeare,… 

“My Crown is in my heart, not on my head: 

Not deck'd with Diamonds, and Indian stones: 

Nor to be seen: my Crown is call'd Content, 

A Crown it is, that seldom Kings enjoy.” 

Ultimately, I have come to embrace the concept that we are not human beings having  spiritual experiences, we are spiritual beings have a human experience; which leads us  to our intrinsic need for purpose. 

PURPOSE 

Mindfulness attained! On to purpose. Scholars provide much needed insight. 

Nietzsche noted,… 

“he who has a ‘why’ in life can tolerate almost any ‘how’”.  

Robert Butler’s research: people between 65-92 benefit from having purpose.  

Sheldon and Houser-Marko research: a powerful spillover effect from even brief  purposeful activities.  

William Damon: purposeful acts don’t have to be heroic,…

”also…found in…day-to-day,…ordinary existence.”  

From “Now Discover Your Strengths”, Buckingham and Clifton,… 

”The real tragedy…is not that each of us doesn’t have enough strengths,  it’s that we fail to use the ones we have.”  

We have learned that Self-Concordant Goals and Peak Potential Zones are requisite to  determining a grounded purpose and to establish flow. 

IT’S THE PURSUIT NOT THE ATTAINMENT OF THE GOAL 

Gilbert’s (and other) Hedonic Effect studies showed professors and tenure, lottery  winners, etc. only receive a short spike in happiness upon reaching goals. 

David Watson confirms,… 

”Researchers emphasize…it is the process of striving after goals -  rather than goal attainment per se - that is crucial for happiness…” 

Conventional wisdom turned upside down,… 

“Goals become means, whereas the present becomes the end.” 

From Tal’s book “Happier”,… 

”Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain,…happiness is  the experience of climbing towards the peak.” 

From Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” we learn to seek “Purpose of life” the big  picture and “Purpose in life” for our day-to-day raison d’être. 

Tal summarizes,… 

”From…a meaningful destination,…a sense of calling, small and large goals, to  strength-based journeys that we take.  

From passions that fuel us to self-concordant goals that inspire us,… all create a purposeful life.” 

FINDING MY PURPOSE THROUGH ME-SEARCH 

I knew that I really, really want to explore this amazing planet in search of connections,  community, and celebration. My purpose? “inSPIRE-ing” others who wonder “What 

have I done with my life?” My Passion Strength is empowering others by letting them  feel seen and heard; helping others to discover and design their best life.  From two platforms of a Peak Potential Transformation Guide and Adventurich Lifestyle  Mentor, I will “inSPIRE” others to rise to their highest, best self. 

I mindfully began a nomadic lifestyle in November 2023: HSA Retreat (Colombia) -  where I was being seen for being authentic, tantric yoga community (Nicaragua), eco village wellness retreat (Costa Rica) experiencing transformational spiritual growth in  three months, Tribal Gathering (Panama) where I was asked to be a spiritual father,  brother, and teacher. And now, Spanish immersion (Guatemala). On Laurie Santos’ The  Happiness Lab Podcast, Malcolm Gladwell perfectly expressed how I live each day in  awe of my ability at sixty-three to travel to new places, happily making connections,  engaging with strangers, and living in awe of nature and the plethora of amazing vistas. Connections, Community, and Celebration. In assuming my role in the Happiness  Revolution, I have, indeed, become a traveling Happier Center.  

Rest humbly assured that It’s definitely the journey, not the destination. I have no  predetermined locale nor plans to settle. My journey is manifesting from mindful  presence and sense of purpose; neither of which had I known prior to HSA. This  

journey is about service and a mindful exploration of curiosity and openness to new  experiences. Happier describes me on this extraordinary path of present purpose.