Connection with nature, connection with yourself, connection with your life purpose is a quest that spans a lifetime. Quests and goals are not only for the young with many years ahead of them. They can begin even after retiring. In fact, argues New York Times bestselling author Ilchi Lee, retirement can be the perfect time to begin goals you didn’t have time to pay attention to while you were busy with career and family. The types of goals he recommends are those that are less tangible than the material success we pursue in our youth. Greater wisdom and compassion can be developed and passed down to the next generations in what could be our golden years he writes in his latest book, I’ve Decided to Live 120 Years: The Ancient Secret to Longevity, Vitality, and Life Transformation.

Quite frankly, I’d like to start my golden years before “retirement.” Thinking and living with the energy and consciousness of love 100 percent of the time is the best goal I can think of. I think this new book has some of that energy and more, which is why I keep promoting it.

What I learned from having a cold this week and hibernating in my bed for long hours, which I haven’t had the right or privilege or balls to do for years, is that inherently inside myself, I’m ok. When I give myself a chance to rest and follow my own rhythm, then my natural vitality, cheerfulness, and love for myself comes out. I want to dance and sing and think I’m so beautiful. I love everything! All it took was a lot of rest, lol! I just did what I wanted. It really felt magical.

Now I know that when feeling that way is hard, I need more rest time and some time to focus on myself. Once again, I realized that instead of trying hard, surrendering to my natural resources seems to work best. I really didn’t want to surrender, though. I wanted to fight and say, “I’m not going to be sick.” But by feeling my body, I realized that wasn’t going to work. I just needed to accept that I was sick, listen to my body, and choose to get better without fighting it.

I’m not always so astute about knowing when to stop and rest, however. According to Human Design, my type, a Manifesting Generator, especially one without their spleen center filled in (because people with open spleen centers don’t have built-in instincts for self-care), should rest before they are tired or burnt out. Pure Generators should rest when they use up their energy, but Manifesting Generators and Manifestors need to stop before then, although I’m not sure why yet. However, this information seems to be true for my life, so I’m going to try to remember it, however much I want to stay up late . . . which I love.

But the most important thing I’m going to remember is: I’m ok, regardless of the circumstances!

I’m exploring this idea these days. I’m involved with an organization called the Earth Citizens Organization, or ECO, which promotes the concept of Earth Citizenship as constructed by Ilchi Lee. According to him, an Earth Citizen is a steward of the earth who actively does what is good for the planet and the life on it, in addition to themselves.

I’m all on board with this concept, but it is a BIG IDEA. So what does that look like in my daily life? One more obvious thing that I’ve thought of is what the environmentalists say: reduce my impact on the earth. How can I use only what I need to ensure my vitality while respecting other life? The small things I’ve done is switch to cloth pads, try to remember to bring my own bags to the store and my own cup to the coffee shop, and try not to waste food. Sometimes I remember to eat only what I really need and to eat beef only when my body really craves it, but that doesn’t always go so well. I turn off lights and avoid air conditioning when possible. But, honestly, between my computer and my phone, I’m plugged into electricity all day, every day, so I don’t really know what good I’m doing.

Sunlight through the trees in New Zealand, the land where Ilchi Lee is building an Earth Village.

Another aspect is holistic health: how can we respect our bodies as part of nature—an entity with a natural tendency toward balance and harmony? Our bodies have amazing self-healing and self-regeneration abilities, and there are things we can do to maximize them. Being able to feel our bodies and learn what they want to ingest and release and how they need to move is an important skill and awareness to develop for maximizing our bodies’ healing power. I learned this skill, although I’m still honing it, through Brain Education practice. From this practice I also learned other body-mind-spirit healing techniques based on traditional Asian medicine, and there is so much more to learn.

Through my experience with these practices, I’ve come to confirm that real healing comes from the soul. No matter what we try to do for another person, their real healing comes from their soul, and all we can do is help them access that and make it stronger. Living from and for your soul is another aspect of Brain Education and being an Earth Citizen—to me, the most important part. When all people do this, we will fully realize that there is no true distinction between you and me, the trees and the animals, the people or the earth, or from divine energy. Then we’ll naturally make decisions that fit Earth Citizen values.

But how do we spread this idea and lifestyle? That is the burning question. What is compelling about the Earth Citizen concept, and how can we make it easier to live as an Earth Citizen? What more do I need to live as an Earth Citizen?

To be continued . . .