FROM MY RESEARCHED, SYNTHESIZED, AND LIVING ATTITUDE,
I believe that the greatest gifts a person can ever receive are these: to know that he/she was born with unconditional love; to be surrounded and empowered by people with a positive mental energy; to be taught how to think for oneself; to learn that you are your own best friend, and to know that you don't have to earn all of these, because they are gifts given to us unconditionally by our Creator as our birthright.

What follows in this book is the story of how I came to acquire these beliefs. My teachers were, and still are, many and varied. They range from my grandfather, who began teaching me almost from the moment of my birth, to contemporary thinkers, whose philosophies of living I have discovered, respected, and ultimately adopted into life-composition of my own.

Whatever possible, I have attributed ideas to their originator and writing to their authors, but inevitably, after decades of listening, reading, seeing, and learning, one cannot always pinpoint precisely where or when or how one acquired a point of view or an attitude. Let me say, simply, that would willingly acknowledge every source of my present contentment if I were able.

Jon-Lee Kootenkoff

... and the journey goes on. I am still learning how to seize , enjoy, and live in the moment. I am continually seeking and accepting challenging opportunities, risking the unknown, stepping out of my comfort zones to walk down other streets. I know that before social transformation occurs, we must want to experience personal transformation. I continue to tell myself: "Jon-Lee, don't change people. Don't change the world. Simply, change you!"