Q.Someone recently highlighted M.S. and her inspirational books. Our question is when did she begin living this way -- what some may call "living her dream."

A. As described over the years, in portions of several books (To Build The Life You Want, Create The Work You Love; Mentor's Spirit; Spiritual Intelligence -- to name three), she had a sense of inborn promise in childhood and was determined to create the life she envisioned. Despite having many obstacles to surmount, she nurtured a vision of possibilities all along, and that strong intent enabled her to set out early to shape and arrange her current life. There were, to be sure, detours and lengthy preparation periods -- many lessons to learn, qualifications to develop. But because this sort of thing is a spiritual progression, an unfolding or "creative work in progress," even the setbacks inform what is essentially an architecture or construction of sorts. The means and the end seem integrated, one and the same; the steps and the journey somehow merge into a unified motif.

Please consider reading not only the three books mentioned above, but also other inspiring books about anyone whose whose life inspires you. We suspect that spiritual progression will somehow crop up in every inspiring life.

(To order MS titles listed above please call 800-843-5743.)