This activity requires a one-quarter inch flat metal washer and a fifteen-inch string per learner. Tie one end of the string through the hole of the washer. *If you do not have these items at home, a tea bag (with string & tag) can be used for this activity.

1. Hold your sting & washer (or tea bag) straight out in front of you as still as possible until all movement stops.
2. Using your concentration, look at the washer and see if you can get it to move side to side while keeping the hand holding the string as still as possible.
3. Once you've succeeded at this; try making the washer move front to back.
4. For a final challenge try to get the washer to move clockwise in a circle then counter clockwise.

What you’ll find is that simply with your intention and focus, you’ll be able to create something you didn’t know was possible – making a washer move with your thoughts. This activity is our reminder that we have amazing hidden capacities.

The first step to creating the world that works for all is to be grounded in the reality that we have an amazing capacity to do things we don’t yet know we are capable of doing.

The second step is to take actions that are in line with this perspective – small and large – anything that inspires you or seems like the thing to do. When you are in touch with your unlimited capacity, you no longer buy into your previously accepted constraints and limitations. You dare to try what can appear to be impossible. When you live from this place, you are living from your soul.

This foundation will serve you well as you explore ways in which you can create transformations in your life and in our world.

Some questions to reflect upon;

• What has felt impossible to change that maybe you can bring some focus and concentration to this month?
• The sense of wonder you might have felt when the washer/tea bag began to move, have you felt that in your life recently? 
• Have you noticed any shift in your emotional state since committing to participate in the Race for Humanity?

1. Hold your hand as high in the air as you can with your finger pointed at the ceiling and draw a clockwise circle with this finger in the air.
2. Now continue drawing this clockwise circle in the air with your finger pointed toward the ceiling and slowly bring your hand down to the point where you are circling with your finger pointed to the floor.
3. Look down at your finger moving and notice that the circle is now going counter clockwise.

So what happened in this activity? Your perspective shifted but the circle’s direction did not. The first thing that we must understand is that there is not one reality – only perspectives on reality. Take a flower for instance. Human beings (who have sight) visually perceive the color and texture of the flower. A bee will not see the flower in the same way humans do. It will experience the flower as ultraviolet wavelengths. A bat will have yet another perception of the reality of a flower as the echo of ultrasound.

We constrain ourselves when we decide our perspectives are the right ones, when we limit our access to a broad range of wisdom and when we fail to embrace multiple ways of knowing and being. Certainly, if history is any indication, parts of what we now KNOW to be true or fact will turn out to be incomplete, inaccurate or just plain wrong.

It can be useful to loosen our grip on what we KNOW to be true and be open to wisdom that differs from ours. It will be essential to use the wisdom of all cultures and to respect our inter-connectedness to solve the problems of our time in this global community. This will require that we learn to create space for embracing what will seem to be mutually exclusive beliefs and practices. Learning to hold multiple, seemingly conflicting truths is an essential skill to coexist in a global world.

Some questions to reflect upon;

• How open to others perspectives do you think you are?
• How open do you think others are to your perspectives?
• If there is a big difference between these two is it that you are more open minded than most or are you less open-minded than you think?
• How hard would it be for you to change your perspective on some of your most deeply held beliefs or positions?
• What would it take to change your mind? What are some things that we used to believe a long time ago that we now know are not true?
• What might we believe now that later on we will discover is not accurate?

1. Stand face to face with another person and have your palms facing down placed on top your partner's hands that are palms facing up.
2. The person in the palms up position quickly flips their hands and tries to slap the hands of the other person before they pull their hands away.
3. If you are the slapper (palms up person) in this version of the game you also give the slapee (palms down person) four or five simple addition and subtraction questions while trying to slap their hands before they pull away.
4. Trade roles so each person gets to be the slapper and the slapee.
5. Once both people have experienced the challenge reflect on your ability to do the math while "under attack."

So how well were you able to do math while under attack? Not so well if you are like most people. This activity is a powerful reminder that you will never do your best work while under attack. And you never even have to slap your partner for them to know that you are a threat. The game is the set-up. This is another piece of our cultural conditioning that interferes with our magnificence, persecution of others and ourselves. In a world that emphasizes competition, judgment, criticism and fear of difference, we have created an environment that is not conducive to the best work of anyone involved.

Ending the practice of persecuting ourselves and others turns wasted energy into a powerful force for change. You can teach yourself and others to practice feeling good about who you are. When you come from a place that is deeply confident about your goodness as a human being, you have the strength to face up to the ways you are not your best without self persecution or defensiveness. When you feel truly good about who you are, you reduce your participation in self-pity parties, efforts to prove how good you are and obsessions about what others think of you. When you are at peace with yourself, you have no need to judge, criticize or demean others. This saves an amazing amount of time and energy that you can direct toward making a difference in the world!

Our culture of persecution also contributes to our focus on ineffective ways of dealing with the problems and issues we face together. Rather than using an eye for an eye approach, it is an act of humanity and integrity to treat others with dignity, even when they choose not to treat you that way. We confuse this with being a doormat or a victim, but in fact, it is the opposite. You are demonstrating that you have compassion and courage to do nothing in perpetuating injustice and persecution.

1. Clasp your hands together in front of you with interwoven fingers like you are preparing for prayer. How does this feel for you? Common responses to this question include "relaxed," "comfortable" and "fine."
2. Now switch thumbs so that the thumb that was in the bottom position is now on top and re-lace your fingers to match. How does this feel, especially in comparison to the first one? Common responses to this question include "weird," "awkward" and "uncomfortable."

The goal in this activity is to help people see that we are culturally conditioned to view things we are not familiar with, as negative.

You know the first hand position isn’t good and the second hand position isn’t evil. The first one is just what you are used to and the other is what you’re not used to. It is a reminder that you are conditioned to have a negative emotional reaction to things that are unfamiliar to you. You don’t need to feel guilty, but it is very useful to be aware of this tendency. This awareness can teach you to expect initial negative reactions to the unfamiliar. You can then consciously choose to delay judgment based on your initial reaction and take time to evaluate things for their true value.

Once aware of this dynamic you have the power to transform the distrust of difference into openness and acceptance of the diverse ways of being all around you, letting this enrich your life. This gives you access to a variety of powerful tools for transformation in your life and in the world.

When we embark on new learning, it is helpful to remember that what is different than we are used to may initially feel uncomfortable. It will be essential to use the wisdom of all cultures (including the ones that seem wrong to us), and respect our inter-connectedness to solve the problems of our time in this global community. This will require that we learn to create space for embracing what will seem to be mutually exclusive beliefs and practices. Learning to hold multiple, seemingly conflicting truths, is an essential skill for a global citizen.

Get into the thumb wrestling position with someone next to you. If you are by yourself, use the same hand clasp from the previous activity and your own two thumbs, you'll have to be a bit creative for this one! There are two things to keep in mind:

1. How to score a point (gently pin the other thumb down - explain that this is a non-violent activity and make a joke about no nail marks, hair pulling or biting).
2. The object of the activity is for everyone to get as many points as possible.

Repeat these two things if needed. Then explain that they need to keep track of their individual points. Then say, ready, go. Let them play for a few minutes until you see some people are cooperating (letting each other score points) and some are competing. You should end the game when there are still some people competing.
Then you say stop put your thumbs down. Find out how many points people scored. In a small crowd of fifteen or less, you can go to individual people and find out how many points they got.

In the larger groups you'll want to say, now raise your hands if you got ten or fewer points. That will probably be the majority of everyone present. Then you say if you got eleven to twenty-five points, raise your hands, and finally twenty-six or more. Ask the twenty-six or more group how many they got. People will wonder what happened - did groups cheat?

Then you can say, “It is obvious that the groups who got twenty-six or more points did something different than most groups.” Then have a group who each scored twenty-six or more points demonstrate their technique to the group. At this point things become visually obvious to the participants. Ask, why would they have done the activity this way? People then begin to
remember that the point was for everyone to get as many points as possible.

You then explain, “What we did here was put you in a competitive environment and give you a cooperative goal. And even though we are probably some of the more cooperative people around, this activity demonstrates that most of us will be drawn toward competition by habit, even when cooperation would get both parties more of what they want. We all live in a very competitive society. It is unfortunate that even when competition isn’t the best approach, we end up using it. Because the cultural conditioning is so strong, we need to make a conscious effort to notice when we fall into the habit of competing and ask ourselves is there a win-win solution here that I am not yet seeing?

There was an unlimited amount of points to go around in this activity, but most of us get stuck in the mindset of scarcity because of our training in competitiveness. We are taught to focus on personal gain more than on mutual benefit. We are trained to believe that there is an "us versus them" reality, that there is not enough to go around, that more, is better and that we should resign ourselves to accepting this. Sufficiency is the perfect place of enough resources to thrive.

Our over emphasis on competitiveness has us falling into the habit of competing even when we would gain more from a cooperative approach. We also misapply competition by using it in ways that are detrimental to our relationships and our lives, like becoming addicted to winning at all costs and by putting competition and winning above the wellbeing of our relationships.

What if we decided to compete in a way that was uplifting and empowering to all participants? What if we redirected our need for success that brings power over people, material excess and harm to others and took on humanities largest, toughest challenges?

Another piece of our cultural conditioning, which interferes with our ability to come together as a human community, is polarization. Try the following visualization activity to explore polarization with me. Relax and think of someone you really love, someone who is a joy to be around, someone who makes you feel wonderful. Think of a time when you were together that was memorable. Take a minute to get present to what this is like for you emotionally and physically. Notice what feelings and body sensations are present.

Now think of someone you dislike or even hate, someone who makes you angry, someone whose values and behavior make you sick, someone who causes an intense negative reaction when you are around them. Take a minute to get present to what this is like for you emotionally and physically. Notice what feelings and body sensations are present.

The point of this exercise is to remind us that our judgment and hatred of others is damaging to us (not to those who are the objects of our displeasure). It is like swallowing poison and expecting it to hurt our enemies. It also reminds us that the love we feel for others can be a great healing force in our lives. If we can rethink and reframe our relationship to our adversaries and enemies, we can see that our participation in fueling hatred is damaging to us.

It will be productive for us to disengage in the polarization that has become such a way of life. Each time we vilify those who do not share our point of view we actually increase their power and expand the divide between them and us. We can ask ourselves, “Am I fueling the polarization in my community or school? Am I making those who disagree with me wrong and evil for their beliefs? Or am I building bridges of understanding between people who would consider me an adversary or whom I would consider an enemy? Am I reaching out across any and all divides in my life to reclaim the bond that all human beings share? Am I striving to communicate and behave in ways that help everyone on the planet access their shared humanity?”

How much of our energy is focused on judging and being displeased with others? How much of our energy is focused on loving and caring for others? How might our lives be different if we increased our focus on love and decreased our focus on hate? Are there ways in our lives that we are trying to reach across differences or heal polarizations? How can we start, if we are not already doing this, or increase our efforts if we are already doing so?

It is very useful to unlearn the practice of polarization because the same skills and energy we use to direct judgment and criticism at others, is what we direct inward in self-doubt and attacks.

There are physical and mental health costs to participating in polarization. What physical and mental issues of ours might be partially a result of polarization (any stress related problems would qualify)? Are these health costs worth it?

We are unlikely to successfully address the global crisis we are currently facing with the degree of polarization that exists in the world today. What commitments are you willing to make in ending your participation in polarization?

1. Curve both of your hands to create a scope and put it on one eye.  Keep that eye open and close the one without the scope. 
2. Now try to find various items in the room. If you are in a group, have one person call them out – find someone you like, find a light fixture, find something blue, find some shoes you like, find an door handle. 
3. Now take the scope off and open both eyes and let’s try it again.  Find something yellow, find someone who you don’t know well, find a different light fixture, find a briefcase or backpack, and finally find a logo of any company on anything. 
4. What we notice in doing this is that when we narrow our focus it makes it harder to find what we are looking for.

So as you experienced earlier, it took much more effort to locate things when your view was restricted versus when you came to the challenge with a full spectrum of vision.  When we come to the challenges we face with a broad perspective, open to the infinite possibilities available, this maximizes our creativity in developing solutions and empowers us to be bravely confident and hopeful about our success.

1. To what degree so you think you are focused on scarcity?  What about others in your life – your friends, family etc.? 
2. What are things you obsess about acquiring?  What do others you know focus on getting more and more of? 
3. Name all of the things you can think of that you don’t feel you have enough of.  How does this focus affect how you feel about yourself? 
4. What are the ways in which you don’t feel like enough- smart enough, cute enough, powerful enough and so on? 

1. Our culture makes us seem silly, naïve, confused, etc. if we are hopeful, and encourages us to give up hope in the name of being realistic (translated hopeless). 
2. Start by standing in place and jumping as high as you can while leaving your arms limp by their side. 
3. Next jump as high as they can while thrusting their arms up in the air using their arms to contribute to the upwards momentum. 
4. Then jump as high as they can while they thrust their arms down towards the ground.  
5. Explore how we interfere with our success by apathy (limp arms) or self-sabotage (thrusting arms down).

The Hope Jump activity explores how we interfere with our success with apathy or self-sabotage.

Think through the following questions or discuss with a partner if you are in a group.

• When I am not my best self I tend to…
• Given that I’m committed to growing into my fabulousness, I will instead strive to…
• Support from others I would like on this is…

It is important to be specific and concrete on the last question!

Next, reflect on, journal about or discuss the following;

• What exactly, word for word, do you want others to say to you? 
• What tone of voice should be used when this is said?
• Are there exceptions to this that people should know about?
• What nonverbal language should be used?
• What will not work well?
• Is there anything that is similar to what you have asked for that might confuse people?

What you will usually discover is how ridiculous of some your expectations are around communication such as:

• Thinking that people should know what we need even if we don’t express it well or even at all.
• The complicated extenuating circumstances surrounding whether a particular support strategy will work or not work at any given moment.
• How different our needs can be and how challenging it can be to figure out support to each other
• Encourage yourself to appreciate how complicated it can be to provide support in a way that meets each individual’s needs, since they vary so much from time to time.  Strongly encourage the group to learn to appreciate any attempt at providing support, instead of holding out for perfection.