It’s Not Easy to Be Human
A Compassionate Journey and Guide to Optimize Human Potential, Achieve Fulfillment and Systemic and Ecological Well-Being.
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Decades and Countless Resources As an ordinary citizen of this planet, like billions of others, I tried to figure out how to live a human life with all the challenges that arise from cultural, political, religious, and other systemic restrictions, boundaries, and limitations. But there was a deeper desire in me. The desire to know for myself what science, philosophy, and psychology had to say about life and solutions to pain and suffering. My journey of personal healing, transformation, and optimization and then creating the Mindful Life Optimization programs to teach the Three Domains of Mindful Life Intelligence was shaped through the next two decades and countless resources. My path was a multifaceted learning process from varied sources ranging from meetings of Co-Dependents Anonymous (a twelve-step program) to a doctorate in Psychology of Management Consulting and other mindfulness certifications. I continued reading and researching scientific perspectives and applying psychological and spiritual models and paradigms that helped me understand the human mind (conscious and unconscious), emotions, and actions. I was driven to learn from biographies of geniuses and highly accomplished people from all walks of life, including writers, poets, filmmakers, actors, singers, artists, fashion designers (I have a full degree in fashion design), mathematicians, landscapers, lawmakers, humanitarians, innovators, and leaders of the world—and many who had suffered extensively and triumphed through perseverance and by sticking to their ethical principles of non-harming and kindness. I saw a piece of myself in all of them, and their hero’s journeys were to become mine. Whoever had a success story, I was eager to know the factors in their human software that made them successful. I was deeply curious about their character, their inner strengths, and how they became content and efficient, and to discover effective qualities that I needed to gain. I realized that the human psyche may be one of the most complex conundrums to figure out because no two people have the exact same experiences and conditions that design their neuropathways. A person, like me, can come from a proud background and be good-looking, creative, lovable, and smart but have very little self-worth and self-love. Lacking self-love creates fertile ground for falling into narcissistic relationships. The funny thing is, a person may not even know that they have no love for themself. I didn't. Hidden traumas, unlabeled abandonments, and unexplained painful events can make a person think they are obligated to suffer. Well, I couldn’t endure those assumed obligations to suffer, and being free of the underlying emotional pains motivated me to continue. I dissected every story, model, and approach; reflected on them; put them to the test; and practiced to gain their skills. Deeper understanding and healing were upon me. Eventually, out of this sea of data points and embodiment, a model began to emerge. I began to organize the common threads of excellent, timeless, boundaryless qualities and characteristics that humans need to live a wise and happy life into a collection of fundamental Mindful Life Optimization Lessons (MLOLs). These lessons became the manual of my own life optimization, and I found that they could also optimize the lives of many of my students and clients. I learned about the nature of life and suffering through the Buddha’s core teachings. Looking for answers in the thick forests of New Zealand, Thailand, England, and California monasteries, I had sobbed intensely for the painful losses and lack of fulfillment in my life and for the pains of humanity. Silent retreat after silent retreat, I studied and dove into the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths about suffering, the causes of suffering, and the path to ending it. I took on the Noble Eightfold Path and his numerous other teachings as the way to end the big and small delusions about myself and the world, the web of misconceptions I had learned about life, replacing them with beautiful truths and immutable principles....
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About the Book
Have you ever thought about why it’s not easy to be human? There’s always one problem after another; we can’t just get it right and keep it that way. It’s Not Easy to Be Human offers a compassionate exploration of the complexities and inherent difficulties that come with living as a human being and the ways to mitigate them. Author Manijeh Motaghy considers the reasons behind our struggles, from the emotional and psychological to the neurological, societal, systemic, and ecological. This guide covers sixty lessons that include fundamental qualities and skills that should be the right of people of any background and identity to develop and benefit from. It also presents a five-stage process to acquire these qualities and skills and take personal transformation into systemic and planetary health optimization. Dr. Motaghy’s methods are clinically proven to reduce stress and symptoms of illnesses; improve mental, emotional, and physical health; and provide positive effects on relationships, finance, and sustainability efforts. Her vision is to optimize the lives of one billion people by 2042 and make developing these fundamental qualities and skills a human right.
About the Author
Dr. Manijeh Motaghy is an Iranian American with a rich Persian culture and connection with nature. She holds a PsyD in Organization Management Consulting from Phillips Graduate Institute. She is the founder of Perfectly Here and the designer of MLO methodology. A poet, gardener, AI enthusiast, change maker, and mother, Manijeh currently lives in West Hills, California. Visit her online at www.perfectlyhere.org.