Book excerpt: Everyone has had luminous moments — those instances when we experience the beauty and grace of life, whether we’re looking into the eyes of a newborn or watching the sun set over the ocean. But those moments are usually brief and difficult to consciously create. Many of us have been successful in attaining personal and professional goals, but we’re too exhausted to enjoy what we’ve accomplished. Or we might walk around in a fog, feeling vaguely frustrated, resigned, or cynical and asking all the wrong questions about how to make our lives better. In either case, we miss the purpose of being alive: to wake up and fully become ourselves, to allow others to contribute to us and, in turn, to contribute our gifts to the world — fully savoring the journey along the way. This fascinating new book gives us specific methods for bringing luminosity into our lives on a consistent basis, allowing us to view the world with much younger, more vibrant eyes. Mastering Life’s Energies shows us how to use all the energies of our lives — physical vitality, creativity, time, money, enjoyment, and relationship — to realize our goals and dreams and, even more important, live a luminous life, filled with possibility and promise.