How Falling in Love Sparked My Ultimate Fitness Journey—and It’s Nothing Like You’d Expect
Ever stumbled upon a project with a name so lofty that you almost chuckle before diving in? That was me with Project Heaven on Earth. The title sounded a bit like a dreamy fairytale, maybe even a sprinkle of spiritual fluff—three simple questions to change the world? Come on, really? Yet, curiosity got the better of me, and after a few missed emails and a serendipitous meeting with Martin Rutte, the visionary behind it all, I found myself hooked. What if the secret to shifting our tangled, overwhelming world truly lies in asking the right questions—and acting on them, simply and swiftly? I decided to dig deeper, not just for me but for all of us desperate for hope hidden in a world where optimism seems to be hiding out like it’s playing a game of hide-and-seek.
In this article, I’ll share my personal journey through Martin’s insightful framework, reflect on the moments that felt like pure Heaven on Earth, and explore how tiny, deliberate steps might just ignite real change. Spoiler alert: it’s less about grand gestures and more about those baby steps that we all can take—yes, even you. Ready to rethink what it means to be human and what it truly could mean for humanity? Let’s get into it.
I first learned about Project Heaven on Earth when a colleague wrote to me about a friend who was interested in meeting me, but who had not gotten any response to his previous emails. I hadn’t received the emails, so asked him to write again, which he did.
After reading about Project Heaven on Earth and its founder Martin Rutte, we met for a brief chat, and it became very clear that Martin was a kindred spirit, and our meeting would be the beginning of a long-term collaboration. I knew I wanted to do an interview with Martin for my podcast, and I ordered his book, Project Heaven on Earth: The 3 simple questions that will help you change the world…easily.
It was a wonderfully informative interview that you can watch here.
I will admit that I was a bit put off by the book title. Heaven on Earth seemed a bit Airy-Fairy and religious. I’m also put off by programs that promise simple solutions to the world’s problems. “Three simple questions that will help you change the world…easily”? Give me a break.
I felt a little better when I saw that the book’s Foreword was written by Jack Canfield, a long-time colleague who created the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which has more than 250 titles and 500 million copies in print. I soon learned that Martin has had a very successful business career both in the U.S. and Canada.
He has worked with such organizations as The World Bank, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Southern California Edison, Virgin Records, Apple Computer, Esso Petroleum, and London Life Insurance helping them expand their outlook and position themselves for the future. He is also the co-author of The New York Times Business Bestseller, Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work, with sales of over 1.1 million copies and translations into 15 languages.
In his book, Project Heaven on Earth, Martin offers a clear and honest look at the challenges we face:
“Humanity is at a crossroads. I’m deeply concerned about the state of our world and pained about the direction we’ve been taking. The sufferings of the world seem overwhelming, they continue and continue — war, hunger, poverty, the threat of global financial collapse. Resignation is being stockpiled. Hope is in short supply. Optimism is hiding in a cave.”
Martin goes on to say,
“I believe what’s needed to move us forward at this point in our evolution is the birthing of a new possibility for our world — a new story of what it means to be human (an individual) and what it means to be Humanity (the human condition). I capitalize ‘Humanity’ because I want us to start thinking about experiencing us as one family with extraordinary potential.”
Here’s how Martin describes Project Heaven on Earth:
“Project Heaven on Earth as a Noun: This Project is a thing you do, something you put your energy into. It’s a vehicle for the alignment of Humanity.
“Project Heaven on Earth as a Verb: You project yourself, your Being, your intention, into the world to build the world of your dreams and yearnings.”
He concludes:
“The intention of Project Heaven on Earth is to collectively change Humanity’s current story from one that doesn’t work for a great number of people (hunger, war, poverty, etc.) to one that works for you, me, and everyone.”
Addressing the Three Questions of Project Heaven on Earth
Martin invites us to address the following three questions:
Question 1: Recall a time when you experienced Heaven on Earth. What was happening? Describe what happened, how it felt, how you perceived the world. What was your experience of yourself, of others, of life?
Question 2: Imagine you have a magic wand and with it you can create Heaven on Earth. What is Heaven on Earth for you? Take as much time as you need with this. Open your heart. Let your mind go. Marinate in what Heaven on Earth is for you. What would be present, what would disappear and no longer exist, and what would newly appear?
Question 3: What simple, easy, concrete step (s) will you take in the next 24 hours to make Heaven on Earth real? By making the step simple, by making it one you know you can do and by doing it within 24 hours, you’ve actually begun creating Heaven on Earth. Take a baby step. It’s as simple as that.
Here are my answers to the three questions Martin invited me to address:
Question 1: Recall a time when you experienced Heaven on Earth. What was happening?
Heaven on Earth began for me when I fell in love with a young woman in 1965. I was a twenty-one-year-old senior, and she was a seventeen-year-old freshman at the beautiful, newly created campus, at U.C. Santa Barbara. My beloved and I talked about children and agreed we wanted to have a child and, given that the world already had children who needed a home with loving parents, we wanted to adopt a child.
Fast forward to Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo. Following graduation, we married, my wife became pregnant, and I was coaching my wife through the relaxation and breathing techniques we had learned in the Lamaze child-birthing classes. After many hours of labor, we were told it was time for my wife to move into the delivery room. I still remember the words of the nurse.
“OK, Mr. Diamond, your work is done now. You can go to the waiting-room, and we’ll let you know when your child arrives.”
I was sorry to have to leave at this point, but we had been told the rules. Fathers were not allowed in the delivery room. I kissed my wife, wished her and the baby well, and told her I would see her soon. She was wheeled in one direction, and I went the other way.
But as I was going through the waiting-room doors, something stopped me. I felt the call of my unborn child telling me:
“I don’t want a waiting-room father. Your place is here with us.”
I immediately turned around and made my way to the delivery room. I came in and took my place at the head of the table as my wife began the final stages to bring our child into the world.
There was no question about my leaving. I knew where I belonged. No hospital rules were going to keep me away. It didn’t take long for the final push and our son, Jemal, was born amid tears of joy and relief. Holding him for the first time I made a vow that I would be a different kind of father than my father was able to be for me and to do everything I could to help create a world where fathers were fully engaged with their families throughout their lives. Two-and-a-half years later, we adopted a two-month-old, African American baby girl, who we named Angela.
For me this Heaven on Earth experience began with the magic of falling in love, which opened our hearts to wanting to share that love with a child we birthed and with a child who needed a loving family. It culminated with the spirit of our soon-to-be born son calling me to break the rules in the service of love and connection and our reaching outside our comfort zone to find and adopt our beautiful daughter.
Question 2: Imagine you have a magic wand and with it you can create Heaven on Earth. What is Heaven on Earth for you?
For me, Heaven on Earth is a world of fathers who are fully healed and lovingly connected with themselves, their families, the community of life on planet Earth.
In my book, The Warrior’s Journey Home: Healing Men Healing the Planet I quoted my friend and colleague Sam Keen, author of Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man,
“The radical vision of the future rests on the belief that the logic that determines either our survival or our destruction is simple:
- The new human vocation is to heal the earth.
- We can only heal what we love.
- We can only love what we know.
- We can only know what we touch.”
Heaven on Earth is the end of war as we’ve known it and a new kind of warriorship. In The Warrior’s Journey Home, I quoted Buddhist meditation master Chögyam Trungpa.
“Warriorship here does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Here the word ‘warrior’ is taken from the Tibetan pawo which literally means ‘one who is brave.’ Warriorship in this context is the tradition of human bravery, or the tradition of fearlessness.” Trungpa concludes, saying, “Warriorship is not being afraid of who you are.”
Question 3: What simple, easy, concrete step (s) will you take in the next 24 hours to make Heaven on Earth real?
I will share the answers to these three questions with Martin Rutte and continue exploring ways to collaborate to bring Heaven on Earth for all.
You can connect with Martin Rutte and his work here: https://projectheavenonearth.com/
You can watch my interview with Martin here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Krt5t4aYM
You can receive my free weekly newsletter and read my latest articles here: https://menalive.com/email-newsletter/
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