The Peace Index

CHAPTER ONEThe Number over Your Head

Imagine sitting at your favorite coffee shop and watching people stroll in with a number over their head—like a character in a video game. The number hovers in a circle with either green, yellow, or red numbers depending on the person's sense of Peace. Some people had a green 85% over their head, some a powerfully positive green 92%, while others have a warning yellow number of 62.5% or worse; a guy walks in with a red‐hot colored 40%.

Imagine the numbers figuratively represent how each person is doing at that moment of the day.

In reality, you don't see a number over people's heads, but you know it's there. You can probably guess the number of each member of your family without much effort. People, including you and me, have numbers telling us how at Peace we are or aren't, and those numbers change every day based on five areas of life. We can go from an 85% on Monday to a 58% on Wednesday back to a solid 90% by the weekend. Why? Well, that is what this book is about—helping you learn to understand those factors and move them for yourself into healthy green levels.

That is exactly what the Peace Index, the primary tool of this book, will help you do. It will help you assess your level of Peace and the corresponding categories of unrest.

The Reason “How are you?” Doesn't Work

Virtually every day of my life, I have the same short meaningless conversation with numerous people. I say to Amy at the coffee shop, “Good morning, how are you?” ...