I grew up in The Netherlands and I will always remember a plaque on our hallway wall. It was put there by my Oma and in Dutch it read: "Beter de Wereld, Begin Bij Jezelf."
Many years after leaving The Netherlands, I hope I wrote this correctly in my Mother language.
Translation: "If you want to better the World, Begin with yourself." Is this not a wonderful adage?
Unfortunately, for the first 35 years of my life, I did not heed this sound advise. I made a royal mess of it. Each time I came to a fork in the road, I managed to take the wrong one. It lead to one disaster after another. Only when at one point I could not sink lower, I remember not only the above saying but many others that had gone in one ear and out another. Including one of the most important one, that little voice that is in each of us and tells us very early in our lives, right from wrong.
I have written a book about my adventures and my life and it has become somewhat of an inspiration for those whose life is also upside down, and a page-turner for everybody who has read, Polynesian Dreams. It has  sold out in paper but because of the great efforts by a new company, WaveCloud it is now available in most E-book stores. Kindle, Nook, Kobo, WaveCloud, Google Books, Ebooks and more. The price of this 351 page book that is filled with adventures, romance, inspiration is $8.50 with my net portion going to charity, The Animal Friends of The Valley and The Wounded Warrior Project. Try it, you like it, at least I hope so. Johan Van Oldenbarneveld.