While growing up, Mike Cope spent a lot of time working at the daily newspaper his family owned—his father was the publisher and his mother was the editor. But eventually Mike came to realize that the most important stories about the lives of human beings rarely made it into the headlines.
In the journey of his own life Mike came to focus on the tremendous challenge of achieving real communication between people, the centrality of relationship, and the undeniable significance of what Victor Frankl called “man’s search for meaning.”
In 1994, Mike and his wife Diane’s lives were jolted by the death of their 10-year-old daughter, Megan. Though she was mentally handicapped from birth, she had been a strong, joy-filled child who’d taught them so much about what ultimately matters in life. When she died, their odyssey of loss and joy-amid-grief sharpened Mike’s already intense interest in life’s biggest questions.
Joining with Landon Saunders in Heartbeat’s What Really Matters project was a natural progression of his journey to help himself and others navigate life’s challenges and difficulties.
As an author of four books, a blogger (whose blog has received almost four million visits in the past six years), a minister, and an editor of two magazines Mike has continued to refine his early communication skills. He has for many years spoken to large audiences about what really matters, and is currently teaching a class of 300 university students each semester at a local university.
Mike and Diane live in Abilene, Texas, and have been married 31 years. They have two surviving children: Matt, a resident in internal medicine at Duke University, and Chris, a junior in high school. Matt and his wife, Jenna, have one child, Reese.
Mike believes that one of the things that really matter is knowing how to enjoy one’s life and some of the things that he takes joy in include: cycling, running, coaching little league baseball (15 years), playing with his granddaughter, and searching for the ultimate guacamole recipe.
Landon is the founder and president of Heartbeat, a non-profit educational organization.
Beginning in 1972, he was the creator and broadcaster of the Heartbeat Radio Program which was heard by millions over the CBS, NBC, ABC, Mutual, and Armed Forces Networks.
Wanting to get closer to his audience, he created the Feeling Good About Yourself and the Life That Loves to Happen seminars and has presented them in over 40 states to more than 100,000 people.
He is the author of the book entitled, How to Win 7 Out of 8 Days a Week. His latest book is entitled “Life That Loves to Happen . . . No Matter What Happens.”
His life’s work has been a response to the question: What does it mean to be a human being? Despite, or rather, because of life’s inherent, inevitable tragedies, he came to the conclusion that central to the meaning of life is joy.
Landon is now especially focused on issues relating to eighteen to twenty-nine year olds as well as all people who are focused on what really matters in human life. Several programs have been developed for use in these areas.
Landon, a resident of Norwich, Vermont, has traveled to more than 90 countries of the world, observing and addressing the human condition.
By email: melissa@reallymatters.org or mike@reallymatters.org
By phone: 806-722-2388