A prayer is a peaceful promise to yourself, Dear One – a promise to allow that which you are needing, wanting, asking for, into your life.

A prayer is a preparation.  It is a ritual to help get you ready to receive, to help you shift into a mindset of receiving.

That is why prayers of gratitude are the most powerful.

Forgiveness isn’t about condoning, accepting, forgetting, or dismissing their poor behavior, hurtful words, or damaging actions, Dear One.

It is about making a choice to prioritize yourself, your health, your happiness, and your well-being, over your pain.

The people, circumstances, events, and relationships in your life are not the problem, Dear One.

It is your reaction to them, your expectations of them, your behavior towards them, your beliefs about them, that is causing most of your discontent.

Isn’t that wonderful news?

You don’t have to wait, hope, pray or push for them to change in order for things to get better.

You can change you, and make things better right now!

Accepting who you are, Dear One, understanding, trusting, believing, that you are energy, consciousness, a divine spirit having a physical experience, that you are an essential part of all that is, that you are connected to everything and everyone, that you are a powerful creator responsible for the expansion of the universe, changes nothing.

• Who you are will remain the same
• Your face will not change
• Your gifts and talents will remain exactly as they are
• Your world will still be round
• You will still wake up everyday, in your physical body, and need to tend to your physical needs

Accept who you really are and nothing will be different, except for your perception of what is, your belief of what can be, your understanding of your connection to all things, your awareness of how you are creating your world, and your experience of everything in it.

Everything will remain exactly the same, Dear One, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Pay attention, Dear One.

Take notice of what happens to your thoughts and your actions when you remember to remain fully present in all that you do.

When you see that they are hurting, when you see that they are struggling, when you see that they are lost, confused, or in pain and you want to help, but don’t know how — Love them, Dear One.

There is no more useful thing that you can do.

We know that sometimes love does not seem like it’s enough, but trust us, it is.

Love heals. Love inspires. Love transforms.  Love can do a great many things.

• Don’t pity them
• Don’t fear for them
• Don’t be sad for them
• Don’t join them in their grief

See them as well.  See them as whole.  See them as prosperous.  See them as confident.  See them as happy.  See them as healed.  See them as the person that they want to be in this moment.  Hold an image of them in your mind and in your heart that they are not yet able to hold for themselves.

You can’t give your attention to their pain, to their struggle, to their problem, or their grief, and hope to be a part of their solution, Dear One.

If you really want to help, if you really want to make a difference,  keep seeing the best in them, and for them and just keep loving them.

It truly is the best and most useful thing that you can do.

Choose to love yourself first, Dear One, and show them how it’s done.

We can think of no more powerful gift that you could give them today then to help them to know the experience, the joy, the potential, the pleasure of self-love/self-care.

Whatever your priorities are, Dear One, regardless of how long the list, we implore you to please add one more; make enjoying the process, enjoying the path, one of them.

Prioritize it just as high, or even higher than achieving your goals.

That way, win or lose, success or failure, victory or defeat, you come out on top.

So what do you think? Can you make room for one more?

More often than not, Dear One, it is not the conflict itself that is the source of your pain, discomfort, anger, frustration, racing heart or sweaty palms.

It is your response to it.

It is your response that determines how you feel, what you think, the story that you tell, the flow of your energy, the focus of your attention, and as a result, the quality of the solutions that will present themselves to you or that you will take notice of.

Don’t dig in, tense up, or pinch yourself off from well-being in fear, anger, or self-righteousness when facing a conflict.  Relax, be gentle, open up, let go, and allow yourself to connect, allow your energy to rise up, not sink down, as you seek a resolution.

Choose your response consciously, Dear One, with intention, clarity, trust, and an open heart, and you just might be surprised to discover the source of your conflict dissipating as you do, and the circumstances surrounding it rising up to meet you.