We know that it can  feel  like the act of doing something new, of changing your patterns of behavior, your thoughts, your actions, your habits, your beliefs, your relationships, will require a great deal of effort and struggle for you to achieve Dear One.  But the truth is that movement, progress, change, has, does, and always will require significantly less effort from you than trying to remain in one place ever will.

As you already know very well from experience, trying to stand still in the constantly flowing river of life requires so much more effort than trusting, letting go, and allowing yourself to go with the flow.

So today, we would like you to consider the possibility, Dear One, that you just may have had it backwards — that maybe, just maybe, it is your resistance to change, and not change itself, that is making the process feel so challenging for you.

Everyone is looking for/striving for/seeking beauty, Dear One – Every single one of you, without exception. 

The only problem is that more often than not, so many of you find yourself coming up short, frustrated with your search, not finding what you are looking for – left with the impression that beauty is rare or elusive.  Why?  Because many of you have no idea what beauty really is – so you look in all the wrong places, chase down all the wrong things trying to find it or create it.

Beauty is a feeling, an emotion, an energy.  It is the essence of who you are.  It is a state of openness, a state of trust and allowing, acceptance of the universe, of what is.  It is not flat abs and a shiny full head of hair.  It is not pouty lips, smooth tight skin or perfectly manicured nails .  Those things are all nothing more than limited physical attributes of the body.  True beauty is limitless.

To say that beauty is measured by how one looks – is like saying that intelligence is measured by how one smells.

Your eyes are not the determinant of beauty, Dear One, your heart is.

True beauty is not about how you look – it is about how you see.

Choose to see beauty in everything around you, Dear One and  you will.  It is there. It is built into everything.   As soon as you start looking for it, with your heart, you will find it and be in awe of its abundance.

May we suggest that you start with you.

The only thing that makes their path more significant than yours, their potential more powerful than yours, their successes more important than yours, their accomplishments more meaningful than yours Dear One, is you deeming it so.

Nothing more.

It is OK to move quickly through the paces of your life, Dear One – but know that it is not necessary.  No great benefit will come to you from rushing.  You will experience no faster advancement along your path.

The only thing that rushing will accomplish is for you to feel hurried in your experiences.  If you like the feeling/the experience of being hurried, then by all means, you can continue on at this pace.  But, if you would like a more savory experience of your life, slow down.  You will not miss out on anything by doing so.  We promise you that.  But you do run the risk of missing out on much, when you rush.

Scream, if you need to scream today, Dear One.

Cry, if you need to cry.

Lie, run away, compete, prove a point, be petty, be jealous, be mad, be silent.

Do, be, say whatever you need to, Dear One.

Just don’t quit.

Just don’t quit.

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No one, and we mean absolutely no one is perfect, Dear One.  And yet – at the same time, you are all absolute perfection.

This is not just another one of life’s contradictions that you are meant to accept and move on.  It is simply an answer from two different vantage points.

From your physical perspective, when you align your thoughts with your physical self, perfection is not possible.  People can deceive themselves with an illusion and think that it is attainable, but we can assure you that it is not. Preferences are real Dear One, perfection does not exist.

BUT when you choose to align yourself with your spiritual identity, with your spiritual self, then yes, you are perfect – all of you – each and everyone one of you is a perfect soul, a glorious spark of the divine, a piece of all that is.

You are both physical and spiritual at once, Dear One. Don’t try so hard to keep these parts of yourself separated from one another.  Open yourself up so that you can see/share/experience both realities simultaneously – your spiritual perfection and your physical imperfections.  You are spectacular any way you look at it.

Allow both of these identities to come into focus at once and live your life authentically, auspiciously and fully awake.

Embrace both your spiritual and physical self at once and you will see a new world emerge before you eyes, boundaries will shift and limitations will disappear.

Regret is an easy emotion to latch on to and embrace, Dear One.  Costly, but easy.

It serves to keep you rooted, in the past, attached to a moment that has come and gone.
It maintains the familiar, regardless of how uncomfortable, painful or damaging it may be.

But Forgiveness is hard. Forgiveness takes courage because it moves you beyond where you are, beyond what is known to you, beyond what is familiar to you.

Forgiveness releases – allows – heals – requires you to trust, love, and let go.  It serves to bring you back into the present and frees you from emotions, thoughts, and connections that are keeping you tethered to the past, be it 5 years ago, 5 days ago or 5 minutes ago.

Regret holds on, binds you, and keeps you cemented in one place.

Forgiveness releases, frees you, and allows you to move ahead.

So now you know.

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, and 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, at your own pace, in your time, however and whenever you are ready to do so, and start to make things better any time.

Even right now if you wanted to.

Today is the day, Dear One, to stop asking for permission – to stop waiting for permission and begin behaving like the powerful, divine creator that you are.

This is your journey, to do with as you please.

So… what are you going to do with it today?

How do you know if you should let it go, Dear One?

Ask yourself; is investing your energy in that emotion, in that relationship, in that exchange, in that conflict, in that fight, a worth wild investment for you?

That is how you know.