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.

What you do today matters so much more than what you did yesterday, Dear One.

Your energy, your attention, your effort, your focus, your creativity, your love, will be so much better spent here, rather than there.

Choosing to hold on, Dear One, just may be the choice that is holding you back.

Something that is right for you, that is a vibration match to you, will move right along with you.

If you have to stop, stand still or move backwards repeatedly or for extended periods of time in order to keep it, if you feel like you are having to hold-on tighter and tighter to keep from losing it, you may want to consider the possibility that it is no longer right for you, and that it may be time for you to let it go and move on without it.

What if you knew, Dear One, with absolute certainty, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everything was going to be ok, that everything was going to work out?

• How do you think you would feel?
• How do you think you would behave?
• How do you think you would love, work, play, choose, sleep, eat, shop, connect?

Differently than you do now?

Want to find out?

Then all you need to do is this one simple thing – Trust.

Trust us when we tell you this Dear One, with absolute certainty, beyond a shadow of a doubt –  Everything is going to be ok, everything is going to work out.

You can count on it – and act accordingly.

Trust us, Dear One, they won’t stop loving you if you need to say no from time to time.

We know it can be tough to do when you want to help, when you so very much want what’s best for them.

When someone is hurting or scared or confused, their attention is focused on their discomfort, on their pain, on themselves, on telling you what it is that they need, which is completely understandable.

But here’s what they are not telling you:  They want what’s best for you, too.

Please remember balance in all things, Dear One; that includes being of service to others as well as being of service to yourself.

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.

Just in case you were wondering Dear One, the antidote to conflict is acceptance.

Complete and total acceptance.

Not approval.  Not agreement.  Not compromise.  Not settling.  Not accommodating.  Not pretending.  Not lying.  Not cheating. Not faking it.  And most definitely not resignation.

If you want to diffuse a conflict Dear One, accept what is, exactly as it is, for exactly what it is, as quickly as you possibly can.

And once you do, once you stop pushing, resisting, railing against what is, once you let go of the emotional charge that conflict brings to a situation, then, and only then, will you be in a position (a very powerful one actually) to make a thoughtful, rational, intentional, and heartfelt decision about what you are going to do next.

No one can take more from you, Dear One, than you willingly give to them, be it intentionally or unintentionally.

Your depletion has absolutely nothing to do with them, with their treatment of you, or their demands on you and your time, and absolutely everything to do with your treatment of you, your demands on yourself, and on your time.

If you are feeling depleted Dear One, taken advantage of, knocked around, and no longer in control of your own time and energy, look no further than the reflection in the mirror to see the face of the only one responsible for making you feel that way.

Learning to play the accordion, paint, teach, or split an atom requires practice, Dear One.

So does learning how to be more open, bold, tolerant, loving, trusting, and accepting of yourself and others.

Whenever you are practicing something new, regardless of what it is, we want you to know that it is essential that you also remember to practice patience too if you ever hope to achieve any level of success.

Not because we want you to expect or anticipate that whatever it is you learning is going to take a long time to achieve, because it may not.

We want you to practice patience Dear One, because of your tendency to want to punish, judge harshly, or put yourself down when you encounter something new, when you come across something that you have not yet mastered, when you discover that you do not yet already know it all. (i.e. I can’t believe I missed that, how come this is so hard for me, how stupid of me to have not known that, and so on. You get the idea.)

Why does it matter?

Because you can’t judge yourself, be frustrated with yourself, or put yourself down and grow in any positive way at the same time.

We can see that you have a strong desire to live a more authentic life,  Dear One, and yet… you don’t.

You allow your fear of rejection, being alone, being wrong, being made fun of, disappointing, being less than perfect, or failing, stop you from trying, stop you from speaking up, stop you from being the real you.

Well, its time to put to an end to that, Dear One.

It’s time for you to join the ranks of the fallible.

• It’s time for you to allow yourself to join those who make mistakes, who fall down, who fail, who don’t always do the right thing at the right time, who sometimes get hurt, and who sometimes, despite their best efforts, hurt others.
• It’s time for you to allow yourself to join those who knows that if they fall, they can get back up, that if they fail, they can try again, that if they get hurt, they will heal.
• It’s time for you to allow yourself to join those that know that playing it safe, that not trying, that not speaking up, that not being your authentic self, is and will always be a far more agonizing, frustrating, painful, disappointing and damaging experience in the long run, then not trying ever will be.