The only time that what they say, what they think, and what they believe matters, Dear One, is when you decide that it does.

If your goal is to extend your suffering, Dear One, to make it worse, add to it, expand upon it, and invite as many people as you possible can to join you in it, then by all means keep talking about it, beating yourself up about it, focusing on it, and judging yourself harshly for whatever it is that you believe that you have done or have had done to you, to bring it about.

But, if what you want is to find relief from it, heal from it, improve upon it, distance yourself from it, change it for the better, move past it, and in every way possible, get over it as quickly as you possibly can, then you’re going to want to stop doing all of those things and choose positive, loving, compassionate, hopeful and forgiving words, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors instead.

Do you want to know the best way to protect yourself in love, Dear One, to take care of your heart and keep it safe, to strengthen it, guard it, honor and respect it?

We’ll tell you.

Open it, trust it, and use it, as often as you possibly can.

That’s how.

You can’t quit, Dear One.

• Not because you shouldn’t.
• Not because you couldn’t
• Not because it’s a sign of weakness, failure or an admittance of guilt or incompetence if you do

You can’t quit because whatever it is you are trying to get away from by quitting is not going to go away until you deal with it, confront it, face it, handle it, learn from it, address it head on.  It will keep coming back, in one form or another, again and again and again, until you do.

When it comes down to it, quitting really is nothing more than a delay tactic.

It is a defeatist act rooted in frustration, desperation and a belief in powerlessness, and it resolves nothing

But making a conscious decision to walk away, choosing to make a different choice, an empowered choice, now that is an entirely different story altogether.

It’s not about tomorrow, or what’s next, or what was, or what may be.  It is about right now, as it is, in this moment.

In this moment  – you have the ability to make a different choice, to have a different experience, to love a little more, to be a little kinder, to flourish, to be brave, to take a risk, to let it go, to live.  Now, in this moment –  you can choose to be confident – you can choose to take care of yourself – you can choose to impact the lives of others – you can choose to trust and try and trust and try again.  For it is the only thing that is real, Dear One.  Now.

You keep forgetting and we will keep finding ways to remind you that now is the only moment that matters.  When you come to believe this, in your heart and in  your head and in  your soul, then you will be home.  The desire to be anywhere but exactly where you are will dissipate.  All questions will dissolve and you will find peace, contentment and satisfaction right where you are.

The most important question that you need to ask yourself, Dear One, once you decide what it is that you want, is not Can I do this? but Will I do this?

• Will you allow yourself to believe that it’s possible?
• Will you allow that belief to inspire you to action?
• Will you allow certainty to dominate your thoughts?
• Will you choose to move forward with confidence?
• Will you choose to make feeling good about it a priority?
• Will you choose to let go of all of the things that no longer serve you, including negative thoughts, actions, behaviors, and relationships that are keeping you from it?
• Will you choose to allow it into your life, gently, quickly, graciously, joyfully?

We know that you can, Dear One.

But will you?

How do you treat someone when you love them, Dear One?

• Do you call them stupid when they make a mistake?
• Do you call them ugly when they gain a few pounds?
• Do you yell at them for coming in 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, or last even?
• Do you tell them that they are failure when things don’t work out as planned?
• Do you judge them for not making more money?
• Do you think less of them when they are not well?

Do you see where we are going here?

You don’t only hurt when you are injured, Dear One. You don’t only feel discomfort when something is broken.

Sometimes you hurt because you are in a space that no longer fits you, that is too small for you, that you have outgrown.

This may be one of those times.

How do you know?  If you believe that feeling better will require you to move backwards, to undo something that has already been been done, to take back something that has already been said, you know.

If that is the case Dear One, don’t try and fix it.  Don’t try to stop it, bandage it or cure it.  Don’t spend your time running around looking for a remedy that will help you to restore what was, that will allow you to move yourself back into the place that you were before, back into that space that felt safe, familiar and comfortable to you.

You don’t belong there anymore.

Just let it be.  Allow yourself to feel the unease, to feel the tension, to feel the discomfort that comes from being in a place that doesn’t fit.  Allow it to inspire within you a desire to move forward, from where you are now to someplace new, to someplace larger, more spacious and wide open.

And then when that inspiration strikes, Dear One, when you see an opportunity that will allow you to move ahead instead of back, take it.

Yes, sometimes you hurt because you are injured and you need to retreat, rest, and allow what was to be restored.

But only you can know for sure, if now is really one of those times.

You want to change your past, Dear One?

You go right on ahead and do it.

Don’t you dare for one minute believe that you can’t.

No, you don’t have the ability to go back in time and change the details, the course of events, the physical acts that took place.

But what you do have the ability to do, is far more powerful than that.

You have the ability to redefine them, to change your perspective of them, to change your relationship to them, to change their significance to you, and to change their meaning and importance in your life today.

Trying to assess where you are in your life, your level of success, by looking to your past to see where you have been and looking to your future to see where you are heading, will not yield you any meaningful results, Dear One.

Why?

Because the spectrum on which you are standing is eternal. Trying to determine your specific location on a scale that is eternal would be like trying to pinpoint  the location of one specific drop of water in the ocean.

If you want to know where you stand in the spectrum of your life Dear One, with regards to your level of success, answer the only question that will ever be able to provide you with a meaningful answer:

Am I happy right now?