We know that you are tough,  Dear One and we know that you are strong, and clever, and resourceful tool.  We know that you are extremely capable of coping with, adapting to, accepting, and working around obstacles, difficulties, and pain.

But the truth is that we don’t want you to be.

What we want for you Dear One, is that when you first feel that splinter go in, when you first feel that little prick of pain, when that alarm sounds and you experience those first pangs of concern, distress, discomfort, hurting, or dis-ease, that you give your coping skills a rest for a change.

We don’t want to see you reach for your usual box of Band-Aids and show us and the rest of the world just how well you can adapt to it, cope with it, rationalize it or downplay it and keep on going.  What we want Dear One, is to see you reach for the tweezers instead.

We don’t want you getting better, and becoming more practiced at learning to live with the little pricks in your life.  We want you getting better at removing them, while they are still small, before they have a chance to take root, evolve, spread, and grow and into bigger ones.

It’s all about timing, Dear One.  And the time that should always hold the most significance for you is the present time – the now – this moment.

Part of what is so incredible about this physical reality that you are living, is that it allows you to break down eternity into moment-by-moment experiences.  It allows you to actively, fully and completely engage with each-and-every experience, one-at-a-time. That is what is truly miraculous about the gift of time, and so many of you are missing the boat completely on this one.

You, in this physical state, get to experience a sequential reality and not just a spectral reality, as is the experience of spirit.  That is one of the reasons you have come forth.  To experience one moment at a time.  So don’t be so quick to avoid doing so.  Don’t be so quick to toss moments aside.  Don’t be so quick to fill up each and every second to the point of distraction.  Don’t be quick to focus on “what next” instead of “what now”.  Don’t be so quick Dear One,  Period!

Don’t curse time for moving too fast or moving too slow. For prolonging your pain or cutting short your pleasure.  You are still the one in charge of how you choose to experience its passage.    That power has and always will rest with you, not with time.  Time is a gift Dear One.  Not a curse.   Make a choice to experience it with grace, ease and gratitude.  Use it.  Enjoy it.  Celebrate it, because the experience of it is one of the biggest reasons you have come forth.

Just because there is more for you to learn, Dear One, more for you to figure out, to do, try, experience, heal, and become, does not mean that you are lacking, broken, deficient or less than in any way, shape, or form.

Through our eyes, you are and always will be glorious, divine, beautiful, creative, and loved, an absolutely essential part of the whole, just the way you are, right now.

If you truly understood, Dear One, just how extremely powerful, amazingly precious, uniquely gifted, and absolutely essential you are, just as you are, you would never again speak another unkind word, think another unkind thought, or do another unkind thing to yourself, ever again.

You are meant to know more today than you did yesterday, Dear One.   Don’t punish yourself for that which you did not know before – praise yourself for that which you do know now.

And remember that this holds true for those around you as well.  They too are in the process of learning.  They too will know more tomorrow than they do today.  While you are practicing acceptance and forgiveness of yourself as you learn Dear One, remember to practice it for those around you as well.

Don’t fault each other for that which you have not yet learned– Help each other to learn all that you can.

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.

Create from an angry, frustrated, stressed out, fearful place, Dear One, and no matter how hard you work, how hard you try, how good your intentions are, the very best that you are ever going to be able to do is create more of the same.

You can’t make an apple pie with peaches.

Make sense?

You are so much more powerful that you think you are, Dear One.

Today, just for the day, do us a favor, and behave as if you believe it.

Whatever it is Dear One, that is bothering you, irritating you, frustrating you, frightening you, intimidating you, discouraging you, or causing you anguish, pain or distress;

• Deal with it; confront it, transform it, resolve it
• Or let it go

Those really are the only two options available to you that are going to serve you in any useful or positive way.

Getting angry or resentful, denying what is, seeking revenge, indulging in self-pity, self-righteousness or self-importance, hiding, running away, or complaining to anyone who will listen, will only serve to prolong, intensify or increase your suffering.

But don’t take our word for it.  Experience really is a much better teacher than we ever could be.

You don’t need to change your reality to begin to turn things around, Dear One — just your mind.