Don’t make NOW the moment that you gave up, ear One. Don’t make it the moment that you failed, or the moment that it didn’t work either. Don’t make it the moment that you didn’t get it done, that you didn’t measure up, that you couldn’t make it work, or that you realized that you were just too far off course to ever get yourself over to the place where you really want to be.

Make NOW an empowered moment, an powerful moment, a triumphant moment.

Make NOW the moment that you made up your mind to turn it all around instead.

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.

You can choose to trust, Dear One, or you can choose to try.

• When you trust you are making a decision to open yourself up and allow the unlimited potential of the universe to bring to you or bring you to that which is for your greatest good.

• When you try without trusting, you are making a decision to rely on yourself and the limited capacity of your physical reality to do what needs to be done.

Both will work. Both will serve you.  Both will move you in the direction that you want to go.

The biggest difference between the two, Dear One, is the amount of energy that you will have to exert to get there, and the amount of time it will take.

Why do you so often feel as if you are in a competition, Dear One?

Because you are, because you are choosing to see them as competitors, and that is not is necessarily a bad thing.

Competition can push you.  It can motivate you and inspire you, and drive you to work harder, try harder, and do your best to push yourself beyond not just how far you believe you can go, but beyond how far you believe they can go too. Competition can be a great way to get you to move beyond your own limitations, crash through self-imposed boundaries, and discover exactly what you are made of, what you are capable of.

The fact that you feel as if you are in a competition is not the problem, Dear One.  The fact that you think that your ranking at the finish line matters, is.

Some days you will be confident, and some days you will be insecure. Some days you will feel pretty and some days you will feel plain.  Some days you will be adored, and some days you will be lonely.  Some days you will be creative, and some days you will be dull.  Some days you will be kind, and some days you will be cruel. Some days you will do no wrong, and some days you will do no right.

But know this, Dear One, that in this life that is full of contradictions, full of realities that are true one minute and not true the next, one thing will never stop being true, and that is that you will never stop being powerful.

You can never stop being powerful.  It is who and what you are.

Now you can choose to use your power to create things that you want in this life, or you can choose to use your power to create things that you despise, or fear, or secretly think that you deserve.   But either way, Dear One, no matter what, you can never stop being powerful, you can never give your power away, or run out of it, or lose it, or have it taken from you, ever.

You can be tricked into thinking it is gone, you can trick yourself into thinking it is gone too. But regardless of how you feel, what you have been told, or what you believe, you will still be powerful, you will still have the power that creates worlds running through you, at your fingertips, at all times, to do with as you please.  You will still be the one with the pen in your hand, writing your story, creating your world, with every thought that you think, word that you speak,  action that you take, and belief that you hold in your heart.

Are you any less spiritual, Dear One, when you skip yoga, don’t meditate, pass on the weekly service, don’t make the donation, cut in line, think bad thoughts, do not want to help, or forget to give up your seat on the subway, bus, ferry, or train to the passenger that is older, weaker, needier, or more pregnant than you?

Absolutely, not.

You are a spiritual being no matter what you do.

But it is your belief, your consciousness, your level of acceptance of the fact that you are a part of something larger than yourself, that you are one part of a whole, that you are divine, and are at once a reflection of the world around you as well as the creator of it, that determines your level of awareness of this fact.

You can choose to be a spiritually aware person, Dear One, or you can choose to be a spiritually unaware person. And that choice can change from day to day. But you cannot, not matter what, regardless of what you do, think, say, or believe, choose to be anything other than divine at all times.

Remember, Dear One, an emotion is something that you feel, it is not something that defines who you are.

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.

We can understand your desire to want to protect yourself, Dear One, to want to keep yourself safe from harm, to want to do all that you can to avoid injuring yourself, both physically and emotionally, and to want to keep others from doing the same.  And you should know that we want that for you too.

You should also know that nothing makes you more vulnerable then cutting yourself off from your source, than shutting down your heart, ignoring your intuition and holding yourself back because you are afraid.

The more you trust, Dear One, the more you open up, the more you allow yourself to love, connect, and move forward with an open heart, the safer you will be!

When unwanted things happen, Dear One, it is not uncommon for many of you to ask; Did I do something bad to deserve this? Am I being punished?

And our answer to this question is always the same; No, you absolutely did not.

Imbalance is not a punishment.
It is simply a reality of misalignment.

Like cold is a reality of snow, and heat is a reality of the sun.

So, no, Dear One, when unwanted things happen, know that it is absolutely not because you deserve it, and you absolutely are not being punished.

And now that you know, you can release yourself from the restrictive bonds of this belief, and allow yourself to get back to focusing your attention on the vitally important work of seeking alignment, and restoring balance.

^^