A piece of you is here, Dear One, and a piece of you is over there.  A piece of you is at your desk.  A piece of you is worrying about a friend.  A piece of you is planning dinner.  A piece of you is getting ready for what’s next, what if, and what could be. And a piece of you is thinking about all of the things that you need to do, want to do, have done but don’t believe that you have done well enough, and so on.

We get it.  You know how to do multiple things at once (or at least try to).  It is a skill that you have been practicing for most of your life with varying degrees of success.

But what if today you tried something new, Dear One?

What if today, instead, you practiced doing only one thing a time?

It is the fastest way we can think of that will help you to pull yourself right back together again.

Giving up is nothing to feel bad about, Dear One.  Did you know that it’s OK to want to give up from time to time?  That it can actually be good for you?  Giving up is the ultimate form of surrender.

When you have nothing left to lose – when you stop trying – when you stop resisting what is –  when you reach your point of surrender – anything can happen, if you let it.

Surrender does not need to be hopeless, devastating or an indicator of weakness.  It can be intentional, exciting and an indicator of strength. Don’t give up and expect the worst.  Give up and expect the best.  Give up control, fear, remorse, guilt, agitation.  Give up negativity.  Give yourself a break.  Try embracing surrender today and allow something unexpected to happen.

We watch you struggle day after day in your effort to hold-on, Dear One – hold-on to your job, hold-on to your relationships, hold-on to your health, hold-on to your security, hold-on to your control, hold-on to that which you know, understand and trust.

And we ask ourselves why.

Why do you try so hard to hold-on. Dear One when you can let go and float, fly, sail along your path instead?

If you are angry, Dear One, know this, they are not to blame.

Regardless of anything that they might have said, or done to piss you off or hurt you, they are still not to blame.

No one can make you feel something that does not already exist within you.

They can inspire you to get in touch with your anger, they can serve as an instigator, their actions can draw your anger up to the surface, but nothing that they do can inject anger into your heart.

Isn’t that great news?

Now you know, Dear One, that when you are angry and you are ready to deal with it, that you don’t have go back and deal with them in order to do it.

You only have to deal with yourself.

Do you want to feel better right now, Dear One?

Choose a better feeling thought, right now.

If it should inspire in you a better feeling action, take it.

*Repeat 

Before you take even one more step forward, Dear One, forgive yourself; for whatever it is that you did yesterday that you regret, that you wish you had not done, that you wish you had done better, that you wish you could take back, change, erase or undo.

Forgive yourself – no questions asked, without judgment, without condition, without threat of punishment or fear of condemnation.

Just forgive yourself.

Give yourself this gift today.

You deserve it.

And those around you deserve it too.

All of your thoughts, words, actions, and connections will be all the more powerful, genuine, authentic and meaningful, Dear One, when you are fully present in the here and now, when you are no longer holding yourself hostage in your past.

There are two ways that you can choose to respond to any situation, Dear One:

• Like the victim of your circumstance
• Like the creator of your circumstance

One defines you as powerless and the other as powerful.

Which are you going to choose to be today?

If you want to start feeling better about the decisions that you are making in your life, Dear One, we have a suggestion for you:

Only make decisions that you feel good about, and stop asking other people what they think about them.

Learning how to be brave, Dear One, is not about learning how to ignore your fears.  It is not about learning how to summon up the courage to push, force, or convince yourself to do something that you are afraid to do, that you don’t think you are capable of doing.

Learning how to be brave is about learning how to listen to and trust that part of yourself that knows exactly what it is that you are capable of, that knows exactly how much you can endure, that knows exactly just how powerful, clever, resilient, valuable, and strong you are, and prioritizing that voice above every other one that is telling you otherwise.

[NOTE: A recent repeat but this is the reminder that I needed most today.  Breathe with me, won’t you?]

• Choose what comes in
• Choose what goes out

• Choose to hold on
• Choose to let go

• Choose what you want more of
• Choose what you want less of

• Choose what is worthy of your attention
• Choose what to ignore

• Choose what matters
• Choose what does not

Your choices are the breathe of your life, Dear One.

They sustain you. They nourish you.  They replenish or deplete.

They determine the pace, quality and depth of the days, months and years of your life.

Like your breath, Dear One, your choices are more powerful when given the benefit of your full attention.