Love is an inside job, Dear One.   Totally and completely.

Experiencing it, enjoying it, feeling as though you have enough of it in your life, has very little to do with them, with their thoughts, feelings, actions, beliefs, and behavior towards you, and everything to do with you.

If you are not open to it, if your heart is not open to receiving love, if you don’t practice loving yourself and others, you will never feel it, you will never feel as if you have enough of it in your life, no matter how much they love you, no matter how often they tell you, no matter how many different ways they try to show you.

But, if you are open to it Dear One, if you open your heart to the experience of love, to the love that exists all around you, that is flowing to you and through you at all times, you will never be without it, you could never be without it, you will never know the experience of feeling a lack of it in your life again.

A flower does not ask why, or how, or when to blossom, Dear One.  It just happens.

Circumstances and conditions dictate the rate, and speed, and timing of growth, as well as the characteristics of the individual seed.

The flower does not choose them, it discovers them.

You’ll flourish under the right circumstances , Dear One. Just pay attention; to what feels good and what feels better.

Some plants flourish in direct sunlight, and others in the shade.

You are not a less beautiful or less valuable flower if direct sunlight causes you to wilt.

The optimal conditions for you will not be the optimal conditions for them.

Let them bloom where they are most nourished, and allow yourself to do the same, without guilt, shame, or remorse.

Embrace your optimal conditions, Dear One, and don’t you dare for one minute feel badly that they are not for everyone. They are not feeling badly for you.

When the conditions are right for you, you’ll know it.  There is no need for you to question them.  Your only job is to embrace them, enjoy them, and to allow yourself to flourish in them when you discover them. And to grow.

^

Did you know that it is only in the absence of trust, Dear One, that you experience struggle?

If you want to know what’s wrong with the world, Dear One, and your response to the anger is anger, to the outrage is outrage, to the violence is violence, and to the hatred is hatred, you should know that regardless of how good your intentions are, that you need not look any further than yourself to begin to understand the answer.

• Be kind
• Be caring
• Be complementary
• Be truthful
• Be sincere
• Be thoughtful in all you say and do
• Be compassionate and forgiving
• Be honest
• Be respectful
• Be open minded
• Release expectations
• Encourage passions
• Acknowledge feelings
• Have lots of fun

These are just some of the things that you do for someone that you love, Dear One.

And we would like to encourage you to start doing them all, for yourself.

We know that you know who you are, Dear One.

And we know that you know what you are capable of.

How do we know that you know?

Because the answer to both is whatever you decide that it is.

Remember that while you are making up your mind.

NOTE TO SELF:

If you are already running late, Dear One, if you are already behind schedule, or the deadline has been missed, rushing, hurrying, being scattered, frantic, angry, short tempered and stressed out about it, is not going to fix it, undo it, or magically make it better in any way, shape or form.

But calming down, collecting yourself, being grounded, centered, and fully present and aware as you continue to make your way just might!

No one can tell you what you are worth, Dear One.

It just doesn’t work that way. You have to tell them.

And you do, everyday.

You tell them with every choice that you make, with every word that you speak,  and with every action that you take.

Forgive them for their mistakes, Dear One, their shortcomings, their faults, their ignorance, and their impatience.

Forgive their actions when they react out of fear, their words when they respond from pain, their behaviors when they get defensive, and their callousness when they are cruel.

They are not perfect. They are deeply flawed. They are hurting, healing, learning, and coping the best way that they know how. Believe it or not, they are actually doing the very best that they believe that they are capable of.

They are imperfect, Dear One – just like you.

Forgive them without expectation, without condition, without question and without hesitation.

Why?

Because doing so is one of the most powerful healing gifts that you can give to yourself.