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

Your world can be dominated by good feelings, Dear One; by pleasure and joy, and contentment, and balance, and love, if only you would allow yourself to believe that to experience these things you don’t first have to pay a high price for them.

There is no posture or practice or mantra or diet or book or teacher or regimen that you must first master in order to be joyful, in order to be happy, or peaceful, or secure, or content, or compassionate, or forgiving, or to live a more conscious life.

The only requirement is that allow yourself to feel good.

And the surest way to do that, Dear One, is to focus your attention on that which makes you happy/feel good, on that which is possible, on that which is right, on that which you desire, on that which makes you smile, laugh, anticipate the best, on that which you are grateful for.

Yoga and meditation and exercise and a healthy diet, and spiritual practice are all ways that can help you to achieve balance in your mental,  physical and spiritual life. And that balance will help you to feel good, to stay healthy, to feel strong and be more confident in yourself, in your body, in your ability to handle any situation, in your capacity to trust.

But they are just a means to an end.

The answer that you are looking for today, Dear One is simple –  Make choices that make you feel good.

Honor yourself, Dear One.

Until you do, no one else ever will.

^

Once you come to the realization, Dear One, that feeling good or better, being happy, and experiencing joy through connection with your source, yourself, nature, or those around you, really is the most important thing, then choosing and making decisions about your life day in and day out, really should become a much easier, much less conflicted process for you.

Our wish for you today, Dear One, is that you will allow yourself to break with tradition, to take a break from your norms, from what is comfortable and familiar to you, from your habitual thoughts, patterns, behaviors, and beliefs and venture into the unknown — going where your heart, and opportunity leads you — without fear, without hesitation, without question.  And that you be brave, confident, trusting, and gentle on yourself as you do.

You can always choose to turn back if you would like, and return to familiar patterns, familiar behaviors, and familiar beliefs. You can always choose to revert back to what is known, anytime you would like – if you want to.

So you’ve really got nothing to lose.

Will you do it?

[NOTE: Yes this is a recent repeat, but someone really needed it again today.]

Decide right now, Dear One, before you do anything else, how you are going to approach this day.

Are you going to react to it, and all of the people, circumstances and events in it, or are you going to intentionally create it? Are you going to approach it with confidence or with fear?  With trust or with doubt? With excitement or with dread?  With self-pity or with gratitude? With an open heart or a closed one? With a belief in limitations or in endless possibilities?

Think carefully about your answer, Dear One, choose it very consciously, because whatever you decide right now, is going to impact every other decision that you make today, and your experience of every single thing that follows.

It is not your responsibility to teach them, Dear One.

It is your responsibility to find your voice and use it.

And if others should hear your words and be motivated by them, learn from them, be inspired by them, or take-action as a result of them, then so be it.

You can’t punish yourself for making a mistake, misjudgment, or misstep, Dear One, and come back into alignment, return to your flow, make it right again, at the same time.

You’re going to have to choose, one or the other.

You’re going to have to decide which is more important to you; returning to well-being and restoring balance, or remaining self-critical.

What’s it going to be?

With power comes great responsibility, Dear One.

But you should know that the opposite is also true.

With responsibility comes great power.

The more you take responsibility for your life—your choices, thoughts, words, actions and reactions—and accept that you are the one responsible for creating, attracting, and allowing every experience that you have, the more powerful you will be.

You are a vibrational being. Dear One, and as such, you are quite literally connected to everything and everyone around you.

Everything that you do, think, feel, say, act out, choose, create, or destroy, has an impact on your world and everything in it, has an impact on your body and every cell in it.

It all counts. Dear One.

So the question to ask yourself today is not “Do I want to try and make an impact on the world around me?”.

The question to ask is “What kind of impact do I want to make”.