YOU, Dear One, who you are, your authentic self, is the greatest gift that you have to give to the world.

You want to know how you can be of greatest service today?

Be you.

Why do their feelings about you impact you so, Dear One?  Why does their emotional state, what they feel and think about you have so much effect on you?

That’s easy.

The reason that their feelings towards you distress you, hurt you, worry you, upset you so much is because you believe that you are lacking in some way, Dear One, that you are lacking something that you can only get from them.

But the truth of it is, Dear One, that that there is nothing that you can get from anyone else that you can not get, attract, acquire, or create on your own.  The truth of it is that you are not beholden to anyone, for anything.

No one can give or take anything from you.  The idea that you have in your mind that they can is simply an illusion.  You and you alone are in control, are responsible for what you allow into your life, into your experience, and what you keep out of it.

They are nothing more than a mirror, Dear One, reflecting back to you your belief of that which you believe you are worthy of receiving and that which you believe you are not.

Make sense?

Easy does it, Dear One.

There is no need for you to stress. There is no need for you to take it all on at once. This is no need for you to rush through this moment simply to get to the next.

There is no need for you to work without pleasure. There is no need for you to hold on to anger. There is no need for you to remain fearful. There is no need for you to punish them because you are in pain.

There is no need for you to pretend to be someone that you are not. There is no need for you to pretend to feel something that you do not. And there is most definitely no need for you to allow other peoples circumstances to effect you as much as you have been allowing them to effect you.

This is your life, Dear One.

The most important person in it is you.

The most important moment is now.

The most important thing that you can do for yourself today is give yourself permission to re-evaluate your needs.

Make yourself smile today, Dear one.

How?

By making choices that make you smile.

What we know, Dear One, that you might not, is that the only force in the universe that is capable of preventing you from doing, being, having, accomplishing, creating, or completing anything that you want, is you.

The problem, Dear One, is not with you – or with the people around you – or with your situation – or with the circumstances you now find yourself in.

The only problem or dilemma that you have that needs fixing, as far as we can tell, is your thinking; your thoughts about yourself, about the people around you, about your situation,  about your circumstances, about what’s possible.

And your thoughts, Dear One, are and always will be, well within your power to change.

So, what was the problem again?

There truly is nothing for you to be afraid of, Dear One.  We would love nothing more than to see you open up completely and embrace the idea of living, of being alive, without fear.   Try it and see.

Release your tight grip on the world and on yourself, and trust, float for a little while.  It’s not being lazy, or irresponsible or childish if you do.  We promise.

The river is there for you to interact with in any manner that you see fit.  You can walk in it.  You can run in it.  You can swim laps in it or, you can choose to just let go and float, and let the river carry you to wherever you are headed.

Be afraid if you want to be.  That is your choice.  But we are here to tell you that it won’t serve you the way that you think it will.  Fear does not slow things down or prevent thing from coming to pass. It only serves to diminish your ability to experience joy, peace and contentment in the moment.

Let the story unfold, Dear One.  Don’t try so hard to write it.  It has an ending that is so much better than anything you could ever possibly imagine for yourself – if you will only allow it to be so.

When it comes to love, Dear One, forget about trying to change yourself, bend yourself, twist yourself, mold yourself into something that you think will inspire someone else to love you. It would not be a worthy use of your time – and it won’t work.   Trust us.

When it comes to love, what matters most is not someone else’s experience of you– but your experience of you.

You want to be loved? You want to be adored? You want to be cherished?

To you we say – Love yourself – Cherish yourself – Adore yourself.

The experience of these things will be so much sweeter, will have so much more meaning, so much more impact, so much more influence on your life when they come from you then they ever possibly could coming from anyone else. If you don’t feel these things/believe that you are worthy of things from yourself first, how could you possibly embrace them coming from someone else?

If you want more of these things in your life, Dear One, give them to yourself.  Give yourself all of the things that you have been waiting, hoping, praying that someone else would give you and watch and see what happens.

Watch and see how quickly it will be before others will be lining up give them to you as well – to share in the experience of you with you.

Smile, Dear One.  Smile big and smile often because in your smile is an energy that you project to yourself and to the world around you.  Even if no one is around.  Even if no one ever sees it.  Keep smiling.

Laugh.  Laugh out loud every chance that you get.  Don’t hold back.  Laughter is an elixir for you and it really can cure what ails you – because you are never more open then when you are laughing.  It is like standing outside in the rain and trying not to get wet.  That is what laughter is like for healing.  You can’t stand in the rain without getting wet and you can’t laugh without allowing wellness.

Smile and laugh today, Dear One, and you will be doing more for your health than any pill or doctor ever could.