Look at your hands. Go ahead, hold them out in front of you, and take a good long, look at them. These hands do a lot. Think about what these hands do for you during the course of a day. The value of these hands in your life is immense.

Now picture the most precious thing you do with these hands. Do they cradle your child? Do they caress your spouse? Do they brush the hair of your aging mother? Picture your hands doing that very precious chore for you, whatever it is. And feel the power, the love, that emanates from those hands as they perform this precious chore for you. Imagine your hands doing that cherished act right here, right now.

Now take one of these hands and hold it up to your cheek. Gently rub your cheek. Imagine that cheek is your child’s cheek, your spouse’s shoulder, or your mother’s forehead. Let yourself melt into that hand for a moment. Feel the love that is in that hand. Absorb that love, as you would want any cherished being in your life to absorb it. Lean your head into your hand as your loved one would lean into it. Feel the love that is pulsing out of that hand. That love is immense.

That love is you. What you just felt from your own hand is a hint of your own power of self, trying to bring itself to bear.

Did that feeling just now from your own hand make you feel good, if even for moment? Did it give you a glimpse of calm, a fragment of soothing acceptance? Did it? Does that surprise you?

It shouldn’t.

And if you really grasped the truth of who you are, the immensity of the love you are at your core, a manifestation of the pure light of creation, you would wonder instead why your reaction to your hand’s touch was not bigger!

Whatever level of love you live for, you can reach higher. Whatever level of love you give, you can give more. Whatever level of love you receive, you can receive more. Whatever level of love you expect from the world, you can expect more.

Learn, in all ways, to be love. Not romantic love, not sappy love, not the love you see on television, or read about in magazines. Be the love your creator made you from.  Unconditional, life-affirming, and powerful.

Whatever you experience right here right now, you can have more.

Calm in the outside world is relative.

In some parts of the world today, calm may be that an earthquake’s after-shocks are further apart and no new big temblors are experienced.

In another part of the world, calm may be that the artillery fire of troops-of-war may be in the distance, rather than at the door.

In another part of the world, calm may be experienced by the first budding of trees into spring’s new life.

It’s all relative outside.

But what about inside? The calm we can experience inside can be maintained regardless of the order of calm that may or may not surround us. Calm inside means we are larger than circumstances, that the state of the world cannot take away our own power to choose.

When we are calm inside, we are able to see creative solutions, we handle uncertainty with grace, and we hold other people with love in our hearts. We are free to display generosity and kindness, because these acts don’t threaten our ability to survive whatever we are facing.

And when we are not calm inside, there is always a road that leads back to calm. Calm is our natural state. it is where the body-mind-spirit meet and bring us to our inner home. We may have little power to create calm in our environment, but we always have power to create a calm interior.

It’s your choice. And truth is, if you make the effort to create this inner state of calm when it’s not imperative, it will be easier to achieve and maintain when it is imperative.

May calm be with you.

We all have dreams. Even if in depression or pain we feel our dreams have been crushed or damaged, they are still our dreams.

When a dream teeters on the edge of destruction, the first thing to do is get it out of yourself.

A newly born dream needs to incubate. You hold it inside and it grows with your passion. This is only good for a time though, because until you get it out of yourself, you can be tempted to give up on it. It’s easy to drown something that has no arms and legs of it’s own.

Here are some suggestions on how to get your dream out of you and begin to give it a life of it’s own:

• Write it down on paper.
• Tell your family or friends.
• Start a blog about the topic.
• Start a journal of what you learn about your dream.
• Make a dream board.
• Place it on a 3×5 card and paste it to your mirror.
• Write a song about it.

In other words, do whatever it takes to grant that dream arms and legs so that when you are tempted to let it go, it grabs onto you and won’t leave!

We all trudge through life from time to time. We move as if our feet are mired in molasses.

But when we do, if we are careful to read the signs that appear, an escalator present itself to whisk us out of the mire and up onto a new level – a new perspective.

I used to think these escalators were few and far between, but now I realize they are everywhere and hungrily waiting for passengers.

So take the next escalator that appears to you. Maybe it will be the very next one that appears, or perhaps just the next one you see, but in any case, take it! It matters not what the escalator looks like, only that it takes you to a place where everything looks different. For in that place of new perspectives is where the magic resides!

If something is not to your liking, do not dwell on it. Shun the urge to declare your distaste of it to those around you. Speaking about a thing calls it to your consciousness which then anchors it into your field of vision. Rather turn your gaze from it to something you would rather draw, something you would rather invite.

Spend your attention wisely. It is the currency of your life and worth more than gold!

You must care!

What you care about is up to you. But make no mistake, you must find something to care for.

You have a magnificent, incredibly resilient human heart. And that heart can only stay resilient if it is given a reason to remain open, living and healthy.

When you choke off the desire and caring that you have for life and all that comes with it, you literally choke off the life-force that gives you health and the benefits that go with it.

Caring for people, things and causes in the world builds on a foundation of caring for yourself. However you get there, whatever brings you a sense of belonging, whoever lifts your heart in song, this is what you care for. Caring takes love. Caring takes forgiveness. And caring takes a willingness to heal your heart and give it the food it needs to live!

And it all starts with one thing. Find that thing for you must care for it.

Intention is more than just a wish. Intention is the seed for thought. And thought, as we know, is the substance of matter. Intention is the blueprint upon which the very matter of your world is made manifest.

Belief forms the constraints under which your thoughts take form upon the blueprint of your intentions. Belief is entirely in your control! You can form and reform your beliefs about the world, about yourself, about anything, anytime.

So take responsibility for your beliefs to limit the number of your constraints! Then, set your intentions with diligence and watch the very structures around you transform.

Your calling is your calling – YOUR calling.

It is the what of your why.  It is the heart-song of your unique concert.

It is not universal, though it may have universal consequences – or – the output of your calling may ring true to the many.  But the calling is unique.   [continued below picture]

In the fractal of this world, and as a human, your calling is an integral part of the whole of our healing.  Regardless, however, of it’s integral nature, it may not be understood or uplifted by anyone else.  It is your unique understanding of the nature of your calling that works to propel you toward its furtherance.

Any thought of need for another to approve of the path you are here to walk, is your own fear blocking the clarity of your call.

So let go of the need for approval and get on with walking to the song of your own heart.  Your calling is awaiting you.  And the rest of us are awaiting your fractalized completion of our collective healing.

When one has lived long enough to be considered a well-seasoned adult as I have, it’s very difficult to boil down life into one outstanding event. I’ve given a lot of thought to this question of what might be my most significant accomplishment. I’ve considered writing about receiving my bachelors degree, but that’s rather commonplace. I’ve considered elaborating on surviving a divorce, but again, a rather commonplace life event these days. Even publishing my first book seems underwhelming in scope given that it is just what writers do.   [continued below picture]

Thinking about it I have come to the conclusion that perhaps my most significant accomplishment is much more ethereal than a mere event that marks time. You see, having survived divorce, the death of loved ones, and the highs and lows of personal economics, I am still optimistic. I have hope for myself and for mankind in general. I believe the glass is half-full and no matter what transitory events may befall me individually or us as a species we will survive. Not just survive, but thrive.

It is the nature of systems to fall apart, but people are built to continue. We are imbued with spirit – something that cannot be destroyed by the travails of life. And it is my spirit that wakes me to the actions of the day and settles me down to the dreams of night.

I know my spirit. I talk to it every day. I see it in the flowers and the rocks. I hear it in the wind and the rain. I feel it in every interaction I have with other beings. And regardless of what life brings, my spirit stands with me to brave the dark and embrace the light of it all.

So, what is my most significant accomplishment? My answer is simple. Living joyfully and gratefully in spirit; sitting down to the table of life and seeing it heaped with abundance. Nothing can ever be more significant or more rewarding than that.