On the day of the funeral of a dear friend, colleague, and mentor, I have a few thoughts to share that I would like you to dwell upon in your heart.

If any of these ring true for you, remember that each and every moment, we receive opportunities to make new choices, to go after our dreams, to act upon the love that is at the center of who we really are. Dreams are not just for dreaming. Dreams are for doing.

I wanted to travel to an exotic place, but I was afraid I couldn’t afford it.

I wanted to go to an amazing event, but didn’t want to go alone, so I didn’t.

I wanted to do something wild and crazy just to see what would happen, but I was afraid of what people might think.

I wanted to tell my child how proud I was of her, but I was afraid she’d get a big head.

I wanted to create something inspirational, but it was easier to watch TV after a hard day at work.

I wanted to start my own company, but I was afraid that I might go bankrupt.

I wanted to dance, but I stopped when I thought about how I couldn’t dance as well as other people.

I watched carefree children playing with abandon, and I wished I were like them again.

I wished that I could love unconditionally like my pet, yet I couldn’t shake the need to uphold the illusion of my own self-importance.

I wished that I could be there for people when they needed me, but I’ve just got too much of my own stuff going on to help.

I wish I could accept myself as I am, but I just can’t forgive myself for all of the mistakes I’ve made.

I wanted to give a hug to someone when they needed it, but I was afraid that they might be offended. 

The most precious time is now. The only moment that counts is this one. Let’s do a little better each moment to let go of our fears and choose the way of Love. And when we stumble, let’s have compassion upon ourselves, get up, dust ourselves off, and keep moving in the direction that Love leads us.

My friend was one of the most generous people I have ever known. I am blessed to have known him. I would not be who I am today without his kindness, generosity, and support.

Thanks, Mark, for everything! I’ll see you later!

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Love is the greatest power in the universe. It causes to the stars to burn and the seas to move. It is the power that takes hearts of stone and turns them into soft and vulnerable vessels of light, happiness, and joy. We are one. We are love. And there is no force based in fear or any other appearance of strength or anger or hate or greed that will overcome the light of love that shines, even though it may be buried under layers of fear and doubt.

You are good enough. You can trust yourself and even more importantly you can trust God. Share the love you have in every way you can and you will be blessed beyond your ability to imagine. Love deeply. Love plainly. Love simply. Simply love. Be love, because that is who you really are underneath everything you have been told and have chosen to believe that is out of harmony with that truth.

And if you feel low on love, it is as available as the air. Let it soak your soul. Bask in the wonder of it’s healing. It’s there even if you have never consciously experienced it before. Seek it with all of your heart and you will find it as long as you are willing to persist until you find it and after you find it.

GO BE THE LOVE YOU ARE!

We will all be blessed for it.

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I feel like now is a good time to share some of my more global thoughts with you, especially given the current level of insanity on the planet.

I’ve been on a media blackout for quite some time – so long in fact that I don’t remember when I started it. But even in my attempt to limit my exposure to such influences, I have been confronted daily with the human race’s incredible capacity for fear. (And yes, despite my media blackout, people have been happy to share with me details about the current crisis in the Gulf of Mexico). Beyond that, I’m generally sensing a lot of impatience, lack of acceptance, fear, anger, and frustration, swirling around the globe. Not that this is any different than this time last year. The other feeling that I have is that it is intensifying. You can let me know if you agree or not. I love feedback!

The current global dramas that are unfolding are nothing more than a large scale version of the inner dramas of so many people on the planet at this time. Human beings are creating global dramas that are in perfect harmony with how most humans currently think, feel, intend, and act. These new creations of ours are here to help us see what we are terrified to look at, those parts of ourselves that we have buried under layers of rationalizations, fears, negative emotions, limiting beliefs, and other patterns of energetic resistance. It is because we are absolutely terrified to explore these repressed and nearly unconscious aspects of our false selves that we have manifested our current circumstances.

We are so terrified to confront our shadow selves that we create things like pandemics, oil spills, wars, genocide, sexual slavery, financial crises, devastating earthquakes, and so many other dramatic things.

Over the next few years, more and more of these kinds of troubling scenarios will play out as humanity continues its journey toward its true nature and the true nature of the Divine Source. These circumstances will increase in intensity and frequency because most people at this time will not let go of what they need to release without these kinds of terrifying large scale dramas playing out. Thankfully, the need to repeat this pattern will eventually burn itself out.

When enough of us have awakened from the private and collective nightmares that are currently sweeping around the planet, we won’t need these dramas any more. We will see what is. And we will embrace all of it and in that embracing everything will be transformed.

You have my blessings and my love for your journey toward your true self and the True Source of All Being. Let’s do our best to get there in one piece, in peace…

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We’ve all had circumstances in our lives where things do not go as we planned or as we had hoped they would. We pour our time, energy, creativity, commitment, and love into something only to experience fear, anger, confusion, disappointment, despair over the end of something we really believed in and truly wanted to work out. We desire to create and sustain good things (otherwise we wouldn’t bother). So why don’t things always go the way we hope they will?

The short answer to this question is, “Because space is being created for something even better.” Let me elaborate.
In my world nothing happens by accident. Nothing. Everything that exists has wonderful potential purposes, and I believe that one of my main jobs in life is to take whatever circumstances I have attracted into my life and do the best I can in that moment to make the most of them whatever they may be.

One of the ideas I depend upon every single day goes something like this:

I can trust God, the universe, myself, and other people to conspire perfectly for my benefit and for the benefit of all. Regardless of circumstantial appearances, I can trust that all things are working together for the highest good of all concerned.

I think many people believe that things often get much worse before they get better. Despite this faily commpn belief. many of us assume that if things aren’t going the way we want them to go they must be “BAD.”

This kind of thinking denies us the opportunities to maximize the circumstances that we attract into our lives. If you think about anything that has happened in your life that you didn’t want to happen, chances are the first thing you did was resist it. In some way you denied it or pushed back against it, thinking “This can’t be happening!” or “I hate this!” or “I wish this would just go away!” or whatever exclamatory phrases occurred to you at the time.

What if, instead of resisting, we chose to act as if this thing we do not want is actually an opportunity? What if we have actually been waiting for this very moment to take our lives to a whole new level? What if the thing that we do not want is actually the secret doorway to an unbelievably wonderful future?

We all have stories of circumstances that we thought were terrible that actually turned out to be “blessings in disguise” once we had the benefits of time, experience, or perspective. How about we take that attitude all of the time, regardless of appearances? What do we lose by doing this? (Perhaps the sick pleasures that go along with being “right” and miserable?) Thinking that there is absolutely no possibility of anything good ever coming from a particular circumstance only delays the realization that whaever has happened or is happening is a great growth opportunity.

What I know for sure is that our chances for success are much better if we are open to the possibilities within less-than-desirable (or downright horrible, terrible, absolutely no-good) events and circumstances. While most of us resist these kinds of experiences out of habit, my hope is that we can all open up at least a little bit more to the possibility that even the worst circumstances and events hold the seeds for real progress for ourselves and for others.

Good farmers plant their seeds. They trust that the seed, sun, rain, and soil will do what they are supposed to do (well, at least organic farmers do!). All of life is rigged for our benefit, whether we believe it or not. Perhaps the next time something doesn’t go the way we want it to (or even right now!) we can choose to believe that it has a useful purpose, even if we can’t see it yet. Let’s believe that it may very well be exactly what we need to expand into an much more expansive experience of life. I humbly submit that that is exactly what it is.

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My plan is to make this the last post on the major themes that I picked up from the entire Lost series and particularly, the Lost finale.

One of the images that really spoke to me in the Lost finale was the moment when Hurley invited Benjamin Linus to join the group inside the church. Ben basically decided that he was not ready to enter into the fellowship of friends yet. What I saw in Ben Linus at that moment was a man who was not yet able to forgive himself. I get that. I really get it.

In my life, I have found forgiving myself to be one of the more challenging aspects of my journey. Just like anybody else, I have screwed up majorly so many times. Somehow I continue to be blessed in my ability to make gobs of new mistakes on what seems to be a daily basis.

The thing I have discovered for myself is that forgiveness is not something granted from a far-off deity who stands with arms folded, foot tapping, brow wrinkling, and mouth frowning. The Ultimate Power that grants forgiveness is like the air we breathe. It is constantly available to us. And just like with breathing, we (most of us for the most part) can easily and effortlessly accept this air into our lungs. We allow it in. To do differently would lead to a very quick death.

And yet, our unwillingness to allow this abundant power that helps us to forgive ourselves and others is very much a form of spiritual death. If we hold offenses against ourselves and others, we are cut off from the very Life of the Cosmos. We suffocate because we do not let go of our attachment to our suffering enough to allow the sweetness and fullness of Life Itself into our very souls for the transformation of our lives.

And yes, I continue to make mistakes (and some pretty big ones too) on a daily basis. And every time I do, I get to experience that power which helps me to forgive myself. Let’s no longer continue to sit outside the sacred space of healing. Let us receive the abundant forgiveness that is at hand. Let us allow ourselves to be forgiven, even as we allow ourselves to forgive those who have injured us.

In forgiveness is freedom for all. Allow it. Accept it. And give it freely for your sake and for the sake of everything that you hold dear.

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