You are a powerful co-creator. Free will allows the ability to choose how the present moment will be experienced. Your energy flows into and strengthens whatever you place your focus upon. Because of this, it’s important to speak of what you wish to create rather than reinforce the blockages you may encounter.

The ego loves to share it’s stories and is always seeking others to support it’s viewpoint. This keeps us rooted in the problem rather than connecting with the solution. Observe how often people around you talk about their frustrations compared to the amount of time spent discussing their happiness, aspirations and intentions.

Consider what you wish to experience. Do you desire a challenge to fight against or a life filled with joy and wonder? Often people will say, “I just want to be happy” and then feed all their energy into anger and resentment, never knowing that transformation is simply a shift in perception away.

You are walking a path that has never been walked before. New perceptions, ideas and energy will flow through you into the situations in which you find yourself – especially when you embrace the idea of living from the heart.

Honor your differences. See yourself (and your journey) as sacred and simply make the decision to choose joy again and again. You deserve the very best that life has to offer.

One of the greatest tools the ego utilizes is to cause doubt in oneself. The thought of “I can’t” ceases all movement forward and creates inner blockages. From “I don’t deserve to be happy” comes the inability to see all the beauty that is inherent in the present moment. “I’m unworthy” will cause someone to reject gifts when they arrive.

You are a master in the process of awakening. Failures should be expected – they help to point us in the right direction. Take a moment to honor the beauty of your soul. See past the stories and roles that you play in this lifetime and open your heart to the infinite source of all life that breathes through you.

When we sit in meditation, gratitude, prayer or awareness, we learn to sense the space in which all things occur. That expansive stillness, the light of the Divine comes from within you and whatever you seek, you will surely find.

Walk peacefully. Live consciously. Speak with kindness. Through the changes and turmoil you encounter, choose to be a source of grace and balance for those around you. These are powerful skills we cultivate on the path of awakening.

Anytime you approach the present moment with humility and awareness, you create a space in which a transformation can occur.

“Liberation from fear is not about becoming fearless; it’s about seeing that fear is not the deepest truth about who we are.” ~ Ezra Bayda

The practice of peace is an ongoing process and one that can only be cultivated through application. As you change, the world around you is transformed.

Growth and change may involve endings as part of the cycle of new beginnings and transformation. We must be willing to let go of what we have outgrown, honor the passage through the unknown and create peacefulness in our experience each step of the way.

When you choose to relate to life from the expansive mind of the Divine (rather than through the limitation of ego), it becomes possible to walk in spacial awareness in the present moment. Here we can choose to simply be at peace, stepping out of conflict and into communion.

There is no future, only this beautiful moment exists. No matter what twists and turns you’ve experienced on the journey so far or what stories you’ve lived, you can step into empowerment Now.

Spiritual practice is about consciously choosing to enter into love – not romantic love, but the deep and empowering love that is the true nature of your being. From this space of awareness each step brings the joy of relating to life with a open heart.

What you react most strongly to in another is a reflection of your own shadow. We created this world (and everything in it) to act as a mirror for the purpose of discovery and evolution. With this in mind, pay attention to those who trigger anger or frustration in your experience. Whether through a personal interaction or witnessing the actions of someone on the world stage, everyone is playing an important role in your awakening.

Should you find yourself getting triggered, observe the words you use to justify your position about the person or situation. Therein lies the clue to what your soul is ready to see. The things we desire to clear – arrogance, impatience, stubbornness, martyrdom, greed, anger, judgment – show up again and again in our experience until we recognize them within ourselves.

When you take responsibility for your own joy, the inner work begins. Release the need to be reactive (it is a distraction), the need to share the story with another (the ego is seeking to strengthen it’s position) and simply own your own stuff. When you find yourself becoming more neutral (or even amused) in the face of a similar situation, it’s an indicator that you have healed that energy within yourself.

New experiences bring new knowledge. They allow us to explore the sacred mysteries of life, discover hidden aspects of our strength and open the door to friendship and expansion.

Every amazing friend in your life was once a stranger. Something prompted you to reach out to cultivate relationship and communion thus bringing new threads of experience into your life. Remember that when you try new things and choose to live with an open heart.

Allow all your choices to be led by love rather than by fear. When you decide to take another step forward, your joy will light the way.

The gift of mindfulness provides the ability to live in harmony with life, both the pleasant and the unpleasant, without attachment to either. When we seek experience rather than outcomes, we become aligned with the present rather than striving for some distant projection of the future.

Evolution – on all levels – is simply a series of growth and changes that support one another. As we move through the ebb and flow of awakening, we are transformed. Level by level our consciousness expands and we are able to recognize new dimensions of ourselves and our life experiences.

Periodically take stock of your own growth. Chances are that you respond to life far differently today than you did a year ago, or five, or ten. Pause to honor how far you have come on the journey with the realization that it is just begun… and bliss awaits.

Acceptance, when applied to oneself, implies that everything and everyone you’ve encountered on your journey has played an integral part in the discovery of who you are. Based upon your soul age, state of consciousness and experience, you have always done the best you can – and so has everyone around you. As you have increased in wisdom, your perceptions and decisions have reflected that growth and will continue to do so.

The Divine seeks to experience life through you. All too often spiritual seekers fret that they should somehow be more evolved or empowered than they perceive themselves to be without recognizing that this is the limiting voice of ego. It can temporarily block the ability to embrace the present moment as it is.

Simply ask how you can bring the best version of yourself to any given moment. If you feel that you have missed the mark or behaved in an unconscious manner, realize that you are in the process of awakening. The ability to see oneself clearly is a powerful tool to cultivate on the path of transformation.

For the mindful spiritual seeker, life becomes a series of awakened moments. Even the most mundane aspects of living are transformed into powerful spiritual practice. When in a state of mindfulness, one makes healthier choices. Whether deciding what food to put into our bodies or taking time to create inner balance throughout the events of the day, we bring that alertness to all that we choose to do.

In mindfulness, even filling a glass with water becomes a sacred journey. Gratitude and compassion are natural by-products of higher consciousness – and they first begin within.

Awareness heals. It allows us to see beyond the mechanisms of the ego to the truth of our own divine nature. In awareness, it becomes quite impossible to harm oneself or others with hatred, judgment or unkind behavior. Rather, we seek to discover the sacredness of the moment and all that it has to offer.