Your journey is unique. There is no roadmap and ultimately there are no guarantees. Every situation offers an opportunity to succeed or to learn; therefore, there is no way that you can fail, for even the most daunting of challenges will leave you transformed.

The unexpected delights instigated by meeting new friends or rediscovering soulmates combined with the excitement of cultivating the less used facets of the Self make everyday an adventure. People you meet may walk with you for a moment or for a lifetime. Enjoy the moments of love, support and connection.

Choose to bring a sense of acceptance, wonder, humor and trust to your exploration. Be grateful for the adventure – you may never pass this way again.

Honor your challenges. They will bring out the best in you.

Our collective purpose is to awaken by consciously facing our challenges. Together we create paradoxes, engage in karmic contracts and learn to rise above perceived limitation. The threads that bind us together create a beautiful tapestry – messy on one side, artistry on the other.

No matter what you face, know that it works toward your highest good and the highest good for all involved. Each of us must play our part according to the role chosen for this lifetime, current level of consciousness and the prompting of the heart. There are no mistakes and everything serves a higher purpose.

You are perfect in your imperfection. Bring presence to your interactions and allow them to teach you something new. Honor your path as sacred, for it is ultimately leading you home.

Be receptive and allow others to find their own path.

In your interactions, even when you may feel that you know best because of your experience, beliefs, state of consciousness or knowledge, choose to lead with humility. The Tao te Ching teaches that we should be like the ocean – remaining low, receptive and accepting.

The consistent use of these energies encourages others to come toward us. Rather than operating from ego or impatience, we can cultivate the ability to lead gently. This allows those who grace our lives to learn at their own pace and work through their unique interpretations of their life experience. Ultimately there is no right way to awaken. Each much carve his or her own path back to the Source.

Practice receptivity. Without thoughts of when or how, await what flows to you with an open heart.

Be willing to explore the hidden facets of yourself.

The more you share, the more you have. Sharing becomes a vibrant, life-affirming energy that creates expansion in your own experience. This celebration of life brings a loving playfulness to your life situations.

Give without attachment. Awakened living calls upon us to see life as an adventure, allowing the energy of the Divine to flow unimpeded through us as we open to a higher consciousness.

You are an infinite being filled with unlimited potential and possibility. The next moment can bring an insight that changes everything. Drop predictability, risk all and know that everything in your experience is leading you to greater understanding and compassion.

Release all desire and what remains? Pure joy in the present moment.

The mind craves. It plans, regrets, projects and desires. The thoughts that play in the background of our lives distract us from experiencing all that the present moment has to offer.

When we choose to experience life as it is, the mundane is seen as extraordinary. The worldly becomes sacred. Challenges transform into inner wisdom and grace. You can create this in your life. Begin now, with what you have from where you are. By residing fully in whatever unfolds without the desire that it be any different, you enter a space in which transformation can occur.

Practice simple joy in this moment. Find something which soothes your soul. Give it your full attention. Express gratitude. Your true nature is joy.

Acceptance is an act of love.

“The spiritual practice of relationships is about working on ourselves only, freeing ourselves from the constricting grip of our own unhappiness. It is not the other person’s job to take our unhappiness away; our discomfort is our own responsibility. Attending to our spiritual tasks – seeing our judgments, opinions, beliefs, demands, and staying present with the fears out of which they all arise – frees others to move toward us. Then, when they no longer feel the need to defend, they become more willing to take care of their job. Thus joy in relationships becomes possible.”                          ~Ezra Bayda~

Every relationship in your life, no matter how fleeting, provides an opportunity to practice loving, healthy interactions. The more proficient you become, the more peace you experience in your day-to-day life. When others become lost in the grip of ego, your balance and equanimity can transform even the most challenging of situations into spatial awareness.

How would your experiences change if you were not subject to disappointment? What would it take to simply allow those who grace your life to grow at their own pace while offering acceptance, love and support for their journey? These states of higher consciousness are more easily accessed when you are free of expectation.

Encircle the world with your love. Small, consistent kindnesses can spark the light of consciousness to awaken. Everyone and everything is our teacher.

You will encounter moments of tremendous insight and growth interspersed with moments of disruption and confusion. Be patient with the process of your awakening.

Impatience is a tremendous barrier on the road of transformation. We must retrain ourselves to slow down and be a loving witness to the illumination of the spirit. Practice seeing beyond the roles that people play with the understanding that love is the bridge that connects us.

Let nature teach you her ways. Observe her persistence and resilience as the seasons change. Trees exist in perpetual grace, beginning as the tiniest of seeds and eventually reaching toward the sky. Flowers bloom and die, sharing their beauty, scent and promise of new life.

Your journey of awakening is the same. It has taken lifetimes for you to reach this moment, and no matter how far you have come, you have barely scratched the surface of the true meaning of infinite possibility. Give yourself time to explore, to feel, to experience. Immerse yourself within the present moment and be open to receive the love, light and laughter of the universe.

Whatever happens in your experience is precisely what is needed for the next steps of your spiritual growth. The highs and lows of life awaken deeper aspects of your inner wisdom. When you can be fully present within the circumstances of your life situation and consciously reside in the energy which unfolds, you will be able to face the shadows and emerge strengthened.

Moment of challenge are absolutely required in order to bring limiting beliefs to the surface. In those moments, utilize conscious breath to clear the mind and simply observe what is. The light of your conscious awareness transforms all that it shines upon and awareness is the first step of change.

The more aware you become of habitual patterns, limiting thoughts and reactivity, the less control these things will have in your experience. Initially they may seem overwhelming; however, as your spiritual journey progresses, you’ll process through them more and more quickly until you find that you have set yourself free.

Walk forward. The way will make itself known to you.

The mechanisms of the ego can leave us paralyzed. As the mind grapples with the fear of the unknown, the soul desires to awaken. Often, we must choose to take a step into the void knowing that any movement is more desirable than being stuck in a repetitive pattern.

Trust the processes of your awakening. Every moment offers an opportunity to expand or to learn something new. Faith is cultivated by our willingness to take risks. When “what ifs” arise, observe them and move forward anyway. When we can approach life with wonder and amusement and take ourselves a little less seriously, we create a space in which a transformation can occur.

Honor all paths as sacred.

Acceptance, when engaged mindfully and authentically, is a powerful tool of transformation. Saying yes to life unlocks the prisons of perception and sets us free to experience life as it is without limiting mental interference.

The journey of awakening is unique for each of us. Imagine what we can learn from one another through the sharing of our varied experiences, insights and love without judgment. Honor each path as sacred. See everyone as your teacher and your life will be enriched beyond measure.

We are lifetime students of love. The contrasts and paradoxes of human experience teach us of the infinite ways that we can enter into the love that is the true nature of our being.