The ego creates traps through anxiety and doubt… worrying what others may think, wondering how to please, get noticed or leave an impression. Many people often struggle with indecision, trying to determine what is the “right” thing to do in a given situation. Conversely, Zen asks us to navigate our journey with integrity and authenticity. When you live aligned with your inner truth, harmony shines through you and is far more impressive than anything contrived by the mind.

Seek to release your attachment to the story-line of ‘me.’ See today as a blank slate and enjoy the idea that this moment is a new beginning. You can choose to experience life without a running inner commentary, without fear, having nothing to prove. Simply do your best, act with integrity and accept what is.

Life becomes much more simple when we are joyful, balanced and at ease with ourselves. Love yourself enough to enjoy who you are. You are right where you need to be – an awakening master on the path of transformation.

It’s important to have a willingness to trust and to engage life with truthfulness and curiosity. When we’re consciously participating in the present moment and bringing authenticity to our interactions, we discover the wisdom that comes from living with an open heart.

All challenges have the potential to elevate our awareness. They spark exploration into the Self and inspire us to find ways to transform perceived problems into empowered movement. Remember, we are all aspects of the Divine working as best we can from our current level of consciousness – everyone and everything is your teacher.

Allow your life to be your message and let it be a light in the darkness. Use conflict as a spiritual tool to awaken your strength and compassion while cultivating your ability to love, forgive, release and accept.

See the path of your awakening as a spiral. Lessons will cycle through your experience ever more quickly and allow you an opportunity to approach old challenges from an ever-evolving state of consciousness. Should you notice a recurring theme in your life, pay attention to how you handle it. It’s likely that your response is far different today than it was five or ten years ago.

For instance, when learning to communicate more effectively, one may begin by focusing their energy on standing up for themselves, voicing opinions or saying “No.” As their spirit awakens to higher levels of consciousness, Courage transforms into Willingness, which may be expressed as Love or Peace the next time around.

When you have mastered a particular lesson, it will no longer appear in your life. The energy around it will decrease and you’ll feel completely neutral when sharing your experiences or reflecting upon your journey.

Ask yourself, “How can I bring the best version of me to this situation?” Which each cycle, any trepidation will dissipate while your joy and empowerment grow.

Happiness does not depend upon outside factors. As we awaken, the joy in the soul simply must be expressed. We become more available and open to the opportunities to celebrate in life and learn how to let love expand our experience of the present moment.

Healthy partnership is a supportive process. In relationships, allow the winds of heaven to dance between you so that each party has room to grow and thrive. Be patient with those you love and provide the space in which a transformation can occur.

“Real love comes not from trying to solve our neediness by depending on another, but by developing our own inner richness and maturity.”

~Osho~

We must step out of the dramas of romance and enter a higher, more loving way of being that is unconditional and without demands. Relate to one another in gratitude and support and enjoy they beautiful moments that you share.

Challenging moments provide an opportunity to put our inner wisdom and spiritual insights into practice. Often, when we begin working on a particular aspect of self-improvement, it seems that the energy around that idea rises to the surface in various forms.

For instance, when working on transforming poverty consciousness (fear, lack and struggle) into a state of abundance (the feeling of having more than you need, being empowered and safe in the physical world), new challenges around money may arise. As we explore our ability to create or courageously face our fears, we strengthen the aspects of personality that will benefit us as we move forward.

You have the ability to face whatever unfolds in your life. Challenges manifest in response to the soul’s desire to grow. On the highest levels of existence your soul has agreed to participate and its helpful to remember that your higher self knows exactly what it is doing.

So rather than wishing that a particular situation would go away or fix itself, consciously turn and face it with the knowledge that it is here for your benefit. Your willingness to accept the present moment creates a space in which a transformation can occur.

Allow your life to be a loving conversation with the Divine. All that you see is sacred and every moment is an opportunity to evolve. As you become more open, loving and vulnerable, you will naturally feel and understand more. When you live in wonder, you participate in the dance of awakening.

Every moment is new. When you choose to seek inner wisdom, everyone and everything becomes your teacher. Limiting beliefs and blockages simply create repetitive circumstances that will repeat in your experience until they are no longer required. Notice any unhealthy patterns in your life and then consciously do things differently. Your insights will become breakthroughs.

Life can be experienced as a struggle, a celebration or neutral peacefulness. The awakening master sees all as sacred and recognizes the infinite potential that each of us has. We are here to walk one another home.

When unencumbered by the mind, happiness is our true, natural state of being. In this world filled with infinite possibility and perception, how often do you choose to experience grace and gratitude in the present moment? Rather than seeking love from an outside source, be love. Allow it to inform the energy of every cell of your being.

Choose to fall madly in love with life. The mind is full of doubt; however, the heart understands the language of silence. In the peace of the present moment, allow yourself to live with an open heart.

“Spiritual practice is about increasingly entering into love – not personal love, but the love that is the nature of our being.”

~Ezra Bayda~

Your love and light and laughter can transform this moment into a miracle.

Sometimes change can feel overwhelming. We imagine a goal and ego misdirects with thoughts of “How?” or that it will be hard. No matter what you wish to create, simply begin from where you are. Take one conscious step forward and focus on what you can accomplish today. Small actions create big movement in our lives.

You can transcend the habit of procrastination. Just for today, focus on making healthy choices or take baby steps toward a particular goal. Keep your actions small and manageable. At the end of the day observe how you feel. Realize that your actions send waves of vibrant energy throughout the Universe and your point of power is always in the present. Nothing is more important than how you choose to experience

this moment.

When you allow the new to enter your life, your life is transformed. Often the smallest of ideas can inspire new direction and fresh perspectives while motivating us to explore undiscovered facets of our strength and abilities.

“Action comes out of energy, out of delight. Activity is businesslike. Action is poetry; activity creates bondage because it is result oriented.  … When action arises in you, it has a totally different dimension. You act moment to moment, and each moment is enough unto itself.”

~Osho~

We are all deeply connected. What harms one, harms all. What heals one, heals all. With this in mind, we can choose to bring a higher awareness to every interaction. Our thoughts, intention, words and actions have greater impact when based in compassion.

Become a conduit for love. The greatest gift you have to give is being balanced in mind, body and spirit. See through the mechanisms of the ego and discover the ease and grace that exists when we free ourselves from the need to struggle. In the mind, knowledge and action are two different things. In the heart, knowledge is action. It propels the energy of the Divine into all the hidden corners of life.

Drop the need to know “How?” and instead, simply do. Be.

“Just a little understanding can bring a tremendous revolution in your life. All seeds are small – the trees may grow high, almost touching the stars, but the seeds are small. This is just a seed that has fallen into your heart; now allow it to grow. Give nourishment to it, support it, remove all hindrances in its path, and a small seed, which seems to be nothing special in this moment, may bring thousands of flowers.”

~Osho~

True mastery lies in conscious awareness of how we share our energy. It’s important to discover how to live with an open heart while detaching from outcomes. One way to practice this is to observe how you choose to interact with others. Are you able to give freely or do you find yourself feeling disappointment when things turn out differently than you have planned?

Notice, notice, notice. Awareness is always the first step of transformation. Attachment creeps into all the various aspects of our lives. Even something as simple as sending a text can create ego-driven drama – picture someone agonizing over what to say, when to send and what they hope to receive in return. Take it a step further and imagine the mental anxiety that arises when no answer comes – constantly checking the phone, creating mental stories about the ‘why’… hours spent in the prison of the mind rather than empowered action (or inaction) in the present moment.

No matter what arises in your experience today, see if you can act with integrity, do your best and accept what is. With healthy detachment, let joy, compassion and kindness inform your decisions and set your energy free in the world.