Because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. Martha Graham

How many of us were told that we couldn’t draw or paint, or sing or write, or dance or throw a ball? On parent’s day at my son’s preschool, we were shown our kids’ art. My son had painted an abstract watercolor, and then had torn strips from another picture he’d painted and attached them all around the edge, so they stuck out in different directions. It was truly unique, and his teacher praised his “out of the box” thinking. Clearly his creativity was not confined by the edges of the paper. The following year in kindergarten, however, he was severely criticized for not coloring inside the lines. This was the first time his creativity hadn’t been supported, and I watched his out-of-the-box thinking learn to conform throughout the rest of elementary school.

These kinds of experiences turn into the way we talk to ourselves about our own creativity and our ability to create something new in our lives. We end up repeating to ourselves the things we heard from parents, teachers, and friends in school.

Every time your self-talk belittles or berates you, ask yourself, “Is this really true about my deepest, truest, Spiritual Self?” Of course it’s not! Ask yourself this question until you can laugh at the absurdity of your self-talk and make space for the real creativity of your unique self to emerge.

Spiritual Contemplation: How do you belittle your creativity in your own mind? How do you talk to yourself when you are trying to create or make something?

Affirmation: I am creative. I like how I do things! I am unique! This is Spirit showing up as ME!

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The Power of Words: Herein is the mystery of life. You and I are intelligent centers using the creative word for that which we will constructively or destructively, and that creative word which we use becomes the law unto the thing whereunto it is sent and becomes the concept behind it and projects the thing, creates the thing in our life. Ernest Holmes

I had the joy of going to a liberal arts college where I had an amazing English professor who completely understood the power of words. One day in class, he talked about how an author creates an entire world in which his characters play out their lives. He described how the narration invites us to step through a window and look inside these lives. Somewhere in the lecture it became clear that he was discussing not only the process of writing, but also the way in which we narrate our lives. The very words we use and the way we describe things become, he emphasized, a type of window through which we look and ultimately create, the reality of our lives.

So you see, your words are the Words of Creation. Pay attention to these words you use, habitually or unconsciously, and how you describe things and people in your life. Is this the way you want your life to look? If not, use different words. Over time, you will see your world conform to the way you describe it. That is the power of your word!

Spiritual Contemplation: What is the underlying narrative of your life? What kinds of descriptive words do you tend to use?

Affirmation: I pay attention to my words! I use the power of words to describe a creative, joyous, abundant life!

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It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, more than anything else, will determine its successful outcome. William James

In football at the end of the first and second half there’s something called the two-minute drill when the offense moves the ball down the field with great speed and accuracy. The two-minute drill is also an excellent strategy for much in your day. Ever notice if you have only one important e-mail to write, you might labor over it all day, but if you have several, somehow you tackle them all in a swift and timely manner? How about the week before your vacation? Are you suddenly able to handle a vast amount of work in order to clear your desk and docket? When you have friends or family coming to stay at your house, don’t you do chores you’ve been putting off for months?

Imagine running your life with this kind of proficiency of swift decision-making and follow-through on a regular basis. Rather than waiting for pressure to prompt you into effectiveness you can choose to live from the abundance of energy that is generated from vision and inner connection. Instead of telling yourself how difficult the task is, open your consciousness to receive the power, the presence, and wisdom now in you, as you, to establish your heaven on earth. Then notice how much freer your mind is and how much more energy you have to direct toward your creative endeavors.

Spiritual Contemplation: What tasks that beg your attention have been enlarging in scope since you’ve been putting them off? Go do them and see how good it feels to have them handled.

Affirmation: I am efficiently handling my to-do list today!

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The requirements for our evolution have changed. Survival is no longer sufficient. Our evolution now requires us to develop spiritually—to become emotionally aware and make responsible choices. It requires us to align ourselves with the values of the soul—harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for life. Gary Zukav

Every day is an opportunity for us to contribute to the evolution of humanity by evolving ourselves. Every choice we make impacts the collective consciousness and becomes part of the morphogenetic field of our species. Just as we create new grooves of thought in our own brain, so we create habits of thought in our collective brain. Earth School isn’t just an individual experience. It’s also about our whole species continuing to become who we are meant to be—the place where the Infinite becomes conscious of Itself and experiences and expresses with complete awareness. Our species is in school and we are clearly on all different grade levels!

Spiritual Contemplation: What grade are you in? How are your choices contributing to the evolution of humanity’s consciousness?

Affirmation: I choose wisely and grow joyfully, evolving humanity to its greatest potential.

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You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don’t turn away from possible futures before you’re certain you don’t have anything to learn from them. You’re always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.
Richard Bach

Life forever and ever expands into some greater-yet-to-be, expressing more Joy, more Love, more Peace, more Abundance. All Spirit wants for you is what it wants through you, as you. If there are lessons to be learned, they are really just opportunities for us to realize that the Law of Cause and Effect is playing out in our lives. Do we like what we are experiencing? Do we like the outcome of our behaviors and words? If not, it means the Universal Law is providing feedback for us.

We enter Graduate Earth School when we consistently move through our lives with intention and mindfulness, and realize that everything is simply feedback for our awareness. Do we like how those words or that action played out? Did they bring more love and peace to the situation and make for more aliveness in others and ourselves? Did they move things forward toward the vision or hold them back out of fear? This awareness allows us to modify our choices and instantly choose something different—say we’re sorry or think a new thought or not react to a triggered negative emotion. Our choices are no longer dictated by events and beliefs from our childhood, our woundedness or our fears, but rather are current, spiritually grounded responses to the present moment. Our choice has become a tool that we consciously use in service to live a light-filled, spiritually mature life.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are you using your choices to live from Spirit and Light—or from the past and your woundedness?

Affirmation: I make healthy choices from the Light of Spiritual Truth.

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Learning from the past is one of the best ways we can move forward on our spiritual growth. This takes courage and a willingness to see ourselves clearly. Yet the doors that are opened are worth the price.

The challenges in life are not here to stop us . . . The challenges are here to help us grow . . . A big enough challenge will bring out strengths and abilities you never knew you had. Alan Arcieri

Once we’ve really begun to clear out the boxes and baggage in the basement of our past, we can graduate to the Earth School that is currently in session. When we no longer play out old beliefs and false identity, we are done learning from the past. Now we get to participate in learning in real time. As we are paying attention, our lessons present themselves as opportunities to practice and grow. This is the invitation to choose, consciously in the moment, how we are going to speak, act, respond, or move through whatever is going on right in front of us.

Spiritual Contemplation: What have your learned from the past? Where in your life are you being invited to practice living from your spiritual understanding and deal with old situations in a new way?

Affirmations: I know that every day and every situation is an opportunity for me to practice living from Spiritual Truth. I have learned from the past. Now I enjoy the practice!

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Accepting the lessons and experiences of the past, and taking the best from everything, we should press boldly forward, looking ever for the Truth, and ever ascending higher and higher into the heavens of reality. Ernest Holmes

Gremlins of old habits are some of the most daunting challenges along the spiritual path. When I illuminate an area in my life where I am not as aligned with Spirit as I would like, I suddenly become aware of how I behave, think, or speak in ways that are counter to the Spiritual growth I declare. It’s like a junk-filled basement that you ignore for years until the day you finally grab a flashlight and descend the steps. All sorts of spooky shapes and shadows startle you, until you come close enough to see that they’re only a pair of antlers on a box or your grandmother’s wedding gown draped over the back of a rocking chair. The very act of bringing in the light has caused these weird, scary shapes to appear. It’s not like they weren’t there all along. It’s just that now you are aware of them.

The same is true when we look at past choices that are hidden in the basement of our consciousness. Being willing to shine the light of spiritual principles into the corners can reveal some pretty scary and startling insights. Yet these truths have been available to us all along. We just have to look at them in the light and see them for what they are—beliefs from our family, behaviors to make ourselves feel more important, and smallness masquerading as a false sense of identity.

Spiritual Contemplation: What shadowy places and old baggage have been illuminated in your life now that you are living more from the Light?

Affirmation: I know that I am simply illuminating that which has always been there. Now I can see it and release it.

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In a fun book series called Choose Your Own Adventure, you determine the direction of the story. Each choice leads to an adventure, which leads to another page with other choices, and you travel a path that is entirely of your own choosing. Some decisions can lead to disaster and ruin while others allow you to be the hero. If you reread the story and make different choices at the various junctures, you’ll find yourself on an entirely different journey with completely different paths to an alternative ending. You can discover Atlantis, time travel, explore the Amazon, or even search for a black rhino.

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. Wayne Dyer

Sounds like life. You are given choices that bring with them certain consequences. You must decide your next step from the options life presents to you. You have the power to choose at any moment, at every moment. You can alter your direction at any time if you aren’t too caught up in the drama of the story or if you can let go of your insistence on the kind of ending you wish you see. If you can remember that you are the observer of your life, you are free to make new abundant choices and open the floodgates to greater good at any time. But you must remain conscious that you can always choose and not fall into the drama of it all—even if it makes for a good story.

Spiritual Contemplation: What paths do you want to stay on in your life and which ones are you ready to alter?

Affirmation: I am conscious of my path choices. I choose adventures that enhance my life and make a contribution!

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The wind does not break a tree that can bend. Sukuma Proverb

The tree that does not bend with the wind will be broken by the wind. Mandarin Chinese Proverb

Most really, really wealthy people have lost and regained their fortunes more than once. How do they survive these storms of life? I am reminded of Wayne Dyer sharing his experience of living by the ocean through hurricane season: “What is the palm trees’ secret to staying in one piece through huge, devastating storms? They bend almost down to the ground at times, and it’s that ability that allows them to survive.” This flexibility allows the tree to withstand the rigors of life. Storms come and go—the physical Universe is always changing. Even our greatest financial abundance isn’t a guarantee that things won’t ebb and flow. The question is, can we be flexible in the human experience of this ebb and flow, while still maintaining our rootedness in the Abundance of Life?

One of my favorite mantras is “I bend like a willow in the breeze.” This reminds me that even though the winds and storms of life may rattle my branches and flutter my leaves, my trunk is rooted in Divine Reality. Be strong and steady in your faith, yet flexible in your living, and Life becomes a joyous Dance of Abundance with the Divine.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are you rigid in the face of adversity, or are you able to let things be what they are? Are you rooted in truth in the midst of chaos and change?

Affirmation: I bend and am flexible on the outside while staying firmly rooted in Truth on the inside.

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I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful—an endless prospect of magic and wonder.  Ansel Adams

Your intellect and emotions are great gifts, but it is just as important to pay attention to this world in which you walk, for your body and the physical Universe are great gifts as well. Something about living in your body and the physicality of life allows the Divine to become more real. Take a bite of the most amazing orange, sweet and juicy, and you partake of Life. Follow a winding trail through the woods onto a bluff with a spectacular view, and you gaze upon the Beloved. Feel your muscles move and enjoy the strength in your body as you stride purposefully down the road, and you sense the power and presence of Spirit.

Open your eyes, mind, and heart to the beauty, wonder, and simple pleasures of life all around you. Feel yourself in the midst of life, embraced by its joy and sharing in its pleasure. This is what our senses are for—to engage with God in form, God as Creation, and grow your Joyous Abundance in miraculous ways!

Spiritual Contemplation: When do you most experience yourself as partaking of the manifest body of God?

Affirmation: I live in the manifest body of God. I savor It and am moved by Its beauty. Everywhere I look I see the beautiful and the miraculous.

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