Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it. David Foster Wallace

Surrendering to the Divine sounds like the right choice every time, but it’s extremely hard to trust enough to let go to life. It’s no real surprise that most people fearfully fight their way through the world rather than allowing themselves to be swept up into the Divine embrace. Can you release your prayers, let go to love, and trust perfect unfoldment, or do you keep sticking your nose in the situation to make sure it’s going the route you have mapped out for it? Are you like the camel that sticks his nose under the tent in order to see what’s going on, and in the process pulls the whole thing down? Surrendering to your Higher Power is the definitive sign that you’ve entered a consciousness where you are willing to be fearless and faithful in your trust of Divine Guidance.

Releasing the need to control the outcome opens you to the mystical pulse that can lift you into happenings that defy logic. Releasing your grasp tells life that you’re ready for something more than you already know. Rather than stopping at the end of the road of the known, leave your doubts and denials behind and find the courage to go into the wilderness, embrace the mysterious, welcome the unknown, and dance in the dark. Your Divine partner is ready to take your hand and guide you beyond whatever abundant good you thought was possible.

Spiritual Contemplation: Where are you having difficulty surrendering to grace leading the way? What good could actually happen if you loosened your grip?

Affirmation: I trust in Divine Guidance to direct my ways.

Receive Dr Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it’s a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means that you will do something new, meet someone new, and make a difference. Yes lets you stand out in a crowd, be the optimist, see the glass full, be the one everyone comes to. Yes is what keeps us all young.  Eric Schmidt

Practice saying “yes!” The Universe is always saying yes to your most deeply held thoughts and beliefs. The power of the Universal Law is that it says yes and only yes. Just as the Universe is saying yes to you, what if you said yes back? What if you simply said “yes!” to every possibility or opportunity, rather than worrying about the “what if . . .”? Saying “yes!” is a powerful spiritual practice for creating miracles in your life.

Spiritual Contemplation: In what situations do you have an automatic or unconscious “no”? How would your life expand, which opportunities would arise, if you said yes more often?

Affirmation: Life says yes to me! I say yes back to Life!

Receive Dr Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

I can do nothing of myself; I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. John 5:30

As long as you hold on to the side of the pool you won’t learn how to swim. As long as you lean on a crutch, you won’t learn how to run. And you won’t know God and the peace and security of the Infinite as long as you refuse to surrender to Spirit. When that part of you that knows there’s something more starts calling to you to let go—let go. Because there‘s way more out there for you to express than you could ever begin to imagine.

You’ll feel the nudging in the quiet of the soul and realize that this call manifests not by your might or power but through the Spirit. Spirit is not a power to be used against anything because it is everything. Spirit is a creative, sustaining expression of life, always expressing through available outlets, of which you are one. This wellspring can use you, but you cannot use it. When you surrender and align with the One and Only Power, all form that took expression under your own personal power is washed away in the affluent flow of the Divine. Stop seeking God to rescue you from some specific situation. Rather, choose to come into harmony with the greatest gift of all—God Itself. You’ll find you are secure in the flow of more than you ever thought was possible.

Spiritual Contemplation: Allow your imagination to conjure up as much good as possible for yourself. Sit in that good feeling for a while. Now open up to a vision of an even greater good to fulfill what is possible for you. What can you do now to start moving in that direction?

Affirmation: More abundant good than I can imagine is now coming into my experience!

It’s easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar. Unknown

Using manipulation and aggression in order to force someone to see your point or change his mind may get a response but it won’t create any kind of long-term connection. Many times my father got instant obedience from us girls in his moment of anger, but we paid no attention to what he wanted when he wasn’t around to yell at us. On the other hand, my mother’s willingness to discuss, understand, and explain made us want to please her and helped make our lives more pleasant and easy. Father was vinegar—Mother was honey.

Love blooms between two people in any situation when the invitation to connection is present in their heart. Rather than blame, shame, guilt, or anger toward another, we might try quietly and truthfully to share our needs, feelings, and choices with each other. When we do this, we let our eyes meet in softness and presence. Then the alchemy of love works its magic and transforms anger into understanding, and separation into connection.

Spiritual Contemplation: Do I spread more honey than vinegar? Am I willing to openly share my feelings and needs?

Affirmation: In challenging conversations I share openly. I listen with an open heart. I seek to understand and to connect.

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

The grass is always greener over the septic tank. Erma Bombeck

Have you ever stopped to think about the word club? It can mean a weapon, or an organization with members. It’s interesting to note that a club is a way to keep someone out of the “in” group, but its exclusivity is equally as seductive and powerful in keeping someone in. If you use the club to keep others out, you’ll soon find the club keeping you trapped in. When you stop believing that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, no matter how desirous the club members make it sound, the grass will be greener where you water it, so bring your focus home.

A while back a couple of farmers were conversing about the mouse problem in their area. One of the farmers shared how his hay was fouled by mice and his cattle wouldn’t eat it. His neighbor suggested he fence off the fouled hay, which he did. The next day the farmer went outside to find his cattle reaching through the fence eating the hay they wouldn’t touch the day before. Exclusiveness, elitism, superiority, snobbery are all an invisible fence that makes what’s on the other side seem greener and deserving of the club. But is it really?

Spiritual Contemplation: When have you been seduced to want to be in “the club”? When in, what did you do to help perpetuate its exclusivity? When have you wanted out of a group dynamic that you couldn’t easily free yourself from? What was the imaginary club that was ready to bop you if you were to proceed? What did you learn about yourself from these experiences?

Affirmation: I see Spirit right where I am.

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

Life is always richer when we’re not playing who we are but being who we are. Sir Ben Kingsley

What if, instead of taking his garbage to the curb, your friend came and dumped it on your living room floor? Now that would catch your attention! You wouldn’t put up with his garbage in your house, and you’d probably remember that invasion for some time. Now think about those people who dump trash in your mind: gossip, sarcasm, put-downs, attacks, complaints, inebriated slurs, and doomsday fears. It’s not that these people are necessarily bad folks—it’s just that they themselves have become trash dumps and that’s all they have to share. But as much as you’d like to see their world filled with joy, it’s not your mission in life to take out their trash. You hang out with trash and you’re going to stink.

Dumpster diving is not what you were created for. Instead of sifting through other people’s trash, try looking to the spiritual truth of who you are. What are you allowing into your consciousness? You may offend your friends by not being their dumping ground but it’s time for your life to be richer than trash. Give up being the garbage collector. You’ve been created for your own unique expression, but being a repository for other’s junk only burdens you with what you’re not. Be who you are.

Spiritual contemplation: Who has been dumping in your world? What can you do to end that?

Affirmation: I am keeping my mind clean for God to express as me!

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few. Brene Brown

We call them negative feelings because we don’t like to feel them—vulnerability, grief, sadness, depression, loss, and pain. We often work very hard to avoid them by distracting ourselves, drowning them out, or covering them up. We use TV, food, sex, shopping, social activities—any kind of addiction. But the problem with not feeling our feelings and trying to avoid our unhappiness and pain, is that we can’t selectively numb out. It’s like taking a general anesthesia: we stop being able to feel anything, which means we also can’t feel our joy, bliss, love, or peace.

Rather than numbing out, we must become resilient to the bad times and learn to become comfortable with the discomfort. Negative feelings are important parts of the human experience. There is something to learn, or grow from, or practice in every situation when these feelings are present. Remember that feelings aren’t forever—they come and go like waves on the ocean. Everything changes, ebbs, and flows. Only Spirit is forever.

Spiritual Contemplation: What do you do to allow yourself to feel your feelings? Which ones do you try to avoid the most?

Affirmation: I have the strength and courage to feel my feelings. I allow them to ebb and flow like the waves upon the shore. Spirit is the steady, ever-present shore upon which my feelings are released.

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough. Bruce Lee

A Zen story tells of a student who came to his master for help in ridding himself of his violent temper. The teacher asked the young man to show him his temper because it sounded very fascinating to him.
“But I don’t have it right now,” the student replied.
“Well then,” the teacher mused, “bring it to me when you do.”
“But I can’t bring it just when I happen to have it,” the student responded. “Anyway, by the time I got it to you, I’d surely lose it again.”
The master gently placed his arm on the student’s shoulder. “In such a case it seems to me that this temper is not part of your true nature. If it is not part of you, it must come into you from outside.” The master took another moment to think. “What I suggest . . is that whenever it gets into you, beat yourself with a stick until the temper can’t stand it another second and runs away.”

Do you allow yourself to be possessed by emotions to the point of losing who you are by behaving or saying things you wouldn’t typically say? You are the guardian of your consciousness and the gatekeeper to the influence of your own behavior. Don’t give that power away to something outside of you.

Spiritual Contemplation: What takes over you that isn’t part of your true nature? The next time it arrives, you might want to try a master teacher’s direction, and see how long it takes to beat it out of yourself before you fall on the floor in laughter.

Affirmation: My true nature shines through all the ways of my world.

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

For fast acting relief, try slowing down. Lily Tomlin

Lion tamers go into cages with their whips and sometimes a pistol at their side to put on a good show, but a stool is the most important prop of their trade. When the trainer holds the stool by its seat and thrusts the legs at the face of the lion, it’s said the wild animal attempts to focus on all four legs at once. This creates a paralysis that confuses, overwhelms, and incapacitates the beast, rendering it more docile.

Have you ever been overwhelmed by piles of e-mails waiting in your inbox, phone calls needing to be returned, meetings necessitating your planning, staff wanting a moment of your time, bills needing to be paid, and family longing to be with you? When your to-do list gets too long and you’re overloaded with demands for your attention, you can feel incapacitated by the sheer number of tasks awaiting you. It’s time to prioritize. Get help from someone you trust to figure out which tasks you can delegate, those you can dump, and which ones you must address. Always remember that the number one thing is to start every day with a few minutes of quiet time and connect with your Life Source. Making this your daily practice will help you to focus and be more energized which will, in turn, help you to accomplish more.

Spiritual Contemplation: Prioritize your to-do list of tasks. Identify the ones you must do, and do them, and dump or delegate the others, but do it now so it’s not hanging over you.

Affirmation: I am focused!

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. Mark Twain

How are you are staying focused and on purpose? In some cultures, an elephant walking through open marketplaces is as normal as a curious dog. The only problem is his exploratory trunk that reaps mayhem, knocking over whatever it smacks on its way to pilfer a few pieces of fruit. Knowing that an elephant’s trunk is naturally restless and undisciplined, a wise owner has learned to give his pet a few pieces of bamboo to grasp in his trunk to settle him with purpose and bring focus. No longer distracted by bananas and goodies, the elephant is now able to walk through the bazaar like royalty. In much the same way, circus elephants normally swing their trunks from side to side and would create a path of havoc when they parade through town. But instead, they have been trained to hold one another’s tails, which keeps them occupied.

Your mind without discipline or focus is similar to the curious, snooping elephant trunk swinging all over the marketplace looking for something sweet. There are many intriguing distractions that can and will easily sidetrack you because your mind is inquisitive and can find all sorts of interesting tangents to get lost in. Use your affirmations to reduce distraction from all the interesting expressions calling for your attention in the marketplace of life. Like the elephant’s bamboo, your affirmations will keep you calm and centered rather than scattered all over the place.

Spiritual Contemplation: Where are your thoughts getting distracted by energetically depleting concerns? Create a short positive affirmation that focuses your awareness, allowing you to walk like royalty through the bizarre offerings life has to show you.

Affirmation: I walk with focus through the bizarre offerings of life.

Receive Dr. Petra’s Daily Word delivered directly to your inbox every morning! Click HERE to add some practical positivity to your day.