Chris Assaad - Peace, Love, Inspiration

One of the first things we are taught as children is how to say “thank you”. Whether we ask for something and it is given to us, or someone does something for us, or we receive a gift, the importance of acknowledging these exchanges is widely accepted across all cultures and walks of life. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, “thank you” has lost its meaning and it has become something that we say automatically, almost as if it were a programmed response. What’s worse is that very often these days, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, we forget to say thank you at all!

We’ve all experienced the feeling of appreciation we get when we do someone a favor, give a gift or lend a hand and they express their heartfelt gratitude. We also know what it’s like to hold a door for someone, yield to another car on the road or do a kind gesture for a loved one and not hear those magic words, or receive acknowledgement of some kind.

Now, of course, when we do a good deed or a thoughtful gesture, it shouldn’t be with any expectation of receiving anything in return. That said, the difference in how we feel as the giver when gratitude is expressed versus when it is not is worth noting. The truth is that when we give and it is acknowledged, it makes us want to give more and it increases the likelihood that we will give again and again. In other words, gratitude gives rise to more giving which in turn, gives rise to abundance.

This paradigm applies to our relationship with the Uni-verse and all that it provides for us. Life is truly a miracle. Every day that we get to live on this earth is a gift. Regardless of our position in the world, our status or wealth, we all have so much to be grateful for. And yet so many of us are focused on what’s missing from our lives. So often, we are so consumed with our desires and wants that we end up taking so much for granted and we don’t take the time to express our gratitude for what we already have.

I’m not just talking about saying thank you, although that’s s a good start. I’m talking about taking a moment every now and then (or better yet, ever day) to acknowledge all that there is to be thankful for in your life, in your relationships, in YOU! Not just thinking about it but FEELING it. And not just the big things but the little ones too. Here in the Western world, we have so much that people in other parts of the world would give anything to have and we don’t even really realize it. In fact, sometimes the more we have, the easier it is to lose sight of how blessed we truly are. In the same way, it is often those who have less who are better at expressing their gratitude.

There will always be more to get, more to do and more to become but when we forget to FEEL and EXPRESS our gratitude for what we’ve already got, we essentially stop the flow of abundance. In the same way that when we give and don’t hear a “thank you”, it leaves us feeling less inclined to give again; when we don’t internally acknowledge and outwardly express thanks for all that we have, we are not inviting the Uni-verse to keep on providing for us.

So I invite you to take a moment right now and give some thought to what you are thankful for in your life, in this world, about yourself. There is nothing too trivial and there is no limit to how many times we can express our gratitude for the bigger things in life. Leave a comment and let us all share in the joy of expressing our gratitude and counting our blessings together in community.

THANK YOU!

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Feb. 18th, 2012)

Everyone’s got an opinion, their own version of the story, their completely subjective take on what’s going on in the world. And then of course, there are straight facts. What I’ve been noticing lately in my own experience is that the lines between the two can easily get blurred.

I just spent five days at a big international music conference in France. There were industry people and artists from all over the world there to network, talk shop, learn and do business. I was amazed at the number of people and conversations I came across that were focused on how bad things are in the industry, how difficult it is to have success these days, how it’s all messed up and how the opportunities of the past are gone.

Now there is no question that the music business has dramatically shifted and that it continues to be in flux. And yes, the numbers don’t lie and the facts are indisputable. Music sales are down. It’s true… But the consumption of music is at an all-time high and there are more opportunities than ever before for artists to reach a global audience. Just a few weeks ago, a band I know posted a video of a cover song on YouTube and within a week, they got 22 million views and within two weeks, they were on the Ellen Show.

Depending on how you look at it, you could argue that things have never been better or that things are the worst they’ve ever been. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people going with the latter interpretation. That’s the story they’re choosing to buy into, whether they realize it or not. Their experience might even be validating that view, which is to say there could even be some facts supporting their perspective. As conscious as I was of not wanting to let those conversations influence my own thinking, and despite having a great overall experience at the conference, I left with a subtle feeling of discouragement and found myself questioning my own career. The negative talk and cynical stories had seeped into my thinking and affected my outlook.

So, what’s the point? Well, in any endeavor, regardless of what facts are at play, I believe that we each get to write our own story. There is no question that someone who is focused on what’s possible and who has faith even in the face of uncertainty is much more likely to succeed (and be happy) than someone focused on the obstacles and the failures. In fact, I would argue that maintaining a positive mindset is more than half the battle. It comes down to choosing a mentality of faith instead of fear, of abundance instead of lack and realizing that this variable alone plays a huge part in shaping our reality and in determining whether or not we realize our goals.

This happens everywhere in our lives. We are constantly being bombarded with other peoples’ views and stories about love, about money, about life, about health. These opinions and messages come in conversation, in what we read, in what we watch and in what we hear. So the question is…Who are we listening to? What stories are we believing? What views are we buying into and how are they affecting our own experience?

The bottom line is this…Don’t let anyone else tell you it’s too hard or too late. You get to decide how it goes for you. You get to choose what lens you are going to look through and that choice will impact your experience. So be selective about whose views and opinions you listen to and consume. More importantly, remember that your life is yours to create and anything is truly possible if you believe in it and keep faith. Rather than let someone else’s experience tell you what’s out there, find out for yourself!

Much love,

CA

Written for The Daily Love (February 6th, 2012)

“To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever.”

– Bruce Lee

Time is one of the most precious commodities we have. Each of our lives on this earth will span a given period of time. Seen in this way, each tiny increment of our time is a little piece of our existence, our lifetime. The good news is that it’s mostly up to us to choose how we use our time and in this choice lies the key to a great deal of our happiness and fulfillment.

The challenge lies in the fact that we are living in the age of distraction. It has been said that the average person spends 2.5 hours a day being distracted. At any given moment, there is a wide of range of options that we can choose from to keep ourselves occupied and entertained. Facebook, Twitter, email, Skype, web surfing, TV, music, Netflix, YouTube, we all have our favorites. At a recent lecture on leadership, Robin Sharma put it best in saying that the thing that keeps most of us from realizing our full potential is that we are too busy being busy.

I have been learning that it takes A LOT of time to bring your dreams to life and to walk the path less traveled. It takes a lot of energy too and this makes the choice of how we use our time that much more important. This choice includes who you spend time with, what activities you engage in, what content you consume and even what you think about. I know I definitely have days when I’m so busy thinking and stressing about the things I need to do that I end up wasting a ton of time and energy that would be better spent just getting them done!

Making good use of our time and energy will keep us feeling fulfilled and this in turn, keeps us renewed as we move forward, whether it’s in our careers, our relationships or in any particular area of our lives.

So how do we cultivate this practice? Being aware of the quality of your PRESENCE in whatever it is that you are doing at any moment is a great start. Are you really present in what you are doing or are you just mindlessly going through the motions, procrastinating, escaping or occupying yourself to relieve boredom? If that’s the case, chances are you’re wasting time rather than spending it.

The next level of this awareness comes from being mindful of the distinction between spending and wasting time in a more practical sense. This means consciously choosing what stays and what goes in your life, and discerning between what and who are worth your time or not.

Who do you hang out with most? Who do you talk to on a regular basis? What activities do you do daily or even weekly? How do you spend your alone time? It’s worth taking a moment to consider the quality of these uses of your time in the context of the bigger picture of your life. Are your choices resulting in fulfilling experiences? Are you moving in the direction of your dreams and aspirations? When you look back, will you be satisfied knowing that you spent X amount of hours scrolling through your newsfeed, watching weeks worth of TV and being in an ok relationship with Mr./Mrs. Wrong for months or even years?

Our lives and our time here are precious. Let us SPEND them accordingly. With people we love, doing what brings us the most joy and making the world a better place for having lived in it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and spending a few moments with me.

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (January, 21st, 2012)

The path of personal and spiritual development is a continual process. Though many of us believe that when we get to this goal or that achievement, we will be fully satisfied, there is no real defined end to the journey. There is no point at which we will look around at all we have accomplished or who we have become and say: “Ok, that’s good. I’m done now.”

In light of this, it’s very easy to get tunnel vision and to get caught up in the constant push towards some future-based destination. Having goals and a vision is a great thing and it helps to keep us focused, motivated and on track. At the same time, it’s important to take a step back every now and then to acknowledge our victories, to look at how far we’ve come and appreciate all that we are and have in this moment. That’s the fuel that keeps the engine going and without it, our whole lives can become an endless pursuit of something that we will never even get to enjoy when we’ve attained it.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been fully immersed in the process of recording my second album. I’ve poured my heart and soul into it and have had to make a number of sacrifices along the way to stay on track in meeting a fairly tight deadline. In the final stretch, the process has involved very critical listening to ensure that everything was sounding as awesome as possible. As I was driving to the final recording session, I was listening to a working version of one of the songs and it hit me like a ton of bricks! For the first time in months, I actually heard the music that I’d been working on so hard with appreciative ears and an open heart and it almost moved me to tears.

Now you might be thinking that only some kind of ego maniac could be so emotionally affected by their own music! The truth is that what really got to me in that moment was the realization that I’d been so busy trying to get it perfect and get it done that I forgot to take a step back and just let it in, to really appreciate the fruits of my labor, to stop and smell the roses as the saying goes. We can live our whole lives this way and forget to stop every once in a while to take it all in, to acknowledge our efforts, to honor all that we have become and achieved, to say thank you.

So maybe you’re working your butt off to lose twenty pounds. That’s great but don’t forget to acknowledge and thank yourself for the five that you’ve already shed. Or maybe you’re working on your own masterpiece and are knee deep in the process. Don’t forget to put the pen, the brush or the instrument down every once in a while and allow yourself to look and listen with kind eyes and ears on what you’ve done so far.

We are all our own masterpieces in progress and it helps to remember that we will never be perfect, that the process never ends and that it’s important to find the balance between striving and thriving, between doing and being, between improving and appreciating.

In that spirit, take a moment to step back and have a look at what you’ve accomplished, how far you’ve come and who you’ve become through all of your efforts and experiences. Give yourself the gift of acknowledgement by leaving a comment and sharing with the rest of us. It might be something as simple as a positive attribute you’ve worked on, a good deed you did or a bad habit you’ve kicked. Whatever it is, big or small, let’s celebrate our victories together and encourage one another as we walk the path towards our greatness and our dreams.

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Jan. 14th, 2012)

Hey friends! Happy New Year!

I’m excited to share my first video blog with you and even more excited that I put it together with my main man Mastin Kipp while I was visiting L.A. over the holidays.

The vlog was inspired by a great conversation we had about the importance of ASKING FOR WHAT WE WANT in life, in relationships and in business. We’re all familiar with the saying: “Ask and it is given”. Well, there’s definitely truth to the fact that if we don’t communicate what we want to the Uni-verse and to others, there’s a significantly lower chance that we will see our wishes come to fruition. And yet, so many of us don’t really speak up and ask for what we want because of a number of reasons that we hold onto as justification for keeping quiet.

At the same time, it’s important to be able to ask for what we want from an authentic place and without having attachment to the outcome. When dealing with people, this means that BEING with people should come first and above any desire or agenda we are hoping to fulfill. When it comes to things we’re after in life more generally, the parallel is BEING content with where we are and not coming from a place of lack, despite having some goal or destination that we have our sights set on. When we are able to strike this balance, our intention will be pure and this will greatly affect the vibration of our requests and the way they will be received.

The last piece of the puzzle is the importance of seeking to bring something to the table when we are making requests to create a win-win. Asking ourselves what we can give in return or how we can add value or serve is a great place to start. In this way, we are both the giver and the receiver. Our requests are much more likely to be heard and acted upon when they are coupled with a desire to make a contribution rather than being all about what we can get. Rather than treating others as a means to some ego-driven end, this approach honors our connectedness as human beings and puts relationships first.

The start of the New Year is a great time to set your sights high and use your voice to ask for what you want! Let us know what you’re asking for and where your requests are coming from. Remember, think big and go for it because this life is ours to create and if we don’t ask, we won’t get.

May this be OUR best year yet!!!

Much love,

Chris (and Mastin)

Created for The Daily Love (Jan. 7th, 2012)

I love this time of year. Despite the cold weather here in Toronto, there’s always some extra warmth in the air around the Holidays. We get to come together with those we love and spend quality time. It’s an opportunity to show the people in our lives how we feel about them, to take a look at all the things we have to be thankful for and of course, there’s a lot of gift giving.

As much as I enjoy picking out a juicy gift for someone I love, wrapping it up and watching their delight as they open it (hopefully!), I’ve come to realize that there’s another kind of gift that warms the heart even more and that is ACCEPTANCE. Some of you might have been thinking I was gonna say unconditional love, gratitude, forgiveness or even chocolate but I believe the greatest gift we can give another is to accept them exactly as they are.

The beauty of acceptance is that it encompasses all the other sentiments I mentioned, except the chocolate! When we truly accept someone with all their flaws and quirks, that is when we are able to love them unconditionally. When we fully accept them and embrace all their positive attributes, their uniqueness and their gifts, we can receive them with gratitude and appreciation. And when we can accept the growth that comes from sharing experiences both good and bad, we can forgive the past and embrace wherever we are together in the present.

Being with family and those closest to us is an especially good opportunity to practice acceptance. Many of us know our nearest and dearest better than anyone else, we have a lifetime of history together and it’s easy to focus on what we don’t like or what isn’t working in those relationships. Anyone who’s ever tried will tell you that you can’t change anyone so investing our energy in resisting the things we don’t like isn’t worth it. What we can change is our approach and our focus from one of resistance to acceptance.

Sometimes we may even be coming from a place of love and a desire to share something we’ve learned or discovered on our own path with those we care about because we want to help them. But as it has been said, each person must walk the path and learn life’s lessons themselves. In other words, we can’t help anyone who doesn’t want to be helped but we can shower them with love and acceptance until they want to help themselves.

And while we’re busy spreading holiday cheer and accepting all those around us, let us not forget about ourselves. That means you. Yes YOU. There’s nobody else like you and YOU are amazing just the way you are. If you want to give me a gift this year you can do me a big favor and go to the mirror RIGHT NOW, look at the beautiful reflection you see and say: “I love you. You are mine and I accept you just the way you are. You’re the shizzle!“

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads these blogs, the amazing TDL community, and of course, Mastin, without whom none of this would be possible, for accepting me as I am and receiving my writing and musings with such open arms and love. Sending out big love to you all and wishing you all the best over the holidays!

Accepting you as you are,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Dec. 26th, 2011)

It’s hard to admit it when we make a mistake. It’s tough to say we’re sorry when we know we’ve screwed up or done someone wrong. We’ve all been there and it takes a certain amount of humility to swallow our pride and own up to our faults. It takes a strong person to be that vulnerable.

The hardest thing of all though is letting go when we know we’re right. When we have a million and one reasons to validate our position, when we’ve got all the evidence to back up our point of view, and the other person is clearly at fault, it takes a lot to give up being right.

That’s what it means to be a bigger person. It means foregoing the opportunity to stick it to someone else for what they’ve done wrong even when we know without a doubt that we’re right. It means letting them off the hook, giving them the benefit of the doubt and practicing forgiveness even when we’ve got them on the ropes.

The fact is that being right doesn’t actually translate into peace of mind or fulfillment. Neither does being angry or upset regardless of how good the reason is. This includes being upset with ourselves when we repeat a mistake or let a situation get the better of us. It’s one thing to acknowledge mistakes and honor our darker emotions and another thing to dwell on them for longer than necessary.

What we often fail to realize is that when someone hurts us, the initial upset is nothing in comparison to the suffering we create for ourselves by holding on to it. We replay the inciting event in our minds over and over again, we build up our case and set out to prove that we’re right to ourselves and others, we raise our guard and vow never to let anyone hurt us again. It can get to be quite exhausting and all it does is prolong the suffering and poison our own pond.

Every time we have an opportunity to engage in a battle of right and wrong and we can be present enough to stay out of it, we expand. Someone cuts you off on the road… instead of honking the horn, cursing or flipping the bird, take a deep breath and feel how much strength it takes to remain calm. That’s growth. Someone says something offensive or takes a cheap shot at you…instead of hitting them with a comeback or laying a beat down with a swift karate chop, stay silent and turn the other cheek. Breathe, feel the anger rising up inside of you and see if you can create space for it rather than fueling the fire. That’s expansion. That’s being the bigger person.

I’m not saying that we should let people abuse us or take advantage of us. What I’m saying is that we have a choice when things go bad to shake it off or take it on. When we take it on, we waste our energy and we give our power away.

True power, true strength lies in moving through the challenges and the conflicts swiftly and not getting bogged down in the small stuff. It means recognizing another person’s weakness and not holding it against them. It means expanding in love instead of contracting in fear in the face of a triggering event or person who’s looking for a fight. Maybe they’re suffering inside. Maybe they’ve had a rough go. Maybe they just don’t know any better. Who knows?

All I know is that being right is a lost cause. Instead, we can invest our energy in worthy causes. We can create with our emotions, we can learn from our experiences and we can be stronger by allowing ourselves to be exposed, by letting our guard down and continuing to love even after we’ve been hurt a thousand times.

Keep giving, keep loving, keep living. Keep growing, keep learning, keep expanding.
That’s what being a bigger person is all about. Who’s in?

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Dec. 19th, 2011)

One of the hardest things to do in life is to let go. The more we love something, the more likely we are to hold on to it as tightly as we can. The more we want something, the more we obsess about it until we get it. The more right we think we are, the harder it is to concede the point or forgive the person who we believe has wronged us. The more attached we are, the more difficult it is to let go.

And so we have one of life’s beautiful paradoxes and a lifetime of opportunities to learn this fundamental lesson of letting go.

It is often said that when we are in nature, we are able to experience our own essence, that we can get a sense of the connectedness of all things. A simple but powerful example of this is a bird in flight, wings spread and effortlessly gliding through the air. Watching a bird soar in the sky, I get a sense of the greater forces of life at work. The bird gracefully relies on the interplay of wind, gravity and this gives way to the magic of flight. All it does is spread its wings and enjoy the ride.

Imagine what the bird’s flight trajectory would look like if it was constantly fussing and flailing its wings in angst, never sure of its course, always doubting its ability to fly and fearing a collision.

This is how many of us live. We doubt our true nature and purpose. Even when we get a sense of what it is, we reluctantly follow our instincts, kicking and screaming the whole way, holding on for dear life. What’s worse, many of us are like birds who don’t even know they can fly and so we live our entire lives on a tree branch under the shade, completely oblivious to our own greatness and our capabilities.

But just as birds were made to fly, we were made to live life to the fullest, to express our gifts and talents, to create, to love, to thrive. Coming to this realization can create a life-changing spark that sets us on the path of our calling. That’s the first step.

The harder part comes once we’re on the path. The fire inside us has been lit and we have a purpose for our lives, we know what we’re here to do and the direction of our life course is set. Then what? Do we simply spread our wings and trust the winds to carry us in majestic flight? Are we willing to change our course if the weather dictates it? Can we adapt to the changing seasons of life?

This is where we must be willing to trust, let go and let God do His part. When we want something so bad that we become attached to it, we inhibit the natural flow of things. When we hold on too tight to a particular outcome or trajectory for our lives, we leave no room for God to lend a hand, to get us to where we are meant to go in the best and quickest way possible. Doing this requires us to be humble enough to realize that we don’t always know what’s best, that the quickest path to where we want to get to might be different than what we thought. Ultimately, letting go means striking the delicate balance between doing and being, between passion and patience, between having a vision and being present for every step along the way.

There are a million ways for us to thrive, to love, to create, to express. Our job is to remain committed to ‘the what’ and not ‘the how’. As the seasons of life change, we have to be willing to adapt and change course, we have to have faith in the Uni-verse and know that we will be guided, supported and provided for. When we worry, doubt, fear and hold on too tightly, life doesn’t flow and we leave no room for forces greater than our own to aid us.

So where have you been holding on too tight? Where in your life are you so attached to a particular outcome that you’re not allowing for the God to help you out? Where can you let go and trust God to guide, support and provide for you?

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Dec. 11th, 2011)

Today was one of those days when I woke up and for no apparent reason I was feeling a little lower in spirits than usual. I began to wonder why. Maybe it’s the cold, rainy, dreary weather and lack of sunshine as winter officially sets in. Maybe it’s a subtle feeling of discouragement as I come up against obstacles along the path to my dream and as I focus on how far I have yet to go to my goal. Perhaps it’s a combination of fears that have crept into my subconscious and affected my mood. Fear of failure is always high on the list and then of course, there’s fear of everything that comes with success. Or maybe it’s a bout of loneliness that triggered my fear of never finding the relationship I long for and of being alone for the failure or the success. Blah blah blah!

Ok that’s enough. This is how our minds work a lot of the time and if we don’t catch ourselves, we can get completely submerged in destructive thinking.

There are two levels to this pattern. The first is that when I wake up feeling a slight change in my mood, my first response is to assume that something is wrong and to go hunting for a reason. Well, we’re all professionals at that and when we go in search of evidence for why we’re feeling down, we’re bound to come up with plenty of great stories. Oh how we love our stories!

The fact is, there is an ebb and flow to life. There are highs and lows. There is bitter and sweet. There are gray days and sunny days and it’s all part of the package. If it were peaches, sunshine and roses all the time we’d probably get bored pretty quickly.

The second level is that we resist the mood and immediately try to “fix” it or escape it. In some instances this takes the form of eating, drinking, doping, buying, consuming, or indulging our way out of the problem. In other instances, we run, we hide, we deny, we slam on the brakes and shut down completely.

The bottom line is that the idea that we’re supposed to be on a high all the time is misleading and it can cause us to have false expectations. It’s no wonder that we live in a world mired in addictive behaviors aimed at escaping the lows that we all inevitably experience.

What I’ve been learning is that the best way to cause a shift in our mood when the darkness hits is to completely surrender to the experience of it. This means facing the feelings, writing about them, talking about them with someone we trust and sometimes, even laughing about them.

The more we resist the valleys of life, the more entrenched in them we become. But when we honor our darker feelings and accept them as part of the nature of who we are then they lose their hold on us. When we acknowledge our feelings, give them voice and allow ourselves to feel the ugly, scary stuff, then the darkness passes and gives way to light.

Most importantly, when we’re having one of those days, it’s an opportunity to practice loving ourselves more, to dig deeper and have greater faith in our dreams, to build up our spiritual endurance and press on in the face of fear and uncertainty. It’s an opportunity to learn about ourselves and grow by getting to know a side of ourselves that makes us uncomfortable.

There is an ebb and flow to life. Rather than fight it or resist it, let us embrace it. Let us adjust our expectations of what is “normal” and practice accepting the highs, the lows and everything in between.

There’s a lesson in all of it and it’s by fully being wherever we are that we can maintain a sense of inner peace and remain empowered regardless of what the day holds or what the weather outside looks like.

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Dec. 4th, 2011)

We were born to love. All of us, regardless of any of the outer characteristics that distinguish us, have this in common. We all have love in our hearts and we all have access to an unlimited supply of it.

That’s right. We can’t run out of love. There’s no such thing as too much love. Love doesn’t cost us anything. In fact, the more love we give, the more love we are able to experience. The more we open up our hearts and let the love pour out, the more easily our hearts can be filled.

Of course, each of us expresses love differently. Each of us experiences it in different ways but ultimately it is the glue that binds us together. Regardless of our race, creed, color, age, sex, status, etc., love connects us and brings us together as one.

But so often, we treat love like a scarce resource, something to be kept to ourselves or reserved for the worthy few. Love is free and limitless. Let us give of our love unconditionally and without hesitation.

So often we make the mistake of placing greater value on material things such as wealth, success, fame and fortune. Love is the ultimate treasure in this life. Let us recognize its true value, its sacred nature and live for love above all else.

When we truly begin to recognize the abundance of love that’s available to us within our hearts and all around us, the world comes to life. The mundane can become exciting.

I like to play a game and see if I can create a loving exchange with a stranger. When I’m dealing with a really serious cashier at the grocery store or a server who has a seemingly cold exterior, I like to see if I can get to the love that I know is in there. Sometimes all it takes is a smile. Sometimes a kind word or two or a joke does the trick. Other times, it takes longer or I don’t quite crack them but I’m happy knowing that I tried to share some love with someone who may have needed it.

Our hearts are like bottomless wells, we can continue to draw on them and they will never run dry. When we don’t draw on them enough, the love in our hearts can get a little stale and create the illusion of bitterness, but getting the flow going again can remedy that easily.

How do we do that? Give a little love. Give someone a compliment or a hug, Buy someone a gift, write a sweet note or message to a friend. Anything we do can be done with love, it’s just a matter of intention. Whether it’s making a cup of tea, cleaning up a mess or singing a song. When we put a little extra love into it, it makes all the difference. The tea tastes a little sweeter, the floor sparkles a little more, the song comes to life.

So wherever you are today, share your love with the people around you and experience the sense of connectedness that follows. Whatever you’re doing today, put your love into it and see what a difference it makes. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Much love,

Chris ☺

Written for The Daily Love (Nov. 28th, 2011)

Life is a gift, a beautiful and continuous stream of moments that carry the possibility of anything and everything that we can imagine. The best part about it is that it’s not the kind of gift that we only get to open once or that we can quickly get bored of and forget about. No, this is a gift that we can continue to enjoy and savor over and over again.

The way to do that is by cherishing the uniqueness of every moment, right here, right now. What does that mean? It means understanding and appreciating the fact that no two moments are alike. It means allowing each experience to unfold without trying to make it more like some other experience or forcing it to meet some preconceived expectation of how we want it to be. You see, there’s a certain graciousness involved in accepting a gift and that lies in being grateful regardless of what’s underneath the wrapping paper.

Honoring the present moment also means letting go of yesterday’s mistakes or upsets, not worrying about tomorrow or even later today. It means bringing all of our attention and energy to whatever we’re doing at this exact moment in our lives and realizing that that is the greatest gift of all. This applies whether we’re doing something life-altering like climbing Mt. Everest or something more trivial like folding our laundry. The fact is, we’re here and we’re alive and that’s something to celebrate in and of itself. This is it, this is our life and it’s up to us to enjoy and appreciate every little bit of it.

But often in life, we treat the present moment as a means to an end. We forgo this moment in favor of some future one. We overwork ourselves now for the promise of tomorrow’s reward. We deprive ourselves of food and sleep to meet a deadline. We put off having an important conversation because it’s not the perfect moment. We don’t make our art and share it with others because we don’t think we’re good enough yet. We don’t take action towards our dreams because we haven’t saved up enough money. And the list goes on.

When we approach life with this mentality, we miss the whole point. We miss out on the gift that was meant for us to enjoy RIGHT NOW. That’s why the here and now is called “the present”. It’s the greatest gift of life and it’s ours to discover again and again.

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Nov. 20th, 2011)

When you go to someone’s house for the first time, you can learn a lot about what their expectations are by observing them in action. Do they wear shoes inside? If not, you know to take off your shoes at the door before going into the house. Do they put coasters down for their drinks or are they ok with a little moisture on their tabletop?

In the same way, though we may not realize it, we teach others how to treat us by the way that we treat ourselves. If we set the bar high in our relationship with ourselves by loving and taking good care of ourselves, other people will implicitly learn from us that we are worthy of love and nurture. If we treat ourselves with reverence and respect, people in our lives will get the message and will be more likely to treat us accordingly. A simple example of this is how me manage our time. If we are punctual and always careful about how we spend our time, others will learn not to waste it… Or else!

When it comes to relationships, whether personal, business or intimate, we have a major part to play in letting others know what is cool and what is not. So it’s important for us to establish for ourselves the kind of relationships we want to have, to act accordingly and lead by example.

We can’t control what anyone else does or says but we can decide what is acceptable to us. If we allow a certain pattern of behavior to go on unchecked, we are basically implicitly communicating that it’s ok. There’s a fine line between being generous and allowing people to take advantage of us, between being forgiving and putting up with abuse, between kindness and weakness. It’s up to us to establish that line and set our boundaries.

Another important aspect of this is how we treat others. It goes without saying that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. But just because we treat someone a certain way, that doesn’t ensure they are going to reciprocate. This is where it’s important for us to know for ourselves what kind of person we want to be regardless of what anyone else does. Establishing this, as well as what we want out of a given relationship gives us a good reference point and a measure by which we can decide whether or not we’re fulfilled with the status quo. Ask yourself: Is this relationship bringing the best out of me? Is it providing me with what I want or need? If not, you can choose to speak up in hopes of effecting a change, walk away or consider compromising and accepting things as they are.

Ultimately, it’s up to us to decide what stays and what goes. It’s up to us to love ourselves enough to make sure we get what we deserve in our relationships. It’s up to us to know what we want out of life and go after it.

So know your own your worth, set the bar high and don’t settle for anything less!

CA

Written for The Daily Love (Nov. 13th, 2011)

“Life is choices.” This simple saying has been one of my dad’s favorites for as long as I can remember. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand and appreciate its deeper meaning, both in good times and bad.

Life unfolds one moment at a time. From moment to moment, we are making choices. There are obvious choices like what we say, what we eat and where we go and there are less obvious choices like what we think and what we focus on.

With this ability to choose comes great power to shape ourselves, our experiences, our lives, and those of others. This power comes with great responsibility to choose wisely and to choose consciously. There are times when we make choices that are in alignment with our best interest and there are times when we choose something that does more harm than good. There are also times when we are not even aware of the fact that we’re choosing.

So how do we go about choosing? Well, the first and most important thing is to know that we have a choice, that we are in fact choosing from one moment to the next and that we have the power to make a difference.

The next step is to examine what we are choosing. When you really break it down to the simplest of terms, there are really only ever two important choices being made in each moment. Are we choosing love or fear? And are we choosing to be present or to inhabit some thought about the past or future?

This can apply to any situation that life presents us and can inform how we go about choosing from moment to moment. When you’re driving and someone cuts you off, you can let it go and laugh it off or honk your horn, shout obscenities and give them the finger. That’s one of the more obvious ones. When someone you love says something hurtful to you in a moment of weakness, you can either forgive them and give them the benefit of the doubt or come back with a blow of your own – perhaps less obvious and certainly more challenging but it comes back to love and fear.

Similarly, when you wake up each morning you can focus on the gift of the new day ahead or you can get caught up in thoughts about yesterday’s grievances or tomorrow’s worries. You can take a deep, conscious breath and fully inhabit your body or you can jump out of bed and rush into the day. As you climb the mountain of your dreams, you can savor the view at each step or you can dwell on the wrong choices you made along the way and the distance separating you from the top.

We are constantly choosing. Do you say what you’re really feeling or what you think they want to hear? Do you reach out to the friend you miss and haven’t spoken to in a long time or do you wait for them to call you? Do you really listen to the person talking to you or do you get caught up in thoughts about some other time and place? Do you go to the gym today or can it wait until tomorrow? Do you have that smoke, that drink or that piece of cake or do you stick with your commitment to your health? Do you take the risk and go after your dream or keep the job that will guarantee the bills get paid?

The list of choices is endless, but the point is that you get to choose and it always comes down to love or fear, present moment, past or future.

It’s your life and your choice. Choose love. Choose to be present. This moment is all we ever have.

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Nov. 6th, 2011)

What if you already had everything you ever wanted and just didn’t realize it? What if every need or desire that was in your best interest was ready to be met and fulfilled abundantly and the only thing standing in the way was you? What if you had a million dollars sitting in your bank account but you didn’t know it, so you lived a life of poverty?

Sounds crazy, right? A shame? A waste even! Yes, all of these things apply but the fact is that many of us live like this, failing to make the most of what we do have and focusing on what we don’t have.

Since I was a child, my parents have always given me an abundance of love and have provided for me in every way conceivable. As a kid, if I wanted something, I got it. You might even say I was spoiled rotten I grew up having access to every opportunity and advantage I can think of. I went to a great school and my family supported me throughout university and law school, ensuring that I had access to every opportunity, all the while living comfortably. Even now, as I forge ahead with the choice to follow my heart and passion for music, leaving behind a promising legal career, my family has continued to give me nothing but their utmost love and support.

It doesn’t get much better than that, right? Right. I’ve been so blessed in my life and I am truly thankful for everything I’ve been given. But somehow, amidst all of this abundance and all these blessings, my ego has still found a way to keep me from being at peace. The voice in my head will often chime in: “You don’t deserve it,” “Why do you get to have it so easy while others struggle?” ”It’s too good to be true.” The truth is that it’s only too good to be true if I say so.

This is a perfect example of how clever and sneaky the ego can be. It thrives on keeping us in search of something that’s missing, on always feeling a sense of unease, keeping us in a perpetual state of searching but never finding, wanting but never being satisfied. In my case, in the absence of lack outside of myself, my ego found it elsewhere by questioning my own worth and worthiness of all the good things in my life.

What I am learning is the importance of ALLOWING the goodness to flow into my life. I am learning to graciously ACCEPT all the blessings and do everything I can to put any advantage I’ve been given to good use. Often times, our tendency is to overlook what we have and focus on what is missing or worse still, find some reason why we can’t fully enjoy what we already have. This is one of the more subtle forms of self-sabotage because in this state, we are not open to truly receiving what the Uni-verse wants to provide for us.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve been taught that we’re only worthy of love if we do X, Y, or Z. We only deserve to be successful or achieve our goals if we struggle or suffer in this way or that way. What if it doesn’t have to be that hard? What if there are forces at work that are desperately trying to help us have it all and the only thing stopping them is us?!

I believe that those forces do exist. I believe that our dreams and our calling are an invitation to love ourselves enough to allow the goodness in, to take action on behalf of our highest vision and to take a leap of faith. Once we do, the goodness will flow freely, our actions will be supported as we take steps towards our dream life and when we leap, the net will appear.

What I’m talking about is UNCONDITIONAL RECEIVING. Being willing to let the good stuff happen, believing that we deserve it and that it can happen to “little old me” for no other reason than the fact that we are who we are. Each and every one of us deserves the very best that life has to offer and the first step is to remove any condition we have placed upon our worthiness to receive it.

It begins with an attitude of gratitude and the ongoing acknowledgement of everything that we have to be grateful for. The next step is being open to what is coming our way, trusting that the Uni-verse has our back and loving ourselves enough to say YES to all of it.

Let the love in. Let the blessings in. Let the goodness in. You deserve it.

Much love,

Chris

Written for The Daily Love (Oct. 29th, 2011)

In the confines of our own minds, it’s easy to convince ourselves that we’re all alone when times get tough and that whatever we’re going through is unique to us. We tell ourselves that it’s our problem and nobody can or will help us.

While it’s great to be self-sufficient and independent, we can go too far with this mentality. Sometimes, we are like a lost driver who’s not willing to admit that he’s taken a wrong turn, and rather than stopping to ask for directions we keep going on our own and get further off the path. Sometimes we know that we’re lost but we don’t want to let others know that we’re not perfect, so we brave it on our own to avoid looking bad. As hard as this may be to hear, some of us get so accustomed to the feeling of being lost that we don’t take opportunities to find our way even when they are right in front of us. In other words, we can get addicted to drama and to suffering such that it becomes a part of our identity and we end up unconsciously holding on to it. Whether it’s a pride thing, a denial thing or an unconscious pattern, the solution lies in seeking the support that we need and asking for help.

As an artist, it’s easy to buy into the idea that the challenges I face are “special” or unique to my craft. The concept of “writer’s block” is a perfect example. Many artists would suggest that this is a specific obstacle encountered by those walking the creative path at times when inspiration is nowhere to be found. Upon closer inspection, I have learned that the real issues at play are simply procrastination and resistance to starting new projects. Similarly, a lack of motivation (or the so-called inspiration) is usually the product of fear and this can be remedied by taking action towards our vision or goal even when we don’t feel like it. The truth is that these are challenges that everyone face, not just artists. In this way, I’ve been surprised and relieved to discover on numerous occasions that the things I struggle with in various areas of my life are not just common, they’re normal and part of being human!

Of course, there is an endless supply of self-help resources available that can provide the support we’re seeking. “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron has been a dear companion to me on my creative and spiritual journey, as has The Daily Love. There is however a very different and perhaps more immediate kind of comfort that comes from the people in my life. When we are willing to open up and share what we’re going through, the answers and the encouragement we are looking for are often right there waiting for us. If we ask for help, the Uni-verse will deliver it in the form of a willing listener, a surprise phone call, a knock at our door or a timely piece of advice.

Sometimes we may need to be more proactive and even selective about where we turn for support. It helps to know who our greatest allies are and that can vary depending on the issue at hand. We may have certain friends who are faithfully optimistic and who can lend a dose of positivity and encouragement when we’re down on ourselves. We may have that one friend who is a particularly great listener and who always has the best advice when it comes to relationships. We may know someone who has the very experience we are lacking and it’s simply a matter of believing that we are worthy of their help. Sometimes, there’s nothing like the special kind of love that our family members can give us. Or perhaps the particular problem at hand requires the ears of someone who we’re not as close to, who can offer a more objective perspective.

Regardless of the challenge, it takes as much, if not more courage as it does to face it on our own, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and let someone else in. Whether we’re feeling alone, discouraged, stuck or simply lost, one of the best ways we can help ourselves is to ask for help. It’s also worth knowing that the person who is offering support or encouragement often benefits as greatly as the one receiving it, in the same way that student and teacher are interchangeable.

While it’s great to be strong and to be able to deal with our challenges on our own, there are times when we need to be reminded that we’re not alone and that help is there for us if we are willing to ask for it.

So what problem or challenge have you been dealing with all by yourself that might be helped by turning to someone else? Who are your greatest allies? Who can you turn to for support with whatever challenge you’re currently facing?

We’re all in this life together and we can get by with a little help from our friends

Written for The Daily Love (Oct. 15th, 2011)

Good morning sunshine! One of the most amazing things about life is that every day we get a fresh start. The catch is that it’s up to us to turn a new leaf every day and that begins the moment we open our eyes.

What is the first thing you think about right when you wake up? I know for me, there are days where it seems I am actually woken up by mental activity that seems to have started before I was even fully awake! It could be worrying about all the things I have to do that day or remembering some unresolved issue from the day before. Some mornings, I’m rolling over and reaching for my phone to check messages before I’ve even had a sip of water or taken a conscious breath.

When we don’t take the time to center and nurture ourselves, and consciously direct our thoughts before going out into the world, that’s what it means to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. As our day unfolds, there are so many things that can throw us off and it’s important to be ready for all of it, to choose our state of being on purpose and to get ourselves in the best space to make the most of the day ahead. Once we do that, then we’re much better equipped to take advantage of the opportunities of a new day and to face any challenges that come up.

The way to wake up on the right side of the bed is simple: establish a self-nurturing morning practice and stick to it wherever you are. All you need to do is set aside 15 minutes of time for your body, mind and spirit before you do ANYTHING else.

It starts as soon as you wake up. Before your mind has a chance to run away on you, before you get caught up in the happenings of the outside world, take a few deep breaths, feel your body, smile and acknowledge the gift of being alive and the promise of a new day. Here are some suggestions of things to include in your morning practice:

• For your Body: drinking water, stretching, breathing exercises.
• For your Mind: Journaling, affirmations, gratitude list.
• For your Spirit: Meditation, chanting, praying.

Of course, these are just some of my favorites and it’s up to you to tailor your practice to your own preferences and needs. If you need some guidance, seek out a teacher or someone who has experience in the area you are interested in to help get you started. The more you get into these practices and expand your morning ritual, you may want to give yourself more time but 15 minutes is a great way to start.

So make the most of the gift of each new day and begin consciously choosing your state of being as soon as you open your eyes to ensure that you wake up on the right side of the bed and get your day off to the best start possible!

Written for The Daily Love (Sept. 24th, 2011)

Remember when you were a kid and you used to be afraid of things that were really harmless? Or better yet, that weren’t even real? The possibilities ranged from the dark to frogs to monsters in the closet. Regardless of what you were afraid of, I think it’s safe to say that having irrational fears is a normal part of growing up. While most of us have moved past these fears, we have replaced them with some more sophisticated but equally unfounded ones.

I’ve been remembering my dreams a little more than usual lately and I continue to be amazed at the content that my subconscious mind is producing. I woke up the other night from a somewhat unsettling dream where I was traveling with my family and everything was going wrong. I left my suitcase at the check-in counter, I was harassed by security, I got separated from my family at the airport and eventually ended up missing the plane. As I lay in bed thinking about the dream and where it came from, I realized that somewhere deep in my subconscious is the belief that things aren’t going to work out, that I am going to screw up and that generally, there is something wrong.

Unlike the monsters in the closet or the dark room, these fears are much more subtle and therefore, much more harmful. I realized that a lot of the time, they are the lens through which I view myself, people and life and they shape my experiences in a big way.

The more I questioned where these beliefs came from and how they got in there, I realized that this tendency to be fearful originated in my childhood, when I was vulnerable and impressionable. Although the content has changed, the pattern has survived until now. What’s most interesting is that my life experiences have not validated or confirmed these fears. The truth is that I’ve had an amazing life and when I really think about it, I haven’t suffered at the hands of circumstance all that much, if at all. All the things that really matter have always been present in my life and whenever I have lived in suffering (or the illusion of suffering), it has been the result of my perception of what was going on rather than the actual inherent difficulty of any particular circumstance. In other words, things have always worked out just fine, I’m not a screw-up and life is actually pretty damn good!

Of course, there are certain challenging circumstances that we will inevitably have to face in life: death, loss, change, hurt, sadness. These are all experiences which can’t be avoided but they can be great opportunities for learning and growth. More importantly, it would be completely insane to forego all the other joyful experiences life has to offer by spending all of our moments in anticipation of that which we fear.

So what’s the solution? The first step and most important one is awareness. Knowing that these stifling beliefs exist in your mind is a great start. This means being conscious of the lens through which you are viewing life as it unfolds, and readjusting your focus as soon as you become aware of a distorted or self-deprecating view. The next step is to replace any irrational fears with more positive, empowering beliefs. Saying or writing out affirmations every day is a great way to root these new beliefs deep in our consciousness. The fact is that we’re alive and that in itself is cause for joy. Every moment we spend living in fear and worrying about things that are out of our control causes us to experience the emotions of the tougher circumstances even when they aren’t really happening.

Remember, the old beliefs are very sneaky so it takes consistent practice of becoming aware and replacing to transform them. So open the closet door, pick up the frog, turn on the light and see that there is nothing to be afraid of. And if you’re still having a hard time letting go of your worries, a little bit of “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley always does the trick. Sing along!

“Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright.“

Written for The Daily Love (Sept. 17th, 2011)

One of the amazing things about life is that every day we get a fresh start. Every day we get the opportunity to learn a new lesson, grow a little more, deepen our connection to life, to each other and to our own spirit.

Sometimes, the desire to expand can cause us to forget that which we already are. While it is important to continue evolving, learning and growing, being too focused on this can get in the way of our ability to be present and enjoy what we have.

I was playing a new song yesterday in preparation for a show when I had an epiphany of sorts. I was trying very hard to pull off a more involved guitar part and it felt like I was wrestling with the song a little. Then it occurred to me that perhaps for this show I could just do what comes naturally and play a simpler part that was more within my current level of ability. In other words, maybe I could just be ME and accept myself exactly as I am. My ego resisted at first but as I thought about it more and envisioned myself playing the song with ease, I felt a huge shift and an immediate sense of relief. I knew what I had to do.

It’s a simple shift in perspective but it’s extremely liberating. How nice would it be for me to play my show and feel as though I am enough, or better yet, I am GREAT just the way I am? How amazing would it be to approach your relationships, your work, your creative endeavors from this space?

We all have aspects of ourselves that we wish to improve upon and we all have room to grow in our personal and professional lives. This will never change. And yes it’s a good thing to aspire to greatness, to step out of our comfort zones and to challenge ourselves to reach new heights on an ongoing basis. This will never stop. These processes are constantly unfolding as we go through life but perhaps the best way to allow them is to fully embrace who we are and where we are in this moment, to accept and love ourselves as we are and let go of the rest.

By fully accepting who you are in this moment, you create the space and freedom for yourself to JUST BE YOU.
Consider that wherever you are on your journey is exactly where you are supposed to be. So rather than wish you were somewhere or someone else, embrace where you are and who you are and be as YOU as you can be.

Written for The Daily Love (Sept. 10th, 2011)

Most people have a very negative association with the word “failure”. That one little word carries so much weight in our minds and it tends be loaded with so much meaning and negative energy. I call it the other F-word. Well, I’m going to come right out and say it: I’m a failure. There, I said it.

What many of us often forget or don’t realize is that the road to success is paved with many failures. What tends to happen to many of us is that somewhere along the way, we fail and we decide that we’re not going to get where we’re going so we give up. The irony of it is that what actually stops us from succeeding or reaching our goals is not failure itself, it’s how we respond to failure. It’s how we interpret our failures and what we make them mean. Things like: “I’m not good enough, I can’t do it, I’ll never be able to do X, Y or Z, I don’t deserve to have my dreams come true, to be in a loving relationship, to be successful…blah, blah, blah.” Sound familiar? Maybe not because the voice that says these things is very sneaky. It shows up at our weakest moments and kicks us while we’re down or even worse still, it speaks up when we are so close to the finish line and tries to convince us to give up on a goal we’ve been working towards for so long.

Why is that? Well, it’s very simple. Many of us learned this distorted perception of failure at a young age and have carried it forward into our adult lives. We may have failed a test in school and were traumatized by the associated stigma. We may have liked someone in our adolescent years only to get our heart broken and decided never to express our feelings again. The examples are endless but the pattern is the same. We fail at something and we take that failure as conclusive evidence that we’re not worthy or capable of the thing we’re after, that it’s not going to happen and so we might as well give up. Right? Wrong!

Failure is nothing more than a failed attempt, a step towards our goal, an opportunity to learn and adjust. All we hear about or see in the media are the glory days of those who are successful. What we don’t see is the streak of failure after failure that got them there. As a young singer and actress, Lady Gaga auditioned unsuccessfully for a number of New York productions and despite early acceptance to NYU, she dropped out in her sophomore year. What if she had let those so-called failures stop her from pushing on? Michael Jordan, one of the greatest and most revered athletes of our time, got cut from his high school basketball team. And what did he do in the face of that failure? He kept working on his game. He overcame that small hurdle and went on to succeed, change the face of basketball forever and inspire an entire generation of future athletes. Imagine how tragic it would have been if these icons just decided in those moments that they didn’t have what it took and gave up.

The truth is that failure isn’t really a bad thing at all. It’s actually a necessary part of the path to success and it’s what we do with our failures (and there will be many) that will ultimately determine if, how and when we succeed. So we can either retreat in defeat the next time we fall short of the mark or embrace the experience, learn from it and see it as bringing us that much closer to our desired goal. We are all capable and worthy of greatness, so let’s not let our lives become the story of what could have been. Let’s keep on pushing, keep on believing, keep learning in the face of our failures until we succeed and see our dreams come to life.

Written for The Daily Love (Sept. 3rd, 2011)

Relationships are one of the single most important aspects of our lives on this planet. For many of us, the joy we experience in life is directly proportional to our ability to share those experiences with others and much of the pain we experience unfolds in the context of our relationships. Whether it’s in our relationships with significant others, family, friends or colleagues, we invest a great deal of time and energy in the hope of coexisting peacefully with others, having our relationships function well and finding fulfillment in them.

Amidst all of this, we often forget that it is our relationship with ourselves that is the most important of all. We’ve all heard the saying that we can only love others to the extent that we love ourselves. Well, guess what? Not only is that true but what’s also true is that until we learn to love ourselves UNCONDITIONALLY, none of our relationships or any other external sources of fulfillment will ever do the trick.

So what does it mean to love ourselves unconditionally? It means to be gentle with ourselves, to be kind to ourselves and above all, to forgive ourselves for our mistakes, for our shortcomings and for our imperfections. Many of us may not even realize that we have a relationship with ourselves at all. If that’s the case, the best place to start is to examine your thoughts about yourself. What does the voice in your head say to you? What do you say about yourself in conversations with others? You may be surprised to find that you’re not very nice to yourself. Go ahead and ask yourself honestly: “On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do I love myself right now?“

Regardless of where you’re starting from, the goal is 10 out of 10, which is where you will be when you love yourself unconditionally. That means that no matter what you or your life looks like today, no matter what mistake you just made for the hundredth time, NO MATTER WHAT, you still get to be loved fully and completely. That’s what real love is. There’s no condition attached to it. It’s not that when you do X, then you deserve to be loved this much. You deserve to be loved 100% just as you are, we all do. The world would be a different place if we were all experts at loving one another unconditionally and the best relationship to begin practicing this is in our relationship with ourselves.

It may sound crazy but it’s good stuff, I promise, so give it a try. Maybe you’re at a 4 out of 10 today. Imagine how you would feel at a 10 out of 10? Close your eyes and imagine what 10 out of 10 feels like and looks like on you. If you really want to see it for yourself, do this in front of a mirror.

Remember, the most important part of this is that you don’t need a reason to love yourself 10 out of 10 and no reason under the sun should have any bearing on how much you get to be loved. The best part is that once you start truly loving yourself this way, you will find it easier to love others and you will be much more open to receiving their love as well. It all starts with you so go ahead and let the love flow unconditionally.

Written for The Daily Love (Aug. 26th, 2011)

Once a year, on that special day on the calendar that some of us look forward to for the remaining 364 days of the year, we celebrate the day we were born. At its very core, our birthday is a celebration of life itself. It’s a chance to take a step back and fully appreciate the miracle of being alive. Ironically, there are some of us that dread the day, or lament the fact that we’ve added another year onto our lives and that we’re getting…older.

I recently had the pleasure of celebrating a birthday and it was the one of the best ones I’ve had so far. I was overwhelmed by the expressions of love and the warm wishes from people in my life and from all over the world in the form of phone calls, text messages, emails, facebook wall posts, you name it. I also spent the day with my family and was present to a very intense feeling of gratitude for the gift of life and for all the blessings in my life.

As the day was coming to a close, I found myself thinking: “I don’t want this day to end.” Well, given all the special treatment I was getting, this is not surprising…lol, But this thought triggered another thought: “Does it have to end?” I realized that the idea of celebrating my life once a year is absolutely insane and I made myself a new promise for the year ahead. I am going to live every day like it’s my birthday!

What does that mean? Well, for one it means to become present to the gift of being alive EVERY day. It also means being open to and aware of all the love in our lives EVERY day. You see, I believe our birthdays are just an opportunity to experience an outpour of the love that is there all the time. The only thing stopping us from experiencing that love on an ongoing basis is our inability to realize it, but it’s always there.

On my birthday, I also always make a point of making a list of everything I have to be thankful for and setting my intentions for the year ahead. Why not take a few moments every day to think about what we have to be thankful for and to set our intention for the day ahead? Last but not least, our birthday is the one day a year that we get a free pass to celebrate ourselves. Yup, it’s the one time that it’s ok to really love ourselves out in the open and do crazy things like put our name on a cake. Mine was a jamocha almond fudge ice cream cake and it was amazing!

Imagine taking this approach to life everyday. Celebrate being alive, remind yourself of everything you have to be thankful for, love yourself to the utmost and tune into to all the love around you. If you really want to get into the spirit, you can even give yourself a gift every day to rejoice in the treasure of another beautiful day of living. And remember, every day that passes, every year that goes by, although we may be getting older, what’s really happening is that we’re getting to live longer, one more day, one more year and that is the greatest gift of all.

Happy Birthday!

Written for The Daily Love (Aug. 20th, 2011)

Remember when you were a kid and you used to let your imagination run wild? Anything you could conceive of would instantly come to life: monsters in the closet, made-up languages, and of course, imaginary friends. One needs only to spend a short while in the company of a child to see the imagination at work. I was hangin’ out with my 3 year-old nephew recently, painting, and he put down a blotch of green on the page and said: “Look, it’s a frog!”

We all have this ability to look at something and create our own interpretation of what is. As adults, the power of our imagination is still very much intact, however, rather than put it to good use, we tend to let our imagination use us. I have been learning a lot lately about how this force is at work in my life and I’d like to share.

The pattern goes like this. It starts with an attachment to a particular outcome or way things should be, then a person or event outside of my control threatens that view. This, in turn, triggers a feeling of insecurity in me; and I react in one of a few different ways that only serve to feed the insecurity. A very simple example of this is when people don’t get back to me. The attachment at play is the belief that people should respond to e-mails, voice messages, texts, etc. promptly and if they don’t then something is wrong. So whether it’s a friend, a business contact or a love interest, if I reach out to someone, there comes at point at which, if I don’t hear back, something gets triggered in me. My mind starts to wonder and wander to negative places. If the silence keeps up for a long time, my imagination kicks it up a notch and starts coming up with all kinds of stories as to why the person isn’t responding to me.

At this point, it’s worth noting that the only thing that has actually happened is that I’ve reached out to someone and not heard back yet. Maybe it’s been a few days, or even a week. Maybe it’s only been an hour. Regardless, what is of interest is that given all of the possible interpretations I can choose, I often pick ones that are disempowering, that bring me down and that ultimately, confirm the feeling of insecurity that’s at play. “Maybe they are ignoring me. Maybe I did something to upset them. Maybe they have bad news for me. Maybe they don’t really like me. Maybe I should give up.“ As ridiculous as these sound to me as I’m writing them, when I am caught up in a reaction and these thoughts are going through my head, it’s easy to be fooled and identify with them.

What I’ve discovered is that underneath all of these disempowering interpretations of a seemingly trivial event, there is the recurring insecurity that I’m not good enough. I am thankful to be at a place in my life where I can say with confidence that I don’t believe that to be true. I have done a good amount of work to see where that perception stems from and I’ve committed to affirming a positive and loving view of myself.

Despite this conscious effort on my part, these old, bad habits are persistent and can sometimes sneak up on me. I’ve learned to catch them by the presence of certain signs or red flags that let me know I’m caught in a reaction. If I’m being defensive, trying to prove myself, people pleasing, being critical of another, or acting with an “I’ll show them” attitude, then I know that I’m compensating for an insecurity that has been triggered. At this point, I can choose to take a step back, breathe, meditate, pray, go for a walk, exercise, or do anything that can ground me and break the chain reaction that is unfolding. Sometimes, the appearance of this pattern can be a mere symptom of pent up creative energy. In this case, similarly, the solution lies in putting that energy to good use by strumming away, going to the canvas, writing, creating, etc.

The other critical choice is the one we get to make when faced with the triggering event in the first place. In that moment, we can look at the straight facts and choose a loving interpretation, one that empowers us and makes us feel good. Going back to my earlier example, that could be something like: “I’m sure they’re just busy with work. Maybe they haven’t received the message. They’re going to call with great news any minute. They probably forgot to get back to me so I’ll try again. All is well.”

At the very core, the choice I am talking about is the choice between love and fear, between faith and doubt, between abundance and scarcity. Ultimately, we are the ones who create our experience of ourselves, of people and of the Uni-verse with our thoughts and beliefs. If we believe that we’re not good enough or that there’s not enough love to go around, that will shape our experience and our dealings with others will reflect that belief back to us. If on the other hand we use our imagination and creative power with positive intent, the possibilities are endless. This is how dreams come to life, how timeless art is created, how amazing bonds are formed and how lasting peace and joy become available.

So as an experiment for the next week, be conscious of your perceptions and interpretive choices. Use your imagination to view yourself, others and life’s unfoldings with an interpretation guided by love, faith and abundance and see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll be no worse off than when you started. If it works, you will have gained the whole world. Imagine it and then experience it!

Written for The Daily Love (Aug. 13th, 2011)

I am writing this blog on Day 28 of a 30-day cleanse that has been one of the most profound spiritual experiences of my life. The cleanse, prescribed to me by none other than beloved TDL founder, Mastin Kipp, has involved a strict alkaline diet consisting of no caffeine, no dairy, no wheat, no sugar, no alcohol and approximately 80% of every meal consisting of green vegetables. It has also included something that Mastin calls a “love cleanse”, which means no engaging with the opposite sex (i.e. no sex, no dating, no flirting and no communication with exes). Lastly, after ten years of being a smoker, I also quit smoking five days before the beginning of the cleanse.

Before the cleanse, I was pretty loose about my diet and there is no question that I was highly addicted to sugar and nicotine. I’ve also spent my fair share of time and energy partying, drinking, smoking, chasing women, all of it.

Knowing all of this, you may find it interesting that I chose the word ‘spiritual’ to describe the experience of the past 28 days. I have learned a tremendous amount about myself during this time but the single most important lesson I’ve learned is that it is by honoring your body that you can truly set your spirit free.

The idea of honoring your body may sound obvious or even cliché but the fact is, it is something that I have completely overlooked for a long time. Perhaps this is easy to do because in many ways, our body doesn’t immediately reveal to us the true impact of our choices. Only sometimes, when we really abuse our body, like when we drink to excess or overeat, it lets us know we’ve gone too far. Also, working on the mind and spirit promises the greatest rewards and can lead us to skip the all-important step of readying ourselves to receive the gifts of our practice.

This is an accurate description of my experience to date. I have spent the last 9 years investing my energy in reading self-helps books, practicing meditation and prayer, journaling, attending personal development workshops, trying yoga and healing treatments, going to church, you name it. I have developed a pretty well-rounded spiritual practice but have always felt as though something was missing. Deep down inside, in my heart of hearts, I knew what it was.

I wasn’t honoring my body. I wasn’t honoring the gift of life that I’ve been given. As a result, I wasn’t really getting the true benefit from my spiritual practices. I now see that my body is a true gift and the vessel through which I experience life. In order to get the most out of that experience, it’s crucial to take care of that vessel, love it and nurture it. Another way of looking at it is that life is like a beautiful song and we are the instruments. If our instruments are not well kept and in tune, the music won’t come out sounding the way it is meant to.

So what’s the point of all of this? Well, it’s simple. When we don’t honor our body, we don’t get to experience the joys of life to the fullest. The Uni-verse has so much it wants to give us but we need to be ready to receive it. Our dreams are waiting to be realized but if we keep our spirit bound by addictions and unhealthy habits, we will not have the energy or the focus to bring them to life and we will not be able to take flight.

For me, I know that the completion of this cleanse is far from the end. It is a new beginning. It will take commitment to keep it going but I now have a deeper incentive to do that. During these past few weeks, I have gotten a glimpse of what’s possible if I live a life that honors my body as my instrument, as sacred. I have been more spiritually connected than ever, more focused on my goals, more inspired and have had more energy to take whatever life has thrown at me in stride. And of course, physically, I have felt better than I have in years. It’s been nothing short of amazing.

Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. There have been rough days and going forward, I know there will be many more challenges to come. I will fall and get back up again, probably many times. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the lesson that I’ve learned and for a glimpse into what I’ve been missing all this time.

If you’re reading this and feeling overwhelmed, take comfort in knowing that wherever you are is a great place to start from and that the solution happens one small step at a time. So today, do something loving for your body and honor the gift of life that you’ve been given. Drink some more water, go to a yoga class, do some push-ups, have one cookie instead of two for dessert, skip that cigarette or that drink that you don’t really want. The more you do these things and tune in to the gift that is your body and the beautiful music of your life, the more ready you will be to accept the greater gifts of peace, love, joy and creativity.

May the force be with you!

Written for The Daily Love (Aug. 6th, 2011)

An amazing phenomenon has been unfolding in my life over the past few months: as I’ve begun to learn to really love myself, to honor my personal truth and to shine my light, I have found myself connecting with so many amazing people who are reflecting this love and light right back to me. The more I accept myself and step into being who I really am, the more I find myself experiencing a sense of belonging and worthiness in my relationships and interactions with others. Simply put, I have been finding that light attracts light and so too, does love attract love.

What I have also learned is that the principle holds true for any state of being, emotional state or state of mind. Doubt attracts doubt. Fear attracts fear. Anger attracts anger. We’ve all had those times in life when things seem like they can’t get any worse. Life keeps handing us one frustration after another and even when we feel like enough is enough, there’s that one more kick while we’re down that really pushes over the edge. What we may not realize in those moments is that it’s not until we have that rock bottom moment where all we can do is laugh at what we’ve just been through that our internal state shifts and allows us to attract the relief we’ve been seeking all along. The only problem is that we’ve been seeking the relief from a place of frustration, despondency, hurt or anger, and unfortunately this just ends up bringing us more of the same.

Since realizing this, I’ve been going around and picturing myself as a big human magnet. I constantly remind myself that whatever I am being is what I am going to attract. Whatever I see coming my way is just a reflection of the frequency I’m vibrating at. There’s a lot of power in that and the truth is that we all have it. Some of us may not have realized it yet or we have had a taste and are scared by the responsibility that comes with it so we pretend we don’t know better. However once we do embrace it, we get a say in how our life goes and things can get pretty exciting!

Of course, this does not mean that we will be completely immune to challenges and impermeable to the ups and downs of life. What it does mean is that we will have a new tool with which to face those challenges and when things aren’t going our way, we can adjust our magnet and cause a shift before we hit rock bottom.

So whatever life throws at you or whatever it is you wish to experience, set your magnet accordingly and prepare yourself to receive what you are seeking. I’ve been focusing on being a peace, love and inspiration magnet and I’ve been overwhelmed by the deepening experience of peace in my life, the pure love and the abundant flow of creative energy that have been coming my way.

You get to choose. What kind of magnet do you want to be?

Written for The Daily Love (July 30, 2011)

One of my favorite things to do is lie in bed before going to sleep or first thing in the morning, silence the chatter in my head, go deep within and let my imagination run free. In the space of stillness and silence, I can hear the voice of my soul.

There is great wisdom in each of us and when we allow it to flow, we can tap into an endless stream of inspired ideas and visions of what’s possible for our lives and we can get a sneak preview of what life has in store for us. This is the same place within us where our dreams come from and when we really tune in, when we close our eyes and really listen, we can see it and hear it clearly.

Lately, the lesson of trusting myself has been showing up a lot in my life and one of the most important aspects of this has been learning to LISTEN to my soul, to the voice within, to my instincts and to trust where they are guiding me. We are all very familiar with the voice in our heads that fills our minds with unnecessary worry and with negative thoughts, that criticizes and compares, that limits and contracts. That is not the voice I am talking about. No, that is the voice of the ego and learning to discern between the two is an equally important aspect of the listening I am describing. Once we do, it can be a little scary because in its great wisdom, the soul often leads us to places that we’ve never been before. And though they present the opportunity to grow and expand by taking on new challenges, the initial response is usually to retreat in fear.

As we learn to listen more closely to this internal voice and trust in it, we begin to see that we actually have everything we need for our spiritual journey. Every experience that we need to grow is available to us. Every question that we have is ready to be answered. Every state we wish to experience from peace to love to joy is accessible to us at all times. There is a limitless fountain of creativity, ideas and inspiration for us to draw upon. It’s all right there and it is only our realization of it that is sometimes in question, as well as our trust in our ability to meet the challenges in front of us and rise to the occasion. The more we quiet our minds, the more clearly we can hear the voice of the soul and experience the abundance of wisdom that we already have in us.

The most beautiful thing I’ve discovered about the voice of the soul is that it lives in all of us. It’s the same voice guiding each of us, connecting us, and interweaving our lives like a carefully knitted quilt. That is why when we follow our soul’s urgings our lives become filled with synchronicity, with seemingly perfect coincidences and chance meetings. That is why when we see or hear someone expressing something that comes from the soul, we recognize its essence as something that lives in us too. What is also beautiful is that the voice of the soul speaks softly at first. It doesn’t force its will on us, it doesn’t impose its opinion, it calls to us gently. It is also very patient, for even though we ignore it and dismiss it often, it continues to speak to us and to light the path for us until we are ready to listen and accept its wisdom. As we welcome it more and more into our lives, as we heed its call and trust its guidance, the whispers become louder and louder. Like a fire that burns more fiercely when fuel is added to it, the voice of the soul will shout out to encourage us as we begin to walk the path that honors our Highest Self.

What is that path? For me, it’s the one that led me to discover my passion for music and that continues to lead me to follow my dreams; the one that leads to love; the one that leads to new experiences, growth and expansion; and the one that keeps inspiring me to want to make a difference in the world.

What about you? What path is your soul leading you towards? What is the voice trying to tell you? Ask and listen for the answer. Trust what you hear and trust yourself. Your soul knows.

Written for The Daily Love (July 16, 2011)

Something amazing happens to me when the sun shines. My mood is uplifted, I have an extra pep in my step and life seems just a little bit sweeter. Unfortunately, I live in a city where warm weather and sunshine are far from the norm. There are gray days and in the absence of the sunlight that I love so much, my mood often suffers.

My aunt recently told me a story about how as a child, I used to wake up everyday, go to the window and regardless of whether it was picture perfect outside or dark and stormy, I’d say: “What a beautiful day!” Somewhere along the line, I lost touch with that ability I had to create the feeling I desire from within, to BE THE LIGHT.

It definitely takes practice but it is possible to be the source of our own joy every day, rain or shine and regardless of what life throws at us. This begins by adopting an attitude of gratitude and asking ourselves: ”What do I have to be thankful for today?” Ultimately, it is up to us to make the most of our lives day by day, and the way to do this is to be the cause of those things we are after. When we let our peace, fulfillment and happiness be determined by external factors, we make ourselves vulnerable to unnecessary suffering. When we take responsibility for our lives and our state of being, we begin to realize that the light we have been seeking out there has been within us all along.

Accepting that we can’t control people, situations or the weather is an important first step. The next step is to remember that the one thing we can control is who we are being in the face of life’s ups and downs. So whether it’s one of those dark and gloomy days where life is challenging you, or the day ahead is looking bright and things are going your way, greet life with a thankful heart and let the joy and love within you shine.

Be the light.

Written for The Daily Love (July 9, 2011)

A smile is a beautiful thing. It’s a universal symbol of happiness and a force of nature. Yes, a force of nature. Have you ever observed what happens within you when you smile or better yet, forced yourself to smile when you’re feeling down?

Give it a try right now. No matter how you’re feeling or what’s going on in your life, close your eyes and smile. Observe the feeling of warmth that wells up in your belly as you do it. Observe the shift in your energy as you turn that frown upside down.  If you’re still not convinced, go in front of a mirror and notice how you look when you’re smiling.  Once again, observe how you feel within and how you feel about the reflection looking back at you as your facial expression changes. If you’re feeling particularly cheeky, look yourself in the eyes, smile and say: “You’re awesome!”

I believe that a smile is one of the most powerful and most underrated gifts that we, as humans, possess. It embodies our ability to create and our ability to express the infinite love that is within us. So many of us go through our days dragging our feet, lamenting our struggles, waiting for this or that to happen to cheer us up and we forget that all the while, we have this incredible tool at our disposal to raise our spirits. When we smile, something lights up inside us, we connect to our source and we are actually able to alter our mood. What’s even more amazing is that we can share this gift with others. The only thing more powerful than one person smiling is two people smiling at each other. We all know that wonderful feeling we get when we look into someone’s eyes, and with the simple exchange of a smile, a world of meaning is communicated. It can be an expression of love, of joy or of laughter. Smiling is contagious, as is laughter, and the only thing they cost us is whatever suffering we are holding on to.

In the same way that each of us has a unique smile that can bring joy to ourselves and others, we also all have unique creative gifts that were meant to be expressed in the world. Similarly, it is up to us to use these gifts to spread joy, love and inspiration, to pick ourselves up when we’re low and to lift the spirits of those around us when they need a boost. For one person, that gift could be having a way with words; for another it’s a knack for creating culinary delights, still another has a gift for photography and another makes beautiful floral arrangements. There are an infinite number of these little gifts and talents in the world and they live in each and every one of us. If you’re not sure what yours is, take a moment and think about things that you’d really like to do but have never tried. Then pick one, give yourself permission to be a beginner and get busy discovering your gift!

When we use our gifts and share them, much like a smile, our creations move out into the world around us like little bundles of love in motion. They have the power to heal, to move and to inspire. What a shame it would be to let these gifts go to waste.

So today, smile and smile often. Smile at yourself, smile at a loved one and smile at a stranger. And whatever that thing is that you love to do, do it and share it with someone. Play a song for a friend, write a poem for a loved one, paint a landscape for your sibling, photograph your favorite nooks of the city, pick some flowers for your mom, sing your heart out for the birds. And do it all with a smile, knowing that you are spreading love, joy and inspiration.

Written for The Daily Love (June 22, 2011)

If you look up the word “perfectionism” in the dictionary, it is defined as:

“A personal standard, attitude or philosophy that demands perfection and rejects anything less.”

Taking a closer look, there’s definitely some good stuff in there. In fact, having high standards is great and it is one of the essential ingredients to reaching our full potential and being successful. Having an attitude or philosophy that demands our best is also a good asset as it motivates us to pursue greatness and mastery.

Where we get into trouble, however, is the part about rejecting anything that is less than perfect. This unhealthy kind of perfectionism can be toxic to our personal growth, artistic development and relationships of any kind, including our relationship with ourselves. Why is that? Well, let’s look a little more closely at a few subtleties that can shed some light on the pitfalls of perfectionism.

First, it is important to remember that typically, the standard of perfection or ideal against which we measure things is one that we or someone else made up. For as many people as there are on this earth, there are as many different views of what makes something perfect. In other words, perfection is a highly subjective concept.

When we set out to create and we’re looking for the perfect melody, the perfect photograph, the perfect painting or the perfect performance, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment because viewed from this perspective, nothing will ever be good enough. Similarly, in our personal journey, when we set out on the path in search of the perfect self, the perfect partner, the perfect job or the perfect life, we will always be comparing what we have with this fictitious ideal and it will be virtually impossible to be truly satisfied with ourselves, our partners, our work or our lives. So while it’s great to aim high, it’s also important to be weary of this extreme of perfectionism that starts and ends with the ego, as it is rooted in fear and can significantly limit creativity, self-expression, love and fulfillment.

Second, when we are constantly evaluating ourselves, our work and our relationships against a standard of perfection, we rob ourselves of the joy of being in the present moment. When I first started playing live music, I recorded all of my performances and I quickly got into the terrible habit of listening back almost immediately after the show to see how I did and what I needed to improve upon. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to expand and grow, there is a constructive way of doing it and a destructive way of going about it. The approach I took didn’t even allow me a few hours or a good night’s sleep to relish the feeling of having just played or to acknowledge the positives of the performance. Talk about unhealthy perfectionism!

The last and perhaps most important aspect of this distinction between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism relates to mistakes. Miles Davis, one of the most highly revered and influential musicians of the 20th century used to say: “Do not fear mistakes, there are none.” Similarly, one of my spiritual teachers once told me that our mistakes or so-called “failures” are really just opportunities for us to determine what we need to do to succeed. Unfortunately, many of us are not so gentle with ourselves and do not view things from this perspective. Instead, we dwell on our mistakes and we spend so much energy beating ourselves up over them.

Lately, in my guitar practice, I have gotten into the habit of consciously smiling to myself whenever I play a wrong note and instead of tensing up and making more mistakes, I am able to let go and get back to the joy of playing. In this way, I’ve actually gotten more out of my practice because all of the energy that I was wasting on my mistakes, I am now using to address my weaknesses.

Ultimately, what I’m suggesting is to find a HEALTHY BALANCE when it comes to perfectionism. This means striking a balance between striving for more and accepting what we already have as we aim to reach high standards. It means finding the balance between pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zone and being gentle with ourselves in our quest for greatness. It also means knowing the difference between an objective goal and one that is unattainable. Maintaining this balance is essential to experiencing continuous growth in our creative and personal lives, while still being able to enjoy the ride.

Written for The Daily Love (June 5, 2011)

We all have a vision of our own limitless potential and that which we aspire to become. Whether it’s in our personal lives, our creative endeavors or our careers, that vision is inside us and in moments of clarity and inspiration, we see it, we feel it, we believe in it. I often experience it as a deeply rooted passion and fire within that I’m dying to express and bring to life.

Sometimes though, I want to realize that vision so badly that I become flustered. There are so many actions that I could take, so much I want to do and become that it’s difficult to focus, to know where to begin and to give any one thing the full attention it deserves. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is to take ONE STEP AT A TIME. Simple right? But we all know it’s not always as easy as it sounds.

In this current day and age, where everything around us moves so fast, it’s easy to get caught up in the “race” mentality. We want it and we want it RIGHT NOW. This mindset and our fast-paced Western lifestyle have caused us to forget how it is that we as human beings learn best. This point can be illustrated by a simple example.

I was recently sitting in thought on a little pause from writing and I began twirling my pencil with my right hand the way I used to in class. I tried to do it with my left hand but couldn’t at first. Then I remembered that back in the day, the first time I saw a classmate do it, I tried and couldn’t do it all. Slowly and patiently, I kept trying it over and over again (I had lots of time in class to practice…lol), until eventually it came. So with that in mind, I took the same approach with my left hand and before long, I was able to do it with ease!

There is nothing we can’t do. All it takes is the focus, patience and determination to keep at it, breathing all the way until it becomes effortless. This is how children learn to walk and where the expression “baby steps” comes from. And in fact, little ones often fall flat on their faces many times before taking those first steps (poor little munchkins), but they don’t give up and eventually it comes. As adults, it’s easy to lose sight of this and it would do us some good to remember how we learned to take our first steps.
This “one step at a time” approach can apply to any skill we wish to acquire such as a new brush technique or guitar style, as well as to any life lesson we wish to implement such as altering a negative thinking pattern. When we don’t give ourselves the space and time to fully absorb and internalize new lessons, we never get to the point of truly making them our own. This limits our progress and our natural ability to grow into the person of our dreams. Instead, we produce the same results, repeat the same mistakes and experience the frustration of being stuck and not being where we want to be.

You can do anything. All you need to do is breathe, be present and give yourself the time and space to learn. Focus on one thing, practice it and go all the way with it until it becomes second nature. Then it’s yours for good and you can take the next step towards realizing your vision!

Written for The Daily Love (May 30th, 2011)