“There is no stress in the world, only people thinking stressful thoughts and then acting on them.”
— Dr. Wayne Dyer

Misery is not supposed to be the norm of life. Take out the stress and drama in your life and you will see that it is actually all good and can even be fun. Joy and love is what you are truly all about. It is the natural state of your being. Allow yourself to be the true you and see what a difference it will make everyday in every aspect of your life.

It doesn’t matter what you are doing — work, school, daily chores — have fun with it by adding a smile or laugh. Spread the joy of life around you to others who have forgotten that life is supposed to be fun. See even the most mundane of tasks for what for what it is — a stepping stone on your journey to the greatest life for you.

“When we feel great about who we are, we radiate an undeniable magnetic energy that attracts to us all the things we desire.”
—Debbie Ford, The Best Year of Your LIfe

Having high self-esteem is probably the most important requirement in achieving success, obtaining what you want in life, and simply living the best life you could possibly live. Too often we are lead to believe that we can feel good or better by obtaining things outside ourselves — money, status, respect from others. This often means we neglect and minimize the importance of how we feel inside.

As long as we continue to feel shame, judgment, doubt about who we are, happiness and success will not find their ways to us as we run around trying to fill the void with things outside ourselves. When we have the courage to love and respect who we are, both perfect and imperfect, we automatically feel deserving enough to have it all.

“I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”
— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

As difficult as it may be to listen only to your inner self, allowing yourself to be guided by others opinions of you, either good or bad, will leave you feeling like you are the rope in a game of tug-o-war.

Follow your heart and you will never go astray for it will always be true to you.

“You can address your angelic request directly to God or to your angels. Either way, heaven instantly responds to your message and sends angels to guide, love, and heal you.”
— Doreen Virtue, Divine Guidance

I have often been pleasantly surprised with the different methods of receiving advice for some issue plaguing me. I could be in line at the store and someone will say something interesting that just happens to apply to my situation. Or I will be chatting with some acquaintances and they will voice their opinion on a topic without being asked specifically. My angels, I am discovering, are all around me whenever I need them. They seem to whisper just the right things to people to guide me on my way.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for that next stranger that happens to give you some worthy advice. You never know, they may just be your angel in disguise.

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness.”
— Norman Cousins (1912-1990)

If I were to ask you to remember a past event that caused some sort of negative emotion for you, how would you feel about talking about it? Would you feel all the negative emotions filling up your brain and your heart? Do you begin to feel the sadness, the anger, the frustration of that event even though you are completely removed from that moment in time? It’s almost like the past is reliving itself all over again just by talking about it.

So why is it that so many of us insist on talking about our painful past events, digging up minute details, and allowing ourselves to be caught up in all that emotion all over again? What is to be gained? What is to be improved doing this over and over again with no resolution in sight?

It is my firm belief that you do not have to keep talking about the past in order to work out the issues associated with it. I call it active forgetting. We all know that these types of events don’t just disappear from our memories, even if we don’t talk about them everyday. They are part of who we are. So let us start by understanding and accepting that we have not forgotten and therefore we do not need to refresh our memories by talking about them.

However, in my day to day life, I will not allow myself to be a victim of my past. I will however, actively use that marker as a learning tool, a silent reminder that I use as a clear guide as to what I want my life to be like. I am focused on the now and fill my life with positive energy and love. Therefore, if I don’t want to feel those negative emotions anymore, it is key to not rehash the old events. Focus on present day issues.

I do remember, I do forgive, and I live a life of love from now onward.

“The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized. Anyone can criticize. It takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater burden can be borne by an individual than to know no one cares or understands.”
— Arthur H. Stainback

When we think of being compassionate, it often relates to people that we already care about or situations we can understand through personal experience. Perhaps we also can extend compassion for those we see suffering in ways we have never known personally, but we feel they don’t deserve it.

But what about compassion for those we don’t like. Or for things we think are inherently “bad”? Do they not deserve compassion as well? If we hear a little voice saying things like, “They deserved it anyway”; Or “She wasn’t a nice person, so she brought it on herself”; take a step back and see if you can find a new angle on the situation.

Compassion comes also from finding value in things that we may judge or criticize as bad and accepting them for that newly found value. There is something good in all people and all things. That is part of the balance of the universe. Compassion does not mean condoning “bad” things. It means accepting and understanding that there is good in there as well.

Beautiful music is wonderful for the mind, body, and soul. If you are feeling bad, down, overwhelmed or stressed, music can truly take you to another state of being.

For me, music changes everything. Listening to it is one thing and it can lift my mood almost instantly, and singing truly nourishes my soul. Sing — anywhere, anytime. Help your immune system and actually change your brain by singing. Just sing.

And plunk in your favorite CD right when you get home from work. Dance around in the kitchen while you prepare dinner. Let music be the medicine of choice.

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“If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.”
— Thomas Merton

Inner peace can be found through many different methods: through meditation, through gratitude, through love. When you make decisions in your life that bring about a sense of calmness it means that you are listening to your inner guides or your intuition which will not lead you astray.

This little bit of peace may seem so insignificant when there are so many people suffering in the world and so much conflict wherever we look. But if everyone were to focus on peace within themselves, it would lead to more peace in the world one person at a time.

“The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust.”
—Henry L. Stimson (1867 - 1950)

The power of your thoughts can influence trusting another person. As Henry Stimson points out, the more you believe and treat someone as trustworthy, the more trustworthy they become to you. Conversely, if you put all your energy into not trusting someone, they will turn out to be untrustworthy. You create your own reality with your thoughts and beliefs.

But I would also encourage you to discover what is the true nature of your distrust. Is it based on present facts or fears? From personal experience, I have found that trusting someone has more to do with allowing yourself to open up to possible vulnerabilities. And therefore it has not so much to do with the other’s actions or behavior, but more to do with your own fear of being hurt.

In order to trust someone else, it is vital that you begin to trust yourself. You must trust that you are a strong enough person to handle whatever comes your way. You must trust that you are able to open your heart up and allow others in. In doing so you face your fear of getting hurt. And as Shakti Gawain reminds us, “When I’m trusting and being myself… everything in my life reflects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously.”

“Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.”
— Czech Proverb

I know some people who have been hurt, emotionally, by people they thought loved them. And understandably they are now cautious of trusting again, loving again. So they put up their protection shields to keep people out. That way they won’t get hurt again, right?

But what are they keeping out? Perhaps they won’t get hurt by others, but the life they are now creating seems to be hurting their chances for joy, their chances for feeling love again. As much as we all would prefer to live without hurt, keeping everyone out for fear of them hurting us again will also keep out all who would love us again.

Instead of surrounding yourself with a fence of mistrust and fear, surround yourself with a circle of supportive and loving friends. Allow yourself to attract those that would love you by loving others first.