On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that if you think you have nothing to lose, you win. If
you think you have something to win, you lose.

It all drives to motivation. Why are you doing what you
are doing right now? To avoid loss? To achieve gain?

Wrong reason both times. Life is not about win-and-lose.

Life is about being or not being, expressing or not
expressing, who you are.

Don't do things for personal benefit. And don't do things
to avoid personal damage. Do things to feel personal
authenticity. Then your life will make sense, no matter
what is going on around you.

It is clear why you have been told this today, yes?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that creativity is not something you wait for. It is
something that waits for you.

You must decide to be creative, not wait to be. You
must challenge yourself. Pick up the brush. Grab hold
of the camera. Turn on the computer. Start cooking
the meal. Get to the workplace early. Propose the
solution. Advance the idea. Become the answer.

How do you suppose these very words were written
by me? Do you think I have time to wait for "an
inspiration"? I must be the inspiration. And so must you.
Print this out and put it right in front of you today.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that love is not what you want, it is what you are.

It is very important to not get these two confused.

If you think that love is what you want,
you will go searching for it all over the place.

If you think love is what you are, you will go sharing
It all over the place. The second approach
will cause you to find what the searching will never reveal.

Yet you cannot give love in order to get it.

Doing that is as much as saying you do not now have it.

And that statement will, of course, be your reality.

No, you must give love because you have it to give.

In this will you experience your own possession of it.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that fun is not defined as the absence of challenging
circumstances, but as the absence of anger about them.

Of course, it is natural to become "fed up" with some
of the worst conditions of physical life. Yet the fun of
life is in embracing a perspective that allows you to
look into the face of those conditions and demonstrate
Who You Are in spite of them.

"Where is the fun in that?" you might say. The fun is in
the victory, my friend. The fun is in the victory.

You will not have to think but a second to know
exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that good health is not the absence of symptoms,
it is the presence of peace.

Do not confuse physical vibrance with spiritual vitality.

You are not your body. Your body is simply a tool.

A magnificent tool, for sure, but nothing more than that.

As with all tools, your body will from time to time need
repair. And one day it will wear down completely.

Your soul will do neither. Not now, not ever. Listen,
therefore, to the whispers of the soul,
not the cries of the body.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that "Why?" is the most useless question in the universe.

The only question with any meaning is "What?"

Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower
you. Asking "What do I want to make of this?"

does exactly the opposite.

Here is a great secret: the Why of anything
is to produce the What of everything.

Think about that for a moment. In fact,
think about it for the rest of the day.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that mastery is not measured by the number of terrible
things you eliminate from your life, but by the number of
times you eliminate calling them terrible.

The Buddha brought suffering onto himself, to look into
the face of it, to see if he was that, and, if not, to see
who he then was. Jesus allowed himself to be crucified,
to demonstrate who he was. And what do you think
you are doing here?

Why bother with this relative world if not to know yourself
in your own experience? And how else to do that except
through the encountering of that which you are not?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that food was never intended to be used as fun. Food
was intended to be used as nourishment.

When you use food as fun, your body has no fun at all.

It works harder, and it ultimately can't fight off the effects
of mistreatment. It carries more weight, which puts more
strain on your heart. Its arteries get clogged, which does
the same.

You could, of course, define fun another way. You
could decide that "fun" is being healthy and happy. But
you might have to change your whole idea about food.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that love is the center and the core of everything,

and that Self is the place where all love must begin.

Those who love others grandly are those who love
themselves grandly. Those who have a high toleration
and acceptance of others are those who have a high
toleration and acceptance of themselves.

You cannot show another a part of you that you
cannot show yourself. Therefore, begin where all
growth, where all evolution, where all love must begin:
with the person in the mirror.

Will you not love yourself grandly today?

For the world's sake?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that someone is looking up to you now, preparing to
follow your example. Let this guide your next choice.

We often think that we are operating in a vacuum,
that no one is watching us, that our actions are mostly
private. Yet, what if you knew that your every thought,
word, and deed today was going to be imitated by
one who admires you?

Can you feel good about what you are demonstrating?

Wonderful. If your answer is yes, wonderful!

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that money is not the issue. Having the courage to
give your highest gift is the issue.

There is no security in doing something for a living
when you are dying inside while doing it. That is taking
care of the body at the expense of the soul. And a
withering soul cannot help but produce a withering body.

So do not think you are "taking care of yourself" by
killing your spirit to keep your body alive.

How long will you put off what you are dying to do?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that there is a book, waiting for you to read. It
carries a wonderful message for you.

This may be a book that you started, then set aside.

Or it may be a text that you have just heard about
and that is now calling out to you.

Whichever it is, listen to the calling. Follow the
impulse. Read the book. Its time is now.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that it is okay to want to make lots of plans, but it is
also okay to make lots of room for that which planning
can never produce.

It's sometimes nice to get everything decided, settled,
and arranged. But you may want to leave room in your
life for spontaneity. Some of the best choices are made
"on the fly." Some of the best outcomes are created
by not needing anything specific to happen.

Who and how and why and when and where to love
often falls into this category.

You will not have to think but a second to know
exactly why you received this message today.

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that winning an argument is never the goal of a true
spiritual master. Winning someone's heart is.

The setting aside of one's integrity is not required to win
someone's heart, but the setting aside of one's anger
may be. It is possible to make a point without making
an enemy. It is possible to be right without being
righteous. Debating does not have to be debasing.

If there is someone with whom you are disagreeing this
day, would it not be wonderful of you to disagree
without being disagreeable?

Love, Your Friend....

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know...
...that working hard is good,
but getting things done is better.

Look to see how you are spending your day.
Are you accomplishing anything?

Is it anything that matters?

You have only so much time here. Don't waste it.
If you are really putting in a lot of effort, but not
getting much done that matters, take a look at that.

That's all I'm saying. Take a look.

Love, Your Friend....