Most of us have had difficulty not only loving others, but also loving ourselves, unconditionally.

"There is a rhythm and balance to all life, a dance between physical reality and the spiritual world...."

At the dawning of a new day, a new month, a new year, we are aware that there is still much to accomplish, both on the personal level and the planetary level.

We often think our strength comes from physical things like exercise, food, vitamins, and maybe even coffee. Yet is that really the case? 

Each one of us is a unique individual, and thus it seems to follow that each one of us has a specific role to play.

We are constantly in the process of renewing ourselves and transforming. Physically, we are continually growing new cells. 

We each have our individual experiences, frame of reference, and opinions. This creates our own unique perspective on our surroundings and on life in general. We see life "through a glass darkly"...

Just like everything in nature, we are growing. While our growth and changes may not be as obvious as the grass that we have to mow regularly, or the weeds we pull from our garden, we nevertheless are continuing to grow. 

We go through life with so many questions. Some are simple. What day is it? What will I have for lunch? Should I have another cup of coffee?

Life consists of choices... some are "good" choices, and others not so good. However every choice helps us build a foundation of wisdom gained from experience.

For me, learning often comes from understanding "why". Why things are the way they are, why things happen, why people are the way they are, why I act the way I do, why other people act the way they do. Once I understand the "why" of a situation, I can then understand how I need to respond both now and in the future.

We all want to be happy! At least, we all say we do... yet, how much happiness can we handle? How much happiness are we willing to have in our lives before we sabotage ourselves? Let's look for a minute at...

We all have access to intuition. While some people believe that only "special people" are psychic, we all can access higher wisdom. It is like anything else...

One attitude that has served me well is recognizing that everything I do is by choice... Even if appearances may seem like I don't always have a choice, I really do.

If we strictly listen to the media and news channels, we would think there is never any reason to celebrate life. From those sources, we hear about murders, corruption, and all kinds of frightening and hurtful events. Where in those stories is there anything to celebrate?

I find myself thinking on occasion, "I hate it when...." We use the word hate easily... We hate a certain kind of ice cream, we hate tofu, we hate hurting ourselves, we hate being late, we hate... This is where I realized that anything that we profess to "hate" is simply a preference on our part.

Singing love songs to yourself may sound like something strange to do but it actually is therapeutic and great for one's self-esteem. The experience of singing love songs to myself first started when I was listening to the radio and hearing all those lovey-dovey songs. My "Self" started substituting...

All of us, even animals, need to love and be loved. We need it for basic survival, we need it for growth, both physical and emotional, and we need it for happiness. 

"He makes me want to be a better person." As I reflected on this statement later, I realized that this is the best compliment anyone could ever hope to receive. Just think about your own life... Think of the reactions and comments you may have made about others...