As we near the new year, I like to ask one of the questions I have found most useful in setting intentions & making choices: Where does the energy want to go now?  I ask this question & sit with the sense of the life-force within. . . . following my breath, letting go of my to-do lists and all the things I think I “should” get to. . . .& every time- if I am willing- I get a sense of where the energy that is manifest in this one small human life, is drawn. This isn’t a passive exercise- it’s not “just” about “going with the flow.” It’s discerning where our essential being is drawn, what holds meaning and mystery for us now, and then coming into alignment with that flow to take actions, make choices, offer what we are to the world…….Oriah Mountain Dreamer

remember all those resolutions? what lies beneath the longing and the rules and the limits we set for ourselves? what now? what will best serve our lives? can we remember how to play, how to set intentions, how to offer joy to our own living?

Consider starting your morning with the following intention before you choose what to include in your Mental Backpack for the day ahead:

“Today I will approach every thought from a place of wholeness, which means each and every one is allowed to exist. But I do not need to put any one of them in my Mental Backpack today. If a particular thought enhances my life or brings me joy, I can pack it and take it with me. If it does not, I can see if it has a message for me. If it does, I can be receptive to the message. But if it is an old, outdated habit, I can simply take a seat on a tree stump and burn the old ratty news in a nearby fire-pit. I can open my Mental Backpack of positive thoughts and munch on a snack that is in there.”

Copy the quote above. Put it on your mirror. Place it by your bedside and in your wallet. Contemplate it every morning. Make it yours.The benefits are enormous. This practice will align you with your best self, where juicy choices and gorgeous opportunities come from. It is where synchronicities abide and have babies. It is the basis for goosebumpy joy. It is the birthplace of manifestations. The results will lead you directly to who you really are. There is one important caveat though: Most people are not used to feeling really grand, which is how you will naturally feel when you are munching on positive thoughts and feelings throughout the day. So you will have to give yourself permission… because ultimately, and in the long run, you are the only one who can! This means: if you have ever said to yourself, “I am not allowed to feel that good,” because of whatever (you are a sinner, you have debt, you are too fat, your parents did not like you, the government is horrible, your boss is a jerk, etc.), that is simply a story you are hanging on to (in other words, a specific vibration you have got used to). These kinds of mental stories you tell yourself will keep you stuck, and will eventually squeeze the life out of you. They will crowd out any good thoughts, preventing your Mental Backpack from glowing with positive thoughts and feelings, the ones you want to carry with you wherever you go…….Debbie Happy Cohen

prayers that lighten….

What are you willing to give up, in order to have what you really want? I have asked this question before, and God knows I will probably ask it again, because I think it’s the deepest truthful query…….Elizabeth Gilbert