Tag: love yourself

Live a Life of Love

There’s a good chance you are not experiencing the life of love that you’ve longed for your whole life. Oh, you’ve believed in it, sought it, opened your heart to it, and even thought you were deeply in it, but came up feeling, empty, betrayed, alone, or even abused. Even with everything you’ve been through you want to be living a life of love.

Your life may have been somewhat lackluster till now, lacking the love, the longing of which leaves a gaping whole in the center of your being.

You may not have been the recipient of all the love you desired, certainly deserved, and you may have experienced such a lack of real love that you might not even believe there is such a thing as love at all.

You might be surprised to discover that you have everything you need to have all the love in your life that your heart desires, and living a life of love is how to attract love into your life.

In just a few minutes you can start manifesting love by learning how to live a life of love and how to attract love energy which magnetically increases your spiritual attraction to someone. Someone specially matched uniquely to you and your energetic vibration.

I have been working in the love and relationship business for a while, the author of 7 Phases of Love and trainer of relationship coaches nation and worldwide, and the most powerful love manifestation principle I know of is

Living a Life of Love

Now, don’t get me wrong, in the love and relationship business, we can help you make the best out of any love circumstance or situation you’ve gotten yourself into. The chances of you having conflict in any romantic relationship are so great it guarantees a full schedule for anyone in the love and relationship-related channel. And there is hope to build a better future for anyone willing to do the work.

So, if you’re feeling like your romantic relationship is not unfolding like you might have liked it to, it will get better. My friend, Arielle Ford has written a book entitled, Turn Your Mate into Your Soulmate (https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Your-Mate-into-Soulmate/dp/0062405543), which you will find inspirational and practical in breathing new life into your existing relationship and possibly transform it into an enlightened love dream come true.

The kind of love that I talk about in my Awaken to True Love Workshops, refers to a different kind of romantic love than you’re used to hearing about. In this highest version of love, you unleash let loose the unconditional love generator which has been laying dormant within your for far too long.

If you allow this flow of love to envelop you, love fills you, body and soul. This love overflows into those who are within proximity and beyond, effectively affecting the whole world, too.

The source of all love from which all life flows is this constant unlimited, unrestricted ever-flowing, eternal love energy, and you have the built-in mechanism and secret code to unlock the flow of this unconditional love.

Now, we block this energetic connection for the most part, and anyone you know would either tell you that it doesn’t exist or caution you against accessing such a powerful energy cause if it did exist it could potentially destroy the world, if not the universe.

We don’t have the time to go through the entire process right now, but I can help you unlock your unconditional love generator, right now, which will start to release the flow of this eternal love through every cell of your body.

Settling Into Your Power

Settling into your power is a state of being where you maintain a calm, loving, peaceful disposition regardless of circumstances. Settling into your power is finding that safe, serene, and sacred space inside you, where you are impenetrable by anyone or anything that might try to threaten your ability to see the good in all things.

Only the most powerful person in the world could accomplish such a feat, and you are the most powerful person in the world if you choose to be.

All this awesome power resides within you. It is the power of love, and you can learn to wield this power with elegance and grace, if you approach it with respect and tender humility, for “love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” ~ St. Paul (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

You’re going about your business, maintaining your sacred space, being open to growth, change, and expansion in love, when someone or something threatens to upset your love vibration.

To allow someone to compromise your serenity is to give away your power to another person, circumstance, or situation. In the event your sacred space is breached by some outside force, it feels like an abusive assault, but you can regain your power when you are first consciously aware of the compromise, if you choose.

Seeing the disruption through the eyes of love, allows you to see life and this present circumstance as sacred as all life. Instead of seeing anything as a personal assault on you, you can see things as they are, realizing that life simply happens all around us, and sometimes it can knock you off balance when you intersect with it.

In love, you can compassionately empathize with the person or situation, allowing it just to be, you can safely and securely return to your state of love when you decide to, virtually unshaken.

Settling into your power is a grounded position where you accept full responsibility for your beingness, where you are the master of your fate, your beliefs, strengths, gifts, special abilities, purpose, message, passion, and mission.

Approaching life in the power of love is the highest state of freedom enjoyed by those who resonate in the vibration of love, and if you are empowered by this high state of love, your resolve cannot be shaken (not for long) by outside forces.

From this vantage point you can embrace the expectation that anyone needs to understand or approve of your highly regarded insights, because as you expand in consciousness, you may begin to see things in a radically different light than others who are unable to experience the state of empowered and expansive love.

No one can truly understand you, no matter how hard they try (bless them for trying), because only you can know you with all your fears, shadows, flaws, and extraordinary abilities, in your fullness.

Just as you hope to be loved and respected by others without judgment, you honor others and allow them to be whatever they choose to be, believe whatever it is they hold tight to, for this is the love response.

Even if directed specifically at you, you can respect someone else’s opinion as their own, without feeling threatened. They have the right to believe whatever they choose to believe, and you have no need to defend yourself because you love them, and you love yourself.

You understand that different people have different beliefs, and you have no compulsion to correct anyone or expectation that they will fully understand you. Even so, you love and hope that regardless of our differences we can remain friendly and love one another.

Since you no longer rely on the opinions and acceptance of others to put yourself in a state of wellbeing or happiness, you are free to allow the love that wells up from within you to overflow to others around you, unconditionally, for you are forever free in the fullness of love.

Suppressed Emotions Kill

When you bottle up your emotions, push them down, cover them up, and insist on just going on through life ignoring your feelings and living a life of emotional denial, you are committing murder. You are committing suicide because suppressed emotions kill you.

It’s a socially acceptable manner of suicide, not as blatant or open as hanging yourself, taking a bottle of pills, or as dramatic as throwing yourself off a bridge or blowing your brains out, but your suppressed emotions are killing you.

In his groundbreaking work, Bernie Siegel in Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients, implicitly defines the number one cause of disease and premature death from medical maladies is pent-up emotions.

If caught early enough to reverse the effects of a lifetime of suppressed emotions, the patient who finds healthy ways to express himself or herself, live a better life, and find happiness, become the most exceptional patients, experiencing full reversal or remission of their condition and fatal prognosis.

Most people on Mother Nature’s death row have put themselves there by not wanting to rock the boat, express their feelings, or being proactive in looking after themselves. They accept their lot in life as being in service to others, selflessly, without any regard for looking after themselves.

If you don’t look after yourself, who will?

I pray you are ready to receive this. If you are not, there is no judgment here. After all, we’re all doing the best we can with what we have. If your heart and mind are open, consider this:

If you are living a life with health challenges, consider who you are putting first in your life. If you are not putting your own health, wellness, and happiness first, and not expressing all the emotions you keep hidden away, the things that make you sad, angry, hurt, disrespected, or unworthy, your illness(es) is of your own making.

\This includes all disease (which could be redefined as “dis-ease”). If you’re not happy, your body is not happy, and your immune system disregards your body just as much as you do. If you will not stand up and fight for you, neither will your body, and you will fall victim to disease and premature death. But you will die a hero.

Friends, family, and society will put you on a pedestal after you’ve died and tell stories about how you selflessly served others, even as your own body was suffering in decay. (Even though you may have silently wished for death to come knocking, just so you could get some peace.)

Or, you could become an exceptional patient. You could find the keys to the life you’ve always wanted and deserved, even though you may have denied yourself access to it in the past. You could uncover your unique, purpose, message, passion, and/or mission and start living a better life, your best life, and make the world a better place.

You can enjoy all the good things this life has been holding for you, just waiting for you to reach out for it, including all the love and happiness you’ve ever dreamed of.

But don’t believe me. Don’t believe Bernie Siegel, or anyone else. If you decide to change your life, while there is still time, and live the life that is your birthright, only you can do this thing. Only you can make the transformation from sickness to massively thriving by choosing to become an exceptional patient.

Every day, someone who stood at death’s door awakens and starts to live life with openness, honesty, self-love with ebullient vitality and energy, staving off any self-imposed death sentence, achieving their highest and best.

Let it be you.

You can live a better life, your best life, and make the world a better place.

Today, let it be you.

No Matter What You Say No Matter What You Do

With all this talk about love, growing and expanding in love, raising your love vibration, and unconditional love, you might find it difficult to say (think and feel), “I love you no matter what you say. No matter what you do.”

 

It seems like the idea of no matter what you say no matter what you do is a far stretch from reality. No one would blame you if you thought it was impossible or beyond belief that anyone could say such a thing without lying or being deceptive. Yet, there are times when you, yourself, are likely to have loved to that degree.

If you think about it, you have probably held a newborn baby or a new puppy in your arms, and in that moment as you look into the eyes of that baby or puppy, it’s easy to say, think and/or feel, “I love you no matter what you say. No matter what you do.”

Even though you came into this life as a baby who was unconditionally loveable and unconditionally loving, fascinated by and loving everyone and everything no matter what, you were raised, reared, and reprogrammed to love conditionally.

Then later in life, very possibly right now, you are awakening to or intrigued by, the idea of there being such a thing as unconditional love. You might be wondering why no one seems to be able to love you no matter what you say no matter what you do. And while you can love somebody so much, “no matter what,” seems like just too much to ask due to your social programming or personal beliefs.

Understand there is no wrong way or right way to love. We all love the best we can and if you do not have much love for yourself, you will not have a well of love to draw from within to share with others. Loving the best you can is the best you can do and you are blessed to have any love at all, no matter how small.

The unlimited unconditional love of God is infinite and all around you. This infinite unconditional love permeates every cell of your body. Do not panic if the idea of all life and you being made of and animated by unconditional love. Just keep your mind open enough to consider if there was no love in you, your body would fall to the floor, lifeless.

You are unconditional love, though you have been conditioned by family, friends, and society to believe that love is an elusive energy which exists outside of yourself, if it exists at all. This sets the scenario where true love, if you haven’t given up on it altogether, can only be found in some other person. Disney and Hollywood have helped shore up this idea.

In your search for love, you doubtlessly have discovered that love (the love you have been taught to seek) is not what it’s cracked up to be and your experience has led you to believe love is misleading, dishonest, painful, and not worth it, at least not for long. Your experiences in love can reinforce a negative perspective in relation to this idea of love, and you may come to the conclusion, “There is no such thing as love.”

If you would like to be loved no matter what you say no matter what you do, then you must ignite the flame of unconditional love which is within you, and turn it to and focus it upon yourself.

Up until now, you have probably been your own worst enemy, second-guessing and berating yourself, seeing yourself as a victim of life. Not if you love yourself unconditionally.

If you want to love or be loved unconditionally, you must love yourself no matter what you say no matter what you do first.

When you love yourself no matter what you say no matter what you do, you can then share your love as it overflows from you and to those who you love and the world all around you, unconditionally.

I know it’s a stretch because you’ve been trained to believe that no one can be trusted, but in the vibration of unconditional love, trust doesn’t matter.

In your conditional state of love, you think, “But what if…?”

In unconditional love there is no what if; there is only I love you no matter what you say no matter what you do.

If you are not ready to conceive of the idea of unconditional love, there is no judgment, you are not doing it wrong. Just find a way to love the best way you can, for love is really the only pure energy which permeates all of life. Find it. Get it and give it any way you can.

Here, you are loved no matter what you say no matter what you do.

Help I Can’t Take One More

Aaahhh! I am so far over my head, “Help!” I don’t think I can take one more thing! Ever feel like you’ve had all you can stand? It’s as if the hits just keep coming, and you think about the saying that “God will not give you more than you can take,” and right about now, it feels like it’s a lie because you are well over your head.

You’re losing it. You feel like you have zero control of anything as your world crumbles all around you, and you ask yourself (or some deity), “What’s happening?”

Okay, you asked for it, so here it is:

This is all on you.

(Take a moment to express your disagreement with the idea that this might all be your fault, then come back and give me a chance to explain.)

Here’s the deal, when something happens that you don’t like, you have seventeen seconds to feel bad, after which if you don’t pull your head out, the eighteenth second begins to emit the frequency which matches the vibration of you are enveloped by. This energy (which is clearly negative) attracts like energy.

So, every second that follows while you are wallowing in the negative energy is calling more negative energy to you. More bad news is on the way; here it comes…

The only way to stop the spiraling whirlpool which is dragging you down and draining you of the possibility of having the best things in life is to stop the negative energy and start getting into a positive frequency. Even if it’s a low positive vibration it’s so much better than remaining in the negative, and it stops the attraction of more bad news.

You must get in touch with you, all the good things about you. You know you’re here for a reason and you were not called to be in this negative vibe. This is not your natural state. You are called to love yourself, embrace your power and continue to draw a line between what makes you feel good and what makes you feel bad. You have the power to choose to feel good or to feel bad. When you are feeling good, you are in touch with the real you. You are attracting good things and not bad.

In this positive state of mind, you are thinking clearer, you are creative, resourceful, you are open to all good things as they unfold before you, you are able to find a sense of peace, and things are leaning toward increased clarity in your life.

You must cut out some positive space for you to separate yourself from the negative and immerse yourself in a positive vibration. Take a day off, disconnect from the madness, take a break. Take time to focus your attention on doing something, putting you in a place where you feel good; and the better you can get yourself to feel, the better.

Take a walk in nature, or watch a comedy film or a tear-jerker but find a way to release some pent-up emotion and embrace the cleanse. Count your blessings; get out a piece of paper and a writing instrument and start jotting all the things you can be grateful for in your life (even when things are at their worst, there are some good things that can be found, even if the process feel daunting at the outset). Write down the good things in life you can look back on.

I love you

Everything will be okay

If you’re like me, all you want to hear and feel is, “I love you,” and, “Everything will be okay.”

It’s up to you to put yourself in the state where you feel loved and assured that everything will be okay by no one or no other thing than you, yourself. This is your responsibility, as counter-intuitive that it might sound or feel at first, this is up to you and you alone. You need to accept this responsibility and start loving yourself, truly loving, appreciating, encouraging and empowering yourself.

Sure, someone else can help to make you feel these things, but this energy which comes from outside yourself fades, and when it fades, it requires finding another source outside of yourself to re-energize yourself.

Your source of energy from within is limitless and divine. It doesn’t depend on anyone or anything else. As long as there is life within you, that limitless source of energy resides within the recess of your heart, just waiting for you to call upon it.

When you are feeling better, reminded of those things for which you can feel grateful, loving and supporting yourself, you are at a much better place to look again at the challenges that you face.

From this perspective, you are able to see answers and have access to skills and tools which weren’t within reach when you were drowning in despair.

Congratulations.

You got this.

Go Love Yourself

You’ve heard all this talk about loving yourself, and you’ve met people who have gone through this process with exemplary results, but there’s something about loving yourself that just doesn’t sound right. Not to worry, we are the result of our social and familial programming and we were trained not to think in this way. Add to that all the images and fears from our childhood that follow us around like monsters in the shadows even to this day, and it’s no surprise there’s little chance that you might consider loving yourself.

How can I love myself?

Loving yourself is a process, it just doesn’t happen overnight.

Realizing that currently, you represent the product of your past, your programming, and your upbringing is the first step. Many of us have childhood beliefs that follow us forever, like, “everyone else comes first,” unworthiness, self-deprecation, lack of trust, fear of abandonment, etc… Ideations that will haunt us until we are able to recognize them, face them and defeat our own inner demons.

Much of what comprises your thought process, your fears and beliefs about the way things are just aren’t true. Loving yourself starts with embracing the idea that somewhere inside of you there has always been an authentic individual who is uniquely empowered and utterly amazing. This is the real you, the you that came to this planet with a unique set of talents, skills, and abilities to share with the greater community as well as your own message and mission.

Sadly, this knowledge was beaten out of you, as it was also taken from us all, as we were programmed to accept our place in the socialized world where we live. When you first appeared here, you knew who you were and what your purpose in life was, but all that had been replaced by programming by the time you were five-to-seven-years-old.

As you love yourself, you free yourself from the shackles of old thoughts and actions. You reclaim your true self by loving and respecting who you are and finding peace in your sacred space. It requires the deprogramming of old programming and patterns that ‘til now have defined your reality.

Paying attention to thoughts, ideas and unsubstantiated fears that may pop up in your awareness, recognizing them for what they are (a popular acronym for FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real, which seems to be apropos), dealing with them and discovering new ideas that present unimpeded limitless opportunity.

The process starts with a simple prayer,

“I am ready to let go of all the fears and entrapments of my past. I am ready to release all the falsehoods and see me for who I really am.”

That’s it. It’s a simple prayer, which reaches outside of yourself for guidance and support. Your societal façade will start to fade as you vector in energetic waves in support of your prayer. Repeating this prayer for thirty to forty days will begin to attract messages and guidance. You must be aware, alert, and attentive to see the messages as they are brought to your awareness.

You might see common themes in advertising, television programs, in news stories, articles, blogs, in topics of conversation, overheard when eavesdropping on other people’s conversations. You might feel drawn to a particular television program, book, seminar, or meet someone new who might have a special word for you. The possibilities are endless.

You have started the process, but it not enough just to start it, you must take action, do the work, read the book(s), ask the questions, and keep moving in the direction of knowing yourself doing the work of changing your thought processes, and loving yourself even more.

You will be surrounded by an invisible energy, like a bubble, which will protect you as you stay in this exploratory and transformative vibration. Be open to receiving as new knowledge unfolds before you and have faith that your prayer is being answered in just the right way because it’s different for every person.

Not taking action on these benevolent gifts which are being bestowed upon you would be a stark denial of the power which is answering your prayer, and you wouldn’t do that.

Your journey to go love yourself has begun.

Celebrate Growth in Fashion

Okay, you’ve been growing, changing, sacrificing, saying “goodbye” to your old destructive pattern and, “hello” to the new, and improved, a more expanded consciousness of your new self. You’re loving yourself more, and now it’s time to show yourself a little love by shopping and celebrating your growth in fashion.

The new you desires to be exposed, not hidden away, like the shadows of your past. When people look at you, they see something different. It’s time to let your difference shine. You are looking better, feeling better, your body and its immune system are getting better. You’re healthier and embracing life, so go ahead. Treat yourself to some new threads to affirm the new you.

Uh oh, here come the haters… “No,” they say, “You can’t do that,” as if to say you’re better than that. You know, you’ve seen ‘em, those holier-than-thou spiritual types who should be reported directly to the fashion police. To them, they feel that a well-kept and fashionable appearance (and frequent bathing) is not appropriate for the more spiritually advanced.

That’s a different topic, entirely. Don’t let them dissuade you from celebrating your new life because you’re living a better life, your best life and making the world a better place. You’re no longer a rat in the race, you’re establishing a whole new pace, and it’s time to celebrate.

It’s possible that the old fearful you was often sacrificed for the benefit of others, but this new you… It is courageous and longs to be recognized and celebrated by you. It wants to be adorned making your inner him or her shine through, and it’s perfectly okay if others notice.

Now, I’m not saying to go overboard and max out all your credit cards in celebration of your new perspective on life. What I am saying is that it’s okay (if not necessary) to demonstrate a little self-love to your inner girl or boy by letting him or her play dress up every once and a while.

And if your negative self-talk starts to rear its head and begin mind-chatter about your unworthiness, squash it. You are worthy and you deserve this little treat. As a matter of fact, it may have been a long time coming, and the time has come.

This is not about frivolous excess, it’s about rewarding yourself for a job well done. You’ve done the work, the deep inner work, that would be so frightening to someone else that they would not ever dare to conceive of taking on such a challenge. But you have.

It’s time to express yourself authentically, in honoring and nurturing the wonderfully amazing person that you are evolving into. So, go pick out something beautiful, something that genuinely represents who you are, or even something fun, to celebrate your authenticity and individuality.

Let others see you for who you are. You are more self-confident, generous, use words that exude kindness and compassion. You’re honoring the temple of your body, are mindful of what you put in it and how you treat it. You respect who you are and present yourself as a clean, deserving and well-kept student, today.

This radical celebration of self-love raises your vibration and you will see good things coming your way as they are being attracted to the new you and your exuberant presence.

You are both blessed and a blessing to others.

You are worthy. You have done the work and are continuing to do so.

This is your day.

Enjoy.

Loving at the Next Level

There is the Hollywood definition of love, then there is the elevated form or love that is powerfully manifest at a higher level. If you want to aspire to loving at the next level, this higher concept of love is awaiting your arrival.

This higher level of love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and you are born with access to it, but being able to connect to and utilize it, is one of the best-kept secrets of all time; this is no accident. Society and the powers that be do not want you to know that you have access to such a powerful resource. You are much easier to manage and control if you can be kept unaware of such a powerful resource.

When you tap into the next level of love, you find yourself motivated and empowered to want to give and achieve more than you have ever imagined prior to tapping into love’s higher vibration.

This is the lever that opens the gates releasing the power of love into your life. In this vibrational frequency, you can see your dreams coming closer as all the best things start appearing and you feel a wide range of amazing possibilities coming your way.

Even though true love encompasses so much more than romantic love, being enveloped in love’s highest frequency, spills over into and permeating your romantic relationships allowing you to achieve new heights of romantic love, more incredible than ever possible at lower vibrations.

This new awareness of love and its power is revealed through the most intimate love you will ever know, that is the love of you for yourself. This sounds selfish, at first, but once you’ve experienced loving the only person who knows every most intimate detail of your life and will never, ever, leave you, you really don’t know what true love is. It is from this next level of love, that all other loves and their possibilities flow.

Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect when you’re loving yourself with the next level of love:

You are no longer critical of yourself. When you love yourself, you love you for who and what you are without judgment, much like the love you might have for a baby; if the baby you love messes his diaper, you think, “Bless her little heart, she made a cute little poopy.” Or if she breaks your favorite vase, you say, “You silly little thing, that was just an accident. That one was old, it was time for mommy to get a new one anyway.” When you really love yourself, you can’t do anything wrong. Certainly, life happens, and you may not always be on your best behavior or do exactly the right thing at the right time, but it’s okay. You cut yourself some slack (maybe a lot of slack) because you love yourself so much, like that baby.

Negative thoughts fade away. When you’re truly loving yourself, you don’t bother yourself with the barrage of negative vibrations. You are no longer attracted to negative news, fantastic stories of pain and suffering, horror stories, or incredulous drama. The fear of it all holds no value for you any longer. You are no longer afraid of the unknown because love is the superior power that truly conquers all else. In the state of true love, you are likely to think of ways you can change the world, rather than to be content with just complaining about it.

Fear no longer is the main vibration controlling your thoughts and your life. Powered with love you are not afraid of challenges or potential failure because you know you will always come away from any conflict or situation better than when you first encountered the circumstance.

You’re more likely to look at the bright side of things, and as you get more accustomed to this love-inspired positive outlook, positive resolutions are far more the norm than not. You will also notice, when you need a helping hand, one appears from even the most unlikely sources.

The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” (Jesus’ sermon on the mount, Matthew 7:12) applies to you. You treat yourself like you would like others to treat you. You’re your own best friend. As you become more aware of your best qualities, embracing them and finding new ways to express yourself, your gifts and special abilities, others begin to see a new sheen, a glow about you which is clearly apparent as your countenance changes, empowering your new love-fueled life. You start sharing more of your love-infused self with others.

You’re finding the goodness in all things and have a heart filled full of gratitude for all life’s blessings. Even the things in life that may not have been perceived as the best, you now see from a different perspective, allowing you to see through the eyes of love, where everything is blessed and serves you in your highest and best.

You love your reflection in the mirror. The more you love yourself, the more you love your reflection in the mirror, and all that it represents a full life, and one being lived for its maximum potential. This is the reflection of someone who spreads love wherever they go.

The next level of love is unconditional love, that kind of love that says, “I love you no matter what.” It may be a far cry from where you are today, but you can feel it tugging on your heart strings. It desires to be released and reveal to you the love that was always there but never allowed to see the light of day.

There is no one else like you in the world who can do what you can do the way that you can do it. Dare to approach the next level of love and be the love that the world so desperately needs.

Looking After Yourself

We all pretty much do look after ourselves to some degree. We exercise, try to eat better than we might if we didn’t care at all, try to treat others politely or with kindness, but often neglect the other part of us that need tending to as well. Maybe it’s about time to think about looking after yourself more.

Start off with looking at ways you can honor your vessel, the body you were given to experience all the good things this life has to offer. The least you could do is to treat it like a car that you love, or even better, like the priceless treasure that your body is. While you might take your car in for a nice detailing, your body might be worth a little pampering too. Think about treating it to a massage, or a visit to the spa.

Hold sacred space aside for you to honor yourself. Make time to relax and settle into a peaceful state of mind. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time, even if it’s only 17 minutes out of your day. This seventeen minutes is your sacred time, without interruptions. You might enjoy just closing your eyes and practice deep breathing, getting in tune with your heart or inner self. Just try it and see how this little, sacred space in time can affect the whole remainder of your day and your life.

Inside each of us is a little child version of us who longs to come out and play every once and a while. Honor this part of you, there’s no need to deny him or her, he or she is a part of you, so invite him or her to come out and play with you. Try to find occasions to make time doing the things that you used to like to do when you were younger. Remember the things that brought you joy in your youth? It’s different for all of us. It could be anything from riding a merry go round to playing ancient video games, and anything in between. Make time for your little guy or gal to come out and play.

Find your safe place. It could be a physical safe place or a safe place you can find in your thoughts and mind, where you can immerse yourself in the comfort of security. It doesn’t have to be a safe room or stronghold. You might find this level of safety and serenity soaking in a bubble bath, curled up in a comfy blanket listening to your favorite tunes, inventorying memorabilia, or reading a book accompanied by the dancing light of a scented candle. Whatever it is for you, wherever it is. This is your safe place, make time for it.

Think about taking the time to dream, daydream, or creative visualization. Using the creative power of your mind and imagination, you can go anywhere and do anything. This is youthful and powerful art that is often abandoned as we get older. When you were younger, the whole universe was at your beck and call, using the power of your imagination, and it still is. Look for opportunities and take the time to rekindle the flame of your power of visualization.

Every once and a while, schedule yourself for a Me Day. Make this day (the whole day, or at least a nice, big, fat piece of this day) all about you. Set aside a specific start and end time, and just get away. No thoughts about the cares of life, things that get you down, worrying about this or that. Just take the day and allow yourself the mental break from anything that might hinder your possibility of having the best time with yourself, and have fun being you. No judgment, just have a good time. This is your day.

Take a break from procrastination. We all have stuff that we’d rather put off ‘til tomorrow, and we know for some things, tomorrow never comes. Not this day. Just like you would take a day for yourself periodically, same goes for something that you might be putting off. You will be surprised how good it feels to do that thing you’ve been avoiding. Now you don’t have to carry around guilt about it any longer. As a matter of fact, you could do the thing first and celebrate its completion with your Me Day.

Go to the park or the beach and kick your shoes off. Take a hike in the woods, or whatever is your fancy, but connect with Mother Earth. Find the time to take a break surrounded by her magnificence, the green grass, the pebbles or sand, the sound of lapping waves or birds chirping. Take a dog for a walk. Don’t have a dog? Borrow one from a friend or neighbor. This is a great way to put yourself in a position to receive energy from Mother Nature.

I hope these ideas inspire to spend time looking after yourself more. You will be amazed at how much this will raise the frequency of your life, and better prepare you to enjoy all the good things this life has to offer, and by all means, be creative and come up with even better ways to look after you.

Here’s looking at you, kid.

How Can You Live a Life of Love?

If you want the best this life has to offer, you must find a way to love. Love more, love better, give love and allow yourself to receive it. This is your best and highest work.

Love is the spice that brightens up everything this life has to offer. Oh, you can be happy without it, but to experience the most joy from every bite of life, top it off with love, and it just gives everything that something special.

Love changes you and how you look at other people. You’re more understanding and empathetic. Looking through the eyes of love, allows your heart how it could feel like, had you walked a mile in his or her shoes.

When you live in love, you see it everywhere, in nature, in the city, in restaurants and at the bus stop.

It’s easier for some to love more than others, but easy love is not always the best love. The best, deepest, most meaningful love of all, is the love that is learned the hard way. Granted, very few people are up to the task. It’s easier do say, “Forget love,” or, “There’s no such thing as love,” and walk away.

Of course, love starts with you. Sure, we’ve all heard about how we are to love our self, but what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Well, it means many different things to many different people, because it’s not about anyone else but you, and we’re all very unique, but there are some similar characteristics among all of us, when it comes to loving our self.

You can learn to love yourself by letting go of the past, living in the present and moving forward in your life. This means forgiving others for what they might have done in the past. And it also means forgiving yourself for any missteps you have made along the way.

You also want to stop judging other people so harshly, and especially yourself as well.

When you make a mistake in real time, don’t beat yourself up over it. Step back, look at the facts, and look for the treasure. The treasure may be key information that you can take into the future that will keep this circumstance from repeating itself.

Giving an unsolicited compliment to someone is a loving way to be encouraging to another person. How about complimenting yourself, patting your self on the back for a job well done. Maybe even reward yourself if some small way. Think of ways to treat yourself nicely.

Loving words are very powerful. Start using them, with others, as well as in the mirror.

Once you start loving yourself, you will find it easier to express your love to others (though you may not want to throw the “love” word around too much, especially when you’re getting started, because it can freak people out.) Relatives is a great place to start.

Unfortunately (okay, actually, “fortunately”), loving, or learning to love, is going to involve other people. This can be uncomfortable for even the most privileged of us.

It will mean putting aside your negative thoughts about love (if you’re harboring them) for at least as long as it takes to get out and mingle a little bit.

Think about it, swing by a restaurant or night club after work. See what “Happy hour” looks like. These are like-minded individuals, meeting after work, and having a good time just enjoying each other’s company for a minute on their way home from work.

You might think to yourself, that these are just a bunch of phonies, but that’s just because you haven’t tried it, or can’t relate to it. To help you out in this area, you might need to make a few new friends.

Remember not to come on like gangbusters. Be conscientious and don’t turn yourself into the next love guru, but love in the best way you can.

Too much love can bring negative results. Like, if you see someone who is engaging in an activity that they love so much, with no regard for other people. This can be awkward, if not painful, and can alienate the other people who you would otherwise be encouraging or trying to express your love to.

So, love, but be mindful of others.

If you’re looking for true, it starts right here. Right now, with you.

True love is calling you.