I’d love to share with you the most common theme I’ve seen in February 2009:  Being focused on the future.  There were different reasons why people were awaiting the future, from enjoying their goals coming to fruition, to a hope that it will be a more pleasant time than the present.  However, when all of our energy is in the future, we are not fully here to experience the present.  There are so many gifts in this current moment.  And this moment is necessary in the creation of the future- so in a way, this moment is part of the future.  I’d like to invite you to take a step back and ask yourself how different the future will be, really?  Are you your goals?  Are you your job?  Are you your weight?  Your income?  Whereas these may all be small reflections of you, it is not all of you.  Who you are is something that you cannot achieve.  In the words of Louise Hay, “You are perfect, whole and complete.  You were born perfect, whole, and complete.”  I once heard an interviewer ask Oprah if she is so happy now that she has all this fortune and fame.  Oprah replied, no.  She said she got happy first and everything else followed.  There is a wealth of wisdom inside each of us and when we tap into it our outside world reflects that.  Find your inner peace and you will see peace all around you.

There are many tools, exercises, and modalities to tap into and listen to what’s within.  I’m not certain what will work best for you.  What works best for me is keeping a gratitude journal.  LOVE IT!  I’ve been using it for years and it never fails to put me in a fantastic mood.  It’s simple, I just write, “I am grateful for _____.” It can be anything.  Anything.  “I am grateful for bubble gum.  I am grateful for my home.  I am grateful for the color violet.  I am grateful for my sense of smell.  I am grateful for my teddy bear.  I am grateful for my friends.  I am grateful for my earrings.  I am grateful for the internet.”  For me, it takes on a life of it’s own!  It’s something I can practice on the subway, standing in line, where ever.  I find it most powerful to actually start each sentence with, “I am grateful for,” rather than just creating a list. It really alters my state of consciousness.  From here, anything is possible! After a half-hour of writing in my gratitude journal I often feel like I’m in love- I have a tingly feeling all over, my heart is warm, I’m ecstatic about life, and so much more.   This is such a beautiful space to come from.  Besides the world responding to this with much love, I feel like I am more open to my inner voice when I am in this space.  I have unconditional love and acceptance for myself, free of any judgment.  I’m always pleasantly surprised by the depth of insight that lies within me.  It is always there, but I am not always in a place where I can see or hear it.  My gratitude journal helps put me in that place.