Love and Blessings to all that open their hearts and minds to this newsletter of sharing!  Sharing of experience, sharing of perceptions, emotions, insights, and lessons learned that lead to the wisdom and truth we all seek to know and integrate into our lives.  It is so important that we realize that what may be true for us today, may not be tomorrow.  So it needs to be OK within ourselves to have different beliefs with each day.  For if we already knew all we needed to know, what would be the purpose of learning and growing.  And if cannot change in our ideas and beliefs, then learning and growing is stifled.  Still, knowing this as I do, I can go through periods of growth where upon the realization of the new insight, I will mentally beat myself up for not realizing this earlier, be overwhelmed with the shame of hurting others while I lived with my less-conscious perspective, and I will say to myself “so what of value do I have to share with others?”  The value to all is in being aware of our inner-speak, realizing that thoughts like I just described, are the ego trying to persuade against the changing and growing of the spiritual path and continuing in moving forward with openness, hope, joy and love.  We all can get stuck, as I did in not writing a May newsletter, but the joy is in the motion, the discovering and releasing of resistance and flowing with life.

“The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.”
- Eckhart Tolle

It is the primitive ego that tells us that we are not worthy, or not good enough.  But in our states of higher consciousness we can speak with a universal, timeless wisdom.  So who are we to judge this? Our job is to share our truth, the wisdom gained on the path, and not worry how others may receive it.  For we do not know if we are planting seeds that will quickly bloom in realization, or that will bloom at a later time.  We do not know if we are planting seeds at all, but instead warming ourselves and others in the love and light of our hearts.  This sharing can be in spoken or written words, but does not have to be.  It can be shared in the way we live our lives or in our stillness.  I am a big believer that the information and lessons that we seek in growing to our next level has nothing to do with the source of the information.  At the deepest level we are all connected together and to universal wisdom so we are all capable of moments of enlightened sharing.  Seek not  information because of the credentials of the source, but because the information, when we receive it, resonates inside us as truth.  So today we may learn from a best selling author, tomorrow from a friend, the next day from a child as she or he walks to school.

“Be the change you want in the world”
- Mahatma Gandhi

The human race does not evolve unless we as individuals are evolving, not the other way around.  I have read seen many books and articles that speak of paradigm shifts, ages of light and spiritual evolution and beseech readers to ride the wave.  Without the change in individual lives, there is no shift and no evolution.  Because we are all connected, there is a collective attribute where we do benefit by the evolving consciousness of others, but this is more of an influence, a potential and the rest of the work of evolving consciousness is left to the individual.  The human race has stepped on the moon and developed in short history many technical marvels.  But does this make us any wiser?  Are we masters of our universe?  Are we children that can destroy ever more with less effort?

"Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are, and to make new things like them."
- Marcus Aurelius

When enough of us, a critical mass, take the responsibility for changing ourselves first, then we change the energy and the frequency of our reality around us.  Spiritual growth is not about feeling good all the time, it is about being at peace with what is, no matter how difficult, and transforming ourselves through our acceptance to then create a new reality.  It is losing to win, dying to live.  There is wisdom in our difficulties, and they are made just for us. A personalized plan for growth.  To avoid is to prolong and deepen pain, to confront is to deepen understanding and knowing of the hand that guides us.

“All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.”
- Rumi

We could keep on jousting the windmills in our minds.  We can keep feeding the dramas of life situations and life will keep feeding the illusions with give our attention to.  Or we can realize that these things are not who we are, and we can practice our stillness and awareness and find that we are not the thinker, we are mind.  We are not the lover, we are love.  Passion is surrender.  To BE who we are, is timeless.