What Is Your Ideal Lifestyle…
Discover What Is and What is To Be on Your Journey of Life…
Click the two cards below to see what Present and Future you have drawn. Then click again to get the description and recommendations for your specific situation. Watch for follow-up emails with even more information to guide you…
Be sure to write down the names of your two cards, so you can access additional information later.
Passive Income Lifestyle
This card will tell you how things are now…


Peaceful Heart Meadow
Acceptance
Overview
Our ego-minds spend a great deal of time trying to keep us safe—sometimes in ways that, on close inspection, may seem quite dysfunctional. We often find ourselves trying to make sense of our circumstances by putting our own spin on things—that is, we analyze, explain, justify, or interpret our situations without really making any effort to accept them as they are. In other words, we unconsciously tend to reject what is in favor of our own story or thinking about what is.
In Peaceful Heart Meadow, we begin to learn about the first Key Skill: Acceptance. As we become more aware of what is, our first priority is to accept it as it is. That is, we suspend our judgments, conclusions or stories about it, so that we can grok it more clearly for what it really is—rather than for what we think it is.
Acceptance is not about agreeing with anything; it’s not about condoning anything; it’s not about believing in anything. All of those actions—agreeing, condoning, believing—require you to analyze, explain, justify or interpret what is, which puts you back into your ego-mind, and disconnects you from your innate ability to accept. Acceptance is simply about being fully aware of what is and acknowledging it as such—in other words, Acceptance is Awareness without Story. If you get out of your head and into your heart, you engage your natural power to accept what is. Once you have accepted it for what it really is, then and only then can you actually do something about it.
Situation
Something unpleasant, painful or tragic is happening in your life right now, and it has triggered many different reactions within you. In essence, your reactions are just variations of your overall rejection of the situation, and your rejection of what is merely increases your pain and discomfort without in any way changing the situation. Your desire to reject what’s happening may be quite understandable, because the situation itself is causing you pain and distress. Perhaps you are having thoughts like these:
- This situation is completely unacceptable; I have to find a way to make it go away.
- This can’t be happening to me…again!
- If I accept this, then it means that I’m agreeing with it. I simply can’t allow that to happen.
- I don’t like it; I don’t want it; I don’t choose it. I refuse to allow it into my life.
Recommendation
If you’ve ever had a massage, then you probably remember a time when your massage therapist found a place on your body that felt painful to the touch. And when that happened, you probably had an instant reaction to tense your body and protect yourself from the pain. Interestingly, however, if you allowed yourself to consciously relax the muscles and accept the temporary pain of the therapist’s touch, then pretty quickly the pain subsided and the movement of the therapist’s hands actually relieved some deep-rooted tension, and therefore provided some much needed healing.
Think of Acceptance in the same way. Your current situation may be unpleasant or painful, but you can alleviate that pain significantly simply by acknowledging it, relaxing into it and allowing your breath to carry it away.
Find a quiet place where you can follow this simple process to help you return to a place of acceptance:
- Take some deep breaths to ground yourself and bring yourself into the present moment. Bring attention to your emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations. Avoid any judgments, interpretations or conclusions as you do this. Just keep breathing gently and maintain your perspective as an observer.
- When you feel sufficiently present and relaxed, allow your inner observer to take a closer look at the issue that has been triggering resistance. What is it about this issue that agitates you to the point that you want to push it away? Does the issue bring up any self-judgments or stories that challenge your ability to stay present? Again, avoid any judgments as you do this; simply observe the situation and what it brings up for you.
- Bring the energy of compassion and forgiveness to yourself for the way you are reacting to the situation. Imagine that you are wrapping yourself in a big, unconditionally loving hug. Remind yourself that everything about you is perfectly okay—including any reaction or feeling you may have had up to now.
- Take a few more deep breaths, and simply release your energy of resistance. Imagine that you putting all the resistance energy into an expanding balloon; imagine opening a window in your heart and allowing that balloon simply to float off into the distance. Watch it disappear over the horizon, never to come back into your body.
- Take a few more deep breaths, and see yourself accepting your situation exactly as it is. It is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong; it simply is what it is. In your mind’s eye, see yourself examining the situation from all angles, maximizing your awareness of everything it contains.
- Take some time now to honor yourself for bringing yourself back to a place of acceptance.
At this point, you have really completed the exercise. Give yourself some time to let the process anchor within you. After sufficient time has passed, and you believe you have fully accepted the situation for what it is, you will find yourself better equipped to decide exactly what steps you want to take to move forward.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Easy Do-It-Yourself
This card will tell you how things are now…


Garden of Mercy
Compassion
Overview
It is pretty obvious that there is a lot of suffering in the world around us. And only the coldest of people would fail to feel empathy for this suffering, or to desire to find a way—no matter how small—to relieve it, or better yet, to eradicate it altogether. This internal drive to soothe or eliminate obvious suffering is what most of us recognize as Compassion, the key skill taught in Garden of Mercy. Compassion is a powerful force that, according to the Dalai Lama, is actually a primary pathway to happiness.
Ironically, while most of us have no difficulty experiencing or expressing compassion for others, all too often we have difficulty cultivating any level of compassion for ourselves and our own suffering. This is the main focus of the teaching of Garden of Mercy.
Situation
You have been struggling with something in your life lately, and it’s making you a little crazy! Normally, when you see someone else struggling, you don’t seem to have any problem feeling compassion for him or her. But when you find yourself struggling, it’s a different story, isn’t it? You aren’t very kind to yourself, are you? In fact, you tend to berate yourself—beat yourself up, so to speak—in a manner which generates more internal pain and makes your suffering that much more intense. And that is the real challenge you are facing at present.
Recommendation
First and foremost, it’s important to be gentle with yourself, no matter what is going on in your life. But right now in particular, reconnecting to your Compassion will help ease the pain and suffering of your current situation, and will help you to unblock yourself from the solutions that will facilitate your way through your struggle.
Begin by feeling some gratitude for the fact that you have become aware of this issue. Even though you may be feeling emotional pain about your situation, if you can allow a little bit of gratitude to come into your heart, you will immediately begin opening the door to your Compassion. So, say out loud “Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention. Now that I am more fully are, I choose to begin bringing healing energy to my circumstances.” Empowering intentional statements like these have an amazing ability to invoke the entire loving machinery of the universe, so take advantage of that and watch how quickly you find resolution.
Sit quietly now, and imagine that your Suffering Self is a little child sitting right before you. You know this child better than anyone, so you know exactly what the child is feeling and experiencing. Invite the energy of the Ideal Parent into your own awareness, and allow your inner knowing of what it means to be an Ideal Parent to bring unconditional love to the child. Speak to the child the way you would want to have been addressed when you were little. Say the things that you know this child really needs to hear. Let him/her know that you are here to be fully supportive—without judgment or condition or restriction. Just listen to what the child has to say, and ask questions to help you understand exactly what is up for the child. As the child continues speaking, open your heart and your arms to welcome the child into your lap. Whatever the child is feeling, simply allow those feelings to come out on their own, and welcome them with as much love as you can.
After a while, the child’s pain will subside, and you can then address the subject of the life challenge that brought up all the pain in the first place. Find out what you can do as the Ideal Parent to help the child resolve the issue. Trust that a solution will appear in your awareness. Discuss your ideas with the child, until you come to a mutual understanding for the best approach that you can take together.
Before you release the child, remind him/her that you are always here to provide support, and that anything that s/he is feeling is perfectly okay, even if it feels painful. Express love and gratitude for the willingness of the child to open up to you. Express love and gratitude that you have reconnected to your own Compassion for yourself, and that you have found a way to move forward with your challenge.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Easy Do-It-For-You…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…


Destiny Point
Purpose
Overview
Everyone has a reason for being here in the physical world. The problem is that many of us aren’t really aware of our true Purpose. Instead, we follow our inner desires and passions (which are often influenced by ego-minds that want us to show up so as to conform to the expectations of the world), and end up in places and situations that we didn’t really have in mind. This is because we were following a default purpose instead of a true spiritual purpose.
In Destiny Point, we dive deep into the concept of Purpose and discover ways to know with conviction why we are really here. Then we take our understanding and apply it to all of our choices, agreements, and commitments going forward.
Situation
You will soon be faced with challenging circumstances that will lead you to question the reason for your being. You will find yourself wondering things like:
- Why is this happening to me (again)?
- How can life be so cruel?
- What possible meaning can there be in this?
These thoughts will compound the situation by making it difficult for you to deal with it in anything but a reactive approach. You will find yourself making choices automatically and unconsciously, without considering possible consequences, and this will make the situation even more chaotic.
Recommendation
Recognize and understand that the reaction described above is one that emanates from fear. All of the thoughts listed (and any other similar thoughts you might have) signal your retreat into self-protection mode, which means that you perceive some kind of risk or danger or threat. Indeed, there may be a real danger in the situation that arrives, so the first thing you must do is make sure you are actually safe. And if it turns out there is no real danger, then recognize that your reaction is triggered by an ego-mind that sees something in the situation that corresponds to a difficult or painful situation that happened in your past.
In either case, after the danger—real or imagined—has passed, and you are have regained your composure, proceed to reconnect to the truth of who you really are and why you are here. Remind yourself of your significance in the world by reciting these two affirmations repeatedly until they resonate within your heart and soul:
- I am a magnificent, divine, unlimited spiritual being of light and love.
- I am blessed with a powerful and sacred purpose, and I am fully aligned with that purpose in every moment.
When you feel the energy of these affirmations taking root within you, reconnect to the specifics of your Purpose, and remember your objective to align all of your thoughts, words, actions and emotions with that sacred purpose.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Assetizing…
This card will tell you how things are now…


Ayuwi Circle
Relationship
Overview
Imagine a world in which you are completely alone. No other people. No animals or plants. No other life of any kind. And no inanimate objects of any kind, either. Sounds pretty desolate, to be sure. And yet, if you think about it for a moment, you might ask yourself this question: in the absence of all these things, how would you know who YOU really are?
It is a perplexing question, one well worth considering, for it brings us all face-to-face with a head-slapping realization: that we need all those other things (people, animals, inanimate objects, and so on) in our lives so that we can relate to them. And by relating to all those entities, we get to experience ourselves for who we really are.
That is what Ayuwi Circle teaches us: that Relationship is the single most powerful tool available to us in the physical realm for fully expressing and experiencing who we really are. In other words, relationships—all relationships—are sacred!
Situation
You are struggling in your relationship with someone close to you. The two of you are having difficulty communicating, and some of your interactions have been devolving into confrontation, argument, or unpleasant finger-pointing. This is causing you a lot of personal discomfort and upset, and you are not sure what to do about it. Perhaps you are even entertaining thoughts of terminating the relationship altogether.
Recommendation
The first thing you must do is decide how important this relationship is to you; the more important it is, the greater your desire to find a path to mutual healing. One way to gauge the degree of importance it so notice how upset you are about the situation; the more pain you are feeling, the greater the likelihood that you value this relationship a lot.
Answer the following questions to help guide your next steps:
- How important is this relationship to me?
- What is it about the current circumstances that has me most upset?
- How have I contributed to the current situation?
- Am I trying to make myself right in this situation? Am I trying to make <other person> wrong in the process?
- Have I been trying to get <other person> to change who he/she is? Am I willing to live with the possibility that s/he might never change?
- What actions can I take now to create a space for healing to occur?
You might not like some of the answers you come up with, but at least you will have raised your Awareness about your own part in the situation. If you do value the relationship and wish to create healing with the other person, then you can set the following intention for yourself, and maybe even communicate it to your relationship partner:
I really value this relationship and I want to empower both of us to be fully active participants in it. I want to create space for both of us to be heard, no matter what might be going on for us. For my part, I commit to speaking my own truth without in any way holding you responsible for what I might be experiencing. I also commit to listening to your truth from my heart, without condition or judgment.
If you approach your relationship partner with this kind of intention, you will quickly begin the process of mutual healing.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Automated Modeling
This card will tell you how things are now…


Sacred Mirror Falls
Identity
Overview
People everywhere experience societal pressure to conform to what others expect of them. We are drilled from a very early age to be nice, to fit in, to put others’ needs ahead of our own, and so on. We are told not to rock the boat, not to make waves. And if by chance we fail to abide by all these rules, then we run the risk of losing someone’s disapproval, or maybe being shunned, or even worse.
Unfortunately, in order to meet the demands of these rules and regulations, we often end up disowning ourselves. We put on masks and costumes in order to appear publicly the way we believe others want to see us. In doing so, our true selves get lost, and we often end up feeling unhappy, disillusioned, depressed or angry.
In Sacred Mirror Falls, you are taken into a deep exploration of Identity—that is, the essence and meaning of who you really are—and how you can maintain your sovereignty and uniqueness while still honoring the protocols that society puts in place.
Situation
You are showing up in your life in ways that you believe other people want to experience you. This could manifest in a variety of ways:
- You may be putting aside your own wants and needs in order to accommodate the wants and needs of others.
- You may be saying (or doing) things in order to avoid confrontation or conflict, rather than speaking your genuine truth.
- You may be resorting to humor, perhaps even to excess, in order to get people to like you or approve of you.
- You may be adopting a perfectionist approach to your life out of some unconscious belief that it is not okay to make mistakes.
These strategies, and others like them, may actually work to some extent in getting the kind of approval or acknowledgment you are seeking. But they also have a negative impact on your self-worth, because deep down inside you know you are not being your authentic self, and one thing you want more than counterfeit approval or acknowledgment is to be seen and experienced for who you really are.
Recommendation
At the moment, you are being driven by unconscious beliefs about how life operates, so it is important to shed light on these beliefs so that you can understand and accept them for what they are. This will require some deep and tender introspection. You can begin by asking yourself questions like the following:
- What are my beliefs about how I’m supposed to show up in the world?
- What are my beliefs about how the world responds to me?
- How did I come to believe that I am obligated to please others or put my needs aside for them?
- What might happen if I spoke my truth in all situations, rather than trying to avoid conflict all the time?
- What would I lose if I stopped being the “joker” or “class clown“?
Bring compassion and forgiveness to yourself as you ask these questions. Try not to judge yourself in any way; simply observe your answers and notice how you feel about them.
In your soul, you know that it is possible to accommodate people’s wants and needs without compromising your own. It is possible to bring authentic humor into situations when it is called for. It is possible to speak your truth in virtually all situations while still honoring the truth of others. It is possible to aim for perfection while allowing mistakes to guide you.
You also know it is possible for YOU to show up vulnerably and authentically as the shining light you are—while still allowing space for other’s lights to shine just as brightly. So, the real questions you can ask to get you back onto your true path are questions like these:
- How can I show up in authentically in the world while honoring the authenticity of others?
- How can I honor the wants and needs of others without compromising my own?
- How can I speak my truth consistently and reduce the likelihood of conflict?
- How can I allow the gentle flow of my natural humor in a way that contributes to every situation?
You will notice that all these questions begin with How can I… When you ask questions in this powerful way, you are inviting the Universe to feed authentic answers to you through your Soul. So, when you ask them, make sure you maintain your awareness so that you’ll be ready when the answers appear.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Cash Pumping In…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…


Ayuwi Circle
Relationship
Overview
Imagine a world in which you are completely alone. No other people. No animals or plants. No other life of any kind. And no inanimate objects of any kind, either. Sounds pretty desolate, to be sure. And yet, if you think about it for a moment, you might ask yourself this question: in the absence of all these things, how would you know who YOU really are?
It is a perplexing question, one well worth considering, for it brings us all face-to-face with a head-slapping realization: that we need all those other things (people, animals, inanimate objects, and so on) in our lives so that we can relate to them. And by relating to all those entities, we get to experience ourselves for who we really are.
That is what Ayuwi Circle teaches us: that Relationship is the single most powerful tool available to us in the physical realm for fully expressing and experiencing who we really are. In other words, relationships—all relationships—are sacred!
Situation
You are headed for troubled waters in one of your closest relationships. The other person will engage in a seemingly trivial behavior that will trigger a reaction within you. However, in the interest of “keeping the peace”, you will minimize the event and decide not mention it. In the following days or weeks, the other person will engage in other “trivial” behaviors that you will also minimize and stay silent about. Eventually, the build up of energy from your silent reactions will reach a breaking point, and you will react in a much more emotional, possibly even explosive, way.
Recommendation
The scenario described above is not uncommon, especially in close or intimate relationships. The problem is, we value our primary relationships and we want them to go well, so we may find ourselves choosing not to mention these so-called “trivial” problems because we believe that we’ll be seen as petty or nagging.
Unfortunately, if you withhold the truth about the internal reaction you are experiencing because of something your partner does, you are inadvertently creating a barrier to closer communication with him/her. It may be a very small barrier at first, and your partner may not even notice. But when the next trigger or “ouch” occurs and you again choose to remain silent, then you are effectively adding another “brick” in the wall between you and your partner. As more and more “bricks” are added, you become more and more sensitive to the things that your partner does, and soon enough, you won’t be able to contain your reaction anymore, and you will will over-react in a way that makes no sense at all to your partner!
To avoid this kind of problem, it really helps to develop a relationship practice of Sharing Withholds. This is a highly conscious process that requires you to step through your fear and into your courage, in order to share with your partner what is going on for you. The process in NOT about shaming or blaming your partner for whatever s/he did, nor is it about trying to get him/her to change in any way. Rather, it is about honestly and vulnerably sharing your own reaction—using Self-Responsible First Person Communication. It goes like this:
- Connect to your inner compassion and unconditional love, and approach your partner. Say something like this: Partner, I have a withhold I’d like to share with you. Are you willing to hear it? If your partner says yes, then continue with the process; otherwise, ask for a time when s/he’d be willing to hear what you have to say and come back later.
- Continue with your own share: Thank you for being available for this. When you did <describe the behavior without judgment>, I found myself feeling triggered. I felt <describe what you were feeling> and I noticed that I began reacting internally the way I reacted as a child whenever <describe the childhood situation that caused you pain>. I know you are not my <parent/guardian/whoever may have caused this pain>, and I do not want to create distance from you. I just wanted to share this with you so that you understand what’s going on for me.
- Pause to allow your partner to digest what you have shared. Your partner should simply say, Thank you for sharing this with me. Would you like me to respond to your share?
- You can say yes or no, whatever seems true for you in the moment. This may or may not lead to further discussion with your partner.
- Close the process with a shared hug, as appropriate in your relationship.
If you and your partner practice this kind of sharing on a regular basis, you will find your relationship growing stronger by the day.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Awakening
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…


Alignment Ridge
Integrity
Overview
As we learn in Alignment Ridge, Integrity is a state of being in which our thoughts, words, actions and emotions are all in alignment. Being “in integrity” is a wonderful experience, and most of us know instinctively when we are there. But, as we also learn, Integrity is even more powerful when we synchronize our alignment with our sacred Purpose for being. When we create this kind of alignment, we feel inspired and motivated, perhaps even unstoppable!
No-one is “in integrity” 100% of the time; we all slip-up occasionally. Thankfully, one of the other tools we learn about in Alignment Ridge is Accountability, which enables us to perform some powerful introspection to find out how we got off track, and to create a new commitment to find our way back to our chosen path.
Situation
You will be faced with conditions and circumstances that will put at least two of your commitments in conflict with one another. You will find that you have to make choices that will pull you out of integrity with at least one of these commitments. Because you are a person who highly values integrity, this will cause you a great deal of inner turmoil; you will have difficulty making the necessary choices.
Recommendation
Whenever you have two or more commitments that come into conflict with each other, you are faced with a dilemma: Which commitment do I follow through on, and how do I minimize the damage when I break one of the others?
If you simply choose one commitment and forget about the other(s), then you risk damaging your relationship with the people involved in the broken commitments. This can get worse over time if you allow this sort of thing to happen repeatedly, because then people begin to see you as someone who doesn’t keep his/her word, who can’t be counted on, who “flakes out” and doesn’t follow through. This in turn leads to broken trust, which makes it very hard for people to stay in relationship with you. Most people will accept an apology once or twice, but after that, if there is no change in behavior, your fate is sealed with them.
So, what is the solution? Simple: Negotiation. This is a form of self-accountability because you are acknowledging that you somehow allowed two or more commitments to come into conflict with one another. You are taking responsibility for the choices you made to allow this to happen, and you are asking one or more of the people you committed to for permission to change the terms of the commitment(s).
You could approach the other party (or parties) and say something like the following:
I want to apologize to you because I’ve created a situation in which I have a conflict with the agreement I made with you. I will not be able to complete that commitment in the manner we agreed upon, and I would like to discuss with you how we might be able to re-structure the agreement in a mutually acceptable way.
The other person may not be in a position to modify the existing agreement, so you may have to try this approach with each of the other people involved. Whatever happens, make sure you approach each party with a genuine desire to find a mutually acceptable solution. Even if things don’t quite work out the way you want them to, at least you have made your best effort, preserved your integrity, and reduced the risk of broken trust with those people.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Igniting…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…


Base Camp
Awareness
Overview
When you are about to set out on a journey, before you can ever hope to know how to get where you want to go, you must first be very clear about where you are right now. In other words, you must make sure you know as much as possible about your current situation, conditions, environment and circumstances.
This is Awareness, the foundational skill of Life Mastery Way. Because it is so important, we learn about it first at our centering and grounding station, what we call Base Camp. Your objective is to bring Awareness into every aspect of your life and, as much as possible, keep it present in every moment. This means being aware of what is going on in your surroundings, and also within you—that is, your emotions, thoughts and sensations.
Situation
You are going to be experiencing a situation that could create some chaos in your life. If you are not prepared, you may find yourself shaken off-center, ungrounded, and possibly disconnected from who you really are. This could have unpleasant and undesirable consequences in all areas of your life.
Recommendation
No matter what might be happening in your life, the more Awareness you can bring to it all, the easier it is to deal with whatever shows up. That is because Awareness helps you to be more present—emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. As you deepen your practice of Awareness, you tend to invite calmness and serenity with you wherever you go, which means that you also tend to be less reactive when chaotic events show up.
In preparation for whatever might be headed your way, take time each day to pause whatever you are engaged in so that you can return to a full Awareness of What Is in the present moment:
- Notice without judgment what is going on in your surroundings. Are you indoors, or out in nature? What do you see, hear, taste, smell and feel? Are there other people or animals? What are they doing? What is the loudest sound you can hear? What is the quietest? Pay attention to as much detail as you can observe.
- Bring your attention within. What sensations are you feeling on and within your body? Are you feeling cold or warm? Are you hungry or thirsty?
- Notice the quality and intensity of your emotional energy. Identify your primary emotional state. Does your emotional state seem related to the physical sensations in your body?
- What thoughts are passing through your mind? Are they somewhat inert or passive thoughts, or do they seem to carry a lot of energy or urgency? Do you find yourself thinking judgmentally about your situation or about someone in your life?
Remember to remain the Observer in this practice, and release any judgments you may have about whatever is going on.
With practice, you will elevate your Awareness to a much higher level, you will find yourself much better equipped to face whatever situation shows up in your life, and you will discover that you will approach things with a lot more equanimity.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Focusing…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…


River of Grace
Flow
Overview
When we come into the physical world, we arrive in a state of sacred flow. We are excited and happy to be in our new surroundings, full of curiosity, and eager to venture onto the path of our adventures. We aren’t troubled by the past or worried about the future; we are simply present in the here-and-now, full of wonder for whatever shows up next.
But soon enough, life happens, and we find ourselves bound and restricted by ever more complicated rules and guidelines and demands. Soon enough, the sacred flow is nowhere to be found, and life becomes more of a struggle and challenge than an adventure.
When we visit River of Grace, we are gently and lovingly reminded of the natural state we arrived in. Here, we learn about Flow—the idea of presence in action—and how we can reclaim it and maintain it in our everyday life.
Situation
You are well aware that something important is going to take place in your life in the next few days or weeks. It is something you have been anticipating with a mixture of excitement and fear. You are worrying about possible negative consequences of this event’s arrival, and obsession with these fearful thoughts makes it difficult for you to stay focused on important things that need your attention right now.
Recommendation
The only two times when nothing can be done are Yesterday and Tomorrow. If you focus your attention on either of them, you are depriving yourself of the gift of Today.
It may well be true that something you have anticipated for a while is soon to appear, and it will bring with it whatever it brings. You can worry about how this event will show up, about how it will impact you, about all the things that could possibly go wrong, yes, you can do all that if you want to. But what is it costing you to concern yourself this way about something that has not yet happened? Wouldn’t you find your life less stressful if you could stop this worrisome future-think?
Bring yourself back to the present, to the here-and-now, and allow yourself to experience what is here right now. Here’s a little trick you can do to help you re-ground yourself:
- Imagine that the event you are anticipating has already arrived, and that everything about it turned out more or less as expected. Notice the relief you feel, and the immediate sense of relaxation that shows up as a result.
- Now, simply allow the event to be a wonderful memory in your mind, something that you can cherish any time you are feeling a little stressed out. Allow this memory to be so important to you that it seems almost like a peak experience.
- Bring the emotional energy if this experience back into the present moment, and notice how you are feeling right now.
Focus your attention on your renewed sense of aliveness, and let that inform all your thoughts, words and actions going forward. Anytime you find yourself slipping back into worry mode, come back to this exercise and let it ground you and bring you back to Flow.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
