Quote of the Day

This is shared courtesy of www.TheDailyLove.com

"Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, "This is what I need." It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment-not discouragement-you will find the strength there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege!! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures, followed by wreckage, were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You'll see this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes."  - Joseph Campbell

Follow Your Bliss!

Shared by Mastin from The Daily Love.com

“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you.  I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."  - Joseph Campbell

Chances are if you have a dream that you want to live you've never lived it before. Which means you don't have the feeling place or the experiential reference point for what living your dreams feels like.

Why do you think a guy like Donald Trump can go from such abundance, to bankrupt and then bounce back? Because his set point in his mind and body is one of abundance. Not only does he know what it feels like to have an abundant life, he has the knowledge it takes to create that kind of life.

The bottom line is that Trump could come back from being financially down and out because he knew it was possible, knew what his desired outcome felt like and knew what to do in order to make it happen.

The same kind of outcome is available to all of us. The main pattern I see, over and over again with many folks in the TDL Community, is that they don't have the belief that it is possible to live their dreams; they don't know what it feels like, and even if they believed and knew what it felt like, they don't know what action to take in order to make their dreams come true.

The potential, the possibility for living our dreams exists, but many of us just don't believe it. And that lack of belief stops us dead in our tracks. And if we do believe, perhaps we don't know what action to take - and that stops us dead in our tracks. Sometimes, especially if we are entrepreneurs (like I am), we don't know what the next three steps will be. But we know what the next step is, and we take it. There is a fine line between having a plan for success and allowing ourselves to be guided by The Uni-verse.

There is a sweet spot that exists between knowledge, belief, action and faith where we must live. A plan without faith doesn't carry the spiritual power with it. Faith without a plan isn't grounded enough to have any impact in the real world. And not believing in yourself or the Whispers of The Uni-verse means we are no longer creating our lives, but instead letting our circumstances dictate what is possible for us.

Since many of us have never lived our dreams, we MUST surround ourselves with people who have BEEN THERE BEFORE! They are our Wayshowers, our mentors and those who can help guide our path to our desired outcome. They know it's possible and can help us create a strategy and course of action that has the greatest chance of success.

Whatever you want to be, do or live, getting advice from people who excel in your field will be invaluable. People who haven't lived the dream don't know what is truly possible. They are where they are because they are who they are. That is true across the board. Life has infinite possibilities of outcomes; it is up to US to create the outcome. We take a massive leap towards success when we surround ourselves with people who have been there before and listen to what they have to say. It's important to still trust ourselves, but if we can't see exactly where we want to go - mentors and Wayshowers can help us get there.

The Joke's on Us!

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." - Woody Allen

We spend more of our lives trying to chase the proverbial carrot that is "right" around the corner. If we could just become a little more, be a little better, be just a little more perfect, we would be worthy enough to get this carrot.

The joke is on us.

Not only is there no carrot, the only thing we need lies within us. That is our own approval. Everything outside of that is outside of our control.

When we realize that we are enough, as is, we set ourselves free. When we no longer decide to settle for a quarter of the love, the joy and the awesomeness of life that we want and instead, raise our standards and declare ONLY THE BEST - can the best find us.

The Uni-verse is ready, willing and able to give us what our hearts desire. But, in order for this to happen, we have to own our worthiness - AS IS. And be willing and courageous enough to let go of all that resonates with LOVE, with JOY and with our growth.

One of my most favorite phrases that TDL has propagated out there in the internet is: What you put up with, you end up with.

I cannot tweet, email, write or remind myself of that enough. It's soooo true.

We are here to own our worthiness as is and then be courageous and receptive enough to allow all the good stuff in. This requires us to let go of fears of abandonment or rejection and of not belonging.

For us to live at our Highest Potential we must be willing to let go of that unworthy life and step into a life of knowing how love-able we are, right now.

There is nothing for us to chase TDL fam - we are already there. All we have to do is recognize our worth and then not settle.

 

It's Time To Let Go!

Taken from The Daily Love.com

"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's okay to let go.  True Love is letting go. Freedom and free will are the by-products of Love.

So many of us lead our lives holding on so tightly that nothing new, nothing miraculous can find us.

We have been taught for a very long time that holding on is what makes us strong, is what Love is made of and is the best answer.

But we are stepping into a new paradigm. We are stepping into a time where growth and Love lead the way. This means we are constantly changing, evolving, dying and being reborn.

What must come first is our own spiritual growth. This means listening to our intuition, trusting our gut and expressing ourselves authentically without hiding.

Holding on to a broken relationship stunts our growth. You don't get points from The Uni-verse for how much you suffer. The Uni-verse wants to deliver to you all that your heart desires.

Our relationships have been sent to teach us, to mold us and to shape us. When we seek Love, The Uni-verse sends us all kinds of relationships that bring to the surface all the blocks we have to Love.

We must learn to identify when the lesson is over. Relationships are containers for growth, not opportunities to suffer so we can prove how much we "love" someone. And a relationship isn't full if both people aren't in self-love and then sharing their love with each other from a place of overflow.

Some people are sent to us for quick lessons, some are sent to us for seasonal lessons and some are sent to us for a lesson we are to be taught over a lifetime.

Let us not try to learn and purify ourselves outside of Love, but instead invoke Love in our lives and recognize that the Love of The Uni-verse IS the purifier and the teacher. The face of Love may change, but the energy of Love of The Uni-verse never changes.

Let us no longer try to prove our Love by how much we can hold on to toxic situations and people, but rather by how much we are willing to let go once the lesson has been learned. There is no rulebook for this principle. This is something we must each learn individually and grow into.

The Uni-verse is setup so that we have free will to choose to connect to Love, or not. We must give ourselves this freedom as well as all the people in our lives.

For Love does not seek to control, but rather gives freedom.

Words to live by!

"This life has an infinite number of potentials for you; we live in a made to order Universe. Whatever you believe is possible for you and take consistent action upon is what becomes your reality. If you keep telling yourself that your dream isn't possible, you will come to find that you are absolutely right.   

But my friend, if you draw a line in the sand and tell the Universe that your dreams are a reality RIGHT NOW, and take action as if that were the case, you will come to find that you are absolutely right. The question is how long can you live in the fire of your dreams manifestation?
 
 The price you have to pay to live your dream is facing your deepest darkest fear and the reward you receive from this courageous act is the realization that your fear was an illusion and that your dreams were always real.
 
 So I ask you, my friend, are you willing to go there? Are you willing to sit in fire and sacrifice the comfort of your known world for the potential of something amazing, new and unknown? Don't you want to find out what's on the other side of your fear?
 
 Living in fear is so last season, if you want to be happy and really live your dream you have to take a stand and just put yourself out there. You might fail, yes indeed - but, you might, you just might succeed too! Don't you want to find out? Either way your life will never be the same... Can you handle it?"    



- Jackson Kiddard

Ask And It Shall Be Given!

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

"Don't listen to those who say, 'You're taking too big a chance.' Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today. Most important, don't listen when the little voice of fear inside you rears its ugly head and says. 'They're all smarter than you out there. They're more talented, they're taller, blonder, prettier, luckier, and they have connections. I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you'll be a person worthy of your own respects." - Neil Simon

We have to be able to communicate our needs if we want them to be met!  It's amazing to me how many folks I meet who are afraid, for many reasons, to not ask for what they want.

"Ask and it is given" is not just some silly phrase muttered by an ancient guy for his own good. It's a real spiritual law. Our minds get in the way.

First, we think we aren't worthy of what we are asking for. Then, we are  worried that if we really ask for what we want that those around us will abandon us and leave. We fear that we are not worthy, not loveable and we fear abandonment.

But I say that anyone who leaves you because you step into your power is a GOOD THING! We can only mold powerful lives if we are willing to keep a high standard around what we accept in our lives. To tolerate folks who only  "love" us when we fit the mold of how "they" want us to be isn't living an empowered life.

We must not lower ourselves to make others happy. No, instead we must step into our own large life and let go of whomever isn't cool with that.

You hear me!? LET THEM GO! If they aren't down for you to be empowered, there isn't enough room for them in your life, PERIOD. This isn't a selfish thing - this is a self-love thing. You want to rise? Surround yourself with people who have your best interest in mind! They will WANT to support you when you ask for what you want.

That's what you deserve. But you have to believe that you deserve it; ask for what you want and then be willing to let go of anyone who wants you to stay small. See yourself as large and step into your largeness. Celebrate those people in your life who celebrate your largeness. And celebrate their largeness, too!

The people who guilt trip you or threaten to leave you when you ask for what  you really want don't have your best interest in mind. They are threatened by your potential power and freedom. Free yourself from these chains! Let go of the heavy weight of those folks who can only see you as being small. Love  yourself enough to walk away and keep high standards so only those who are down for your largeness are in your life.

Throw off your fear, open up and boldly ask for what you want! And give  those you Love the room to do the same!

Look With The Eyes of Love!

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

"We see black and white
In between is what's right
Time fades all colors
And your darks will turn light..."
- Ofer Abraham Moses


What does that mean, exactly? I mean, it SOUNDS nice, right? "Look at them with the eyes of Love..."  Yeah, who WOULDN'T want that?  But I can hear the negative voice in my mind going, "Mastin, WTF does THAT mean?!"

To me, what it means is to see all communication as either an expression of, or a request for, Love. It also means remembering that someone's actions, statements, beliefs and actions have nothing to do with you, so to take anything personally is to take responsibility for the other person's perception.

If everything someone does is but a projection of their own world view and their action is either a request or an expression of giving Love, that makes it much easier to understand, talk to, engage with and resolve with people.

When someone calls you a name, it's his or her projection and underneath that is a deep and perhaps unconscious desire to just be Loved. When someone critiques you, it's a reflection of his or her own inner critic and you can simply take it as feedback instead of a judgment about your worth or abilities.

If you decide to open up to someone and reveal yourself and he or she doesn't like it, it does not define you, it's just more feedback.

Many times we are so afraid of losing someone or so desperate for approval that we alter ourselves to please other people and end up with major resentment and frustration. Then, we tend to externalize those feelings and then blame the other person or people for them - when, in reality, we've done it to ourself. The person we are really resentful toward is ourself; the person who is response-able for our circumstance is us, because we have chosen our way into this moment. Perhaps we have chosen to not reveal who we really are or what we really want. Perhaps we take on and assume the judgments of others and then act on them, slowly cutting off our own self-worth and heart. Perhaps we need Love so much that when someone touches where we are wounded just a little bit, we lash out at him or her for inflicting this hurt.

But you see, the only person who can inflict hurt, judgment and make it stick in our lives is us. Everything, EVERYTHING outside of ourselves is just INFORMATION. And WE, with the gift of FREE WILL, get to CHOOSE how we want to interpret the outside world and then what ACTION we will take as a result of our interpretations.

We should not fear opening up and being abandoned (this just means we are beginning to manifest an authentic life); no, we should fear closing down and never taking the "risk" to be vulnerable. Life is short - demand the most and the best from it, starting with the most and the best of yourself.

So, where are you asking for Love and blaming someone else? Where is someone else asking for Love and blaming you? What can you do today to take your guard down, not take things personally and send Love to yourself and those who are asking for it?

 

Take Back Your Power!

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

"Every great work, every great accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision, and often just before the big achievement comes apparent failure and discouragement.  The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy."  - Florence Scovel Shinn

You know, every day we get up and try to "make things happen" - especially with the Western mindset. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but many times we can push ourselves so hard that we are just tired, worn out and feeling empty.

This is not a thriving life.

As we step out further onto The Path, we Seekers are asking for more than just the rat race. We are sick and tired of letting "the economy", the "stock market", the "Government", the "Media" and all other kinds of things "out there" determine how we feel. None of these things are bad. But the way they are going has a lot of us asking, "There HAS to be a another way, right?"

Yes, the reality is, our global economy is in a certain state right now that doesn't promote the perception of widespread abundance. Yes, the stock market is up and down and all over the place. Yes, it feels like many folks in the Government are fighting just to fight instead of having our best interest in mind. Yes, the Media seems to be full of all kinds of negative things to say about the world.

But what of it?

Everything that is happening in the world today is a reflection of our collective inner state of being. We are not victims to these things or anything "out there". And problems "out there" cannot be initially solved "out there", but "in here". Which means that rules, laws, regulations and more policies cannot change the world. The only thing that can change the world is each and every one of us waking up and changing ourselves.

It's so easy to get caught in the outward drama of the world, because it helps us stay distracted from ourselves. But, it is ourselves, far more than the world, which we must change.

How do we do that? By remembering that the outside world of form is but an affect of our inner world of thought. To change the forms we see, we must change our thoughts about the form.

Which is why these questions from "A Course In Miracles" are so powerful. Instead of asking, "What is wrong with the world today? What can I make happen today? How can I just get by?", let us ask these questions of The Uni-verse. Let us open up and allow ourselves to be guided, to let Love from within make new decision, new choices and, as a result, create new outcomes.

Let us step out of blaming all the things in life that can be blamed, and take responsibility. If you are concerned about the economy, make it your intention to buck the trend and be a living example of abundance in the midst of "lack".  If you're mad at the Government, get out and do something about it. Be a Love Activist. Try to make change at a local level, one step at a time. If the news is soooo depressing, TURN IT OFF!

I haven't watched "the News" since 2004. Instead of watching the effects, I decided to make new causes - to let my Internal Guide guide me, instead of the fear-fueled media.

The economy, the Government and the media will change WHEN WE DO. The people in these fields are doing the best they know how to do with what they have. We need an economy and we need you to participate in turning it around. We need Government and we need you to participate and take responsibility for your role in electing the people that get elected and being active citizens in the process. The media is run by numbers, if we demand different content, we will get different content.

We, the People, truly have the power and it is up to us to realize it.

Do not let your day start by being ruled by these outside forces. Let your answers come from within and know that you have the power to change the world. I am just one guy and I have co-created TDL to reach almost 600,000 people from Starbucks. You can do this and more! But you have to realize and act on your power. Step out of blame and step into responsibility.

And remember, as John Lennon said, "A dream we dream together is reality".

So, instead of letting the outside world run your life, ask The Uni-verse, "Where would You have me go? What would You have me do? What would You have me say, and to whom?"

 

Vulnerability is Strength!

Taken from The Daily Love.com

"When we learn to trust the Universe, we shall be happy, prosperous and well."  - Ernest Holmes


One of the most common patterns I see in people is the fear of rejection and the need for approval of other's.  This is cool and all, but it is not healthy.

Basically people are walking around saying, "How can I change myself so that I can please you." And if they can't change themselves to please other people, they assume that something must be wrong with them.

I'm here to suggest another way.

Instead of trying to change yourself to please others and then taking rejection as a sign that something is wrong with you, let's step into our authentic power and allow ourselves to be ourselves with no apologies.

Instead of seeing rejection as some kind of personal proclamation of our self-worth that is determined from someone else, let's just see rejection as nature's natural sifting device that helps us stay away from people we do not vibrate with and attract those that do.

A positively charged magnet is not attracted to another positively charged magnet. It's nothing personal, the energetics just don't match. That doesn't mean that those magnets can't find their match. It would be silly for those magnets to assume that just because they keep meeting other positively charged magnets that there is no match for them.

See your life this way. Rejection does not define you any more than a positively charged magnet repelling another positively charged magnet defines them. It's just an energetic reality, not a definition of who you are.

So in this, vulnerability is strength, because when you are being yourself, a vulnerable and authentic human being, you will attract those you are an energetic match to whom you really are and repel those that aren't. Don't take this process personally - it's just a part of life.

You Complete You!

Taken from The Daily Love.com

"The bad news: there is no key to the universe. The good news: it was never locked."  - Swami Beyondananda

Love is complete. Your soulmate doesn't "complete you" - your soulmate is a reflection of you. Be whole, not a half.

So many people run around looking for someone "to complete them". But the thing is, everyone is a fallible human being, so no one can complete you and ever live up to your expectations.

 

That is why it is so important to keep our eyes on The Uni-verse and Its Love for us. The Love of The Uni-verse never changes. Other people change, other people mess up, but The Uni-verse is constantly on our side, Loving us and showing us how we can grow even closer to happiness and Love.

Our aim should be to not seek and chase for Love, but to BE IT. This means self-love first. True Love isn't setting HUGE expectations on someone else that they always make you happy and fulfilled.

True Love is being so full of self-love and the Love of The Uni-verse that you have more than enough Love to hold your own darkness and light and the darkness and light of the other people. True Love is radical acceptance of yourself and the person you are in a relationship with.

Looking for someone to complete you is to deny your innate potential to be an already full and integrated being. You are giving someone else a power that only you have.

The Jerry McGuire type of Love can happen, but it's a setup for all kinds of dysfunction. We have no idea how they did after the movie ended.

Also, making someone else the source of your fulfillment means that if they are not having a good day, acting in integrity or desiring to grow, then you are stuck. It's a giant anchor holding you down.

In relationship, we either grow together or we grow apart. The Uni-verse is constantly guiding us to greater and greater awareness or ourselves and as a result our Highest Potential. Relationships are containers for growth, not containers for proving how much pain you can endure for someone else.

When we make someone else the only thing that completes us, we can easily blame them, but the blame belongs on us for giving them that power in the first place.

Let's take our power back and take our eyes off of ourselves and our partners and remember the Source from which we came and which we are all apart of right now. We are a drop of water coming home to the beautiful ocean from which we came. In doing do, we can merge into a wave and do far more connected to this Source than we ever could do alone or with another person.

  

An Invitation to Abundance

Taken from the Daily Love.com

"Of all the liars in the world sometimes the worst are our own fears." - Rudyard Kipling

Abundance is something that many of us do not have a proper perspective on. We are on The Path; we desire abundance yet it eludes us. Many of you have heard that money is the root of all evil.

The actual translation from the original text is "the worship of money is the root of all evil".

That's a big difference.

Money is just energy in physical form. Energy is what all of creation is made of. To hate money is to hate energy and to hate energy is to hate existence.

We just need to get our priorities straight. Money is not a cause; money is an effect. The cause of money in a spiritual life is The Uni-verse.

A MAJOR shift happens when we take our eyes off of the current situation of "limited finances" and focus on the abundance of the Source. I know that in this moment that doesn't pay your bills.

But, over time, if you keep it up, your life will change.

I went from a guy with a dream to inspire people with NO idea of how or what to do and just took direction from The Uni-verse, one day at a time. Plus, I don't do what I do for the money. Sure, I like making a living, but I have and would do what I do for free. I did TDL for almost 4 years EVERYDAY before making a dime from it.

Now, thankfully, it sustains me and I am beyond grateful. But that wasn't always the case.

But what I can tell you is that from the beginning of this journey I have placed all my problems, desires and needs at the feet of The Uni-verse and turned it all over. It was scary as hell, but I never went without. I had to make some very gnarly sacrifices, like living in an 8x8 room for a year that was only big enough for my bed (lol). But, I had belief and passion and most importantly - TRUST.

I believed and trusted that no problem or bill was too big for The Uni-verse. I also followed my own intuition above what ANYONE else told me. I also still hold the belief that the nature of The Uni-verse is abundance and so that is my natural birthright, I just have to allow it.

Money is not evil, but loving money more than you love The Uni-verse and yourself sets you up for an insane ride. Money comes and goes like the tide, but you will always have you and the Love of the Uni-verse.

When we take our love off of money and place it where it should be, we begin to thrive in ways we never knew possible. It may be scary at first, but over time this will and does work.

The Path is a leap of faith. We must have faith that as we are walking our Path that even our bills will be taken care of, sometimes through effort and hard work and sometimes through Grace.

Let us take our self-worth and feelings of security off of something that always changes (how much money we have at the moment in cash or in stock) and put our faith in something that never changes, the Love of the Living Uni-verse that we came from and live within.

Money is a tool. Money is energy in physical form. The highest form of energy in The Uni-verse is Love; put your faith and eyes towards that, take actions towards that, and money will follow in perfect time.

Your job is to trust and make the first move. 

Dating at the level of self esteem

"Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve. I was determined to try. I was determined to try because, frankly, my life was such a mess at this point, what - what was the worst that could happen? Everyone turn me down? Big deal."  - J.K. Rowling

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

We date at the level of our self-esteem. Your relationship is a direct reflection of your own self-love and self-worth.

A lot of The Daily Love Seekers have written in saying that they are in a relationship (dating, marriage, etc.) with someone who they really are into, but they are not getting their needs met. They keep asking me how they have to change to keep the relationship going.

Pause.

Let me be clear - the only way we should have to change is to be more authentically ourselves. This means compromise, of course, but this also means not abandoning ourselves to please another.

The common question seems to be: "How can I change myself so this will work", and the response is "Don't change yourself - BE YOURSELF".

Many Seekers are terrified of being alone and of the unknown. And I understand, it can be hellishly uncomfortable in there. But if your needs aren't being met in a relationship, it's not the other persons fault. The responsibility is on you to communicate your needs and to choose someone who honors you, cherishes you and loves you.

If you don't love, honor and cherish yourself, you will settle and your needs won't get met.

To be a Seeker we must get comfortable with the unknown and with letting go of toxic relationships. We must step into the Faith that we can create the life we truly desire, not as we change to please others, but as we step more into our own authentic selves. This means communicating our needs, having higher standards around the people we are dating and stepping into our own self-love and self-care.

Of course in any relationship we have to compromise and find a middle ground. This is part of being in relationship. But this message is aimed at the thousands of folks who have written in asking how they can change to please other people. Please yourself first and then you will attract someone who is pleased with you.

This means embracing the unknown and being okay with letting go of something or someone that isn't meeting your needs.

Ask yourself this question: "If I REALLY loved myself, what would I do?"

 

Rise Above Your Circumstances

"Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present - and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future." - Audrey Hepburn

More often than not it's the excuse rather than the circumstance that holds us back.  We love to talk about all the reasons why we can't do something. I don't have enough money, time, energy, education, vision, talent, etc. We tell ourselves these things over and over again and the truth is that our stories about why we can't have something become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's true, if you don't MAKE TIME, you won't have enough.  If you think that it takes a TON of money to start taking action towards your dream, then you won't start.  If you think you need the seal of approval from a fancy school before you can start, then you won't.

Unless you want to be a doctor, astronaut or dentist, chances are you don't need the perfect education to start.  How many billionaires are college dropouts? Many of them didn't even go to high school.  Success in life doesn't come from collecting outer seals of approval from other people and institutions. It comes from our own inner seal of approval and recognizing we already have the approval of The Uni-verse.

You don't need that much money to get started. I have been writing TDL for years and with almost zero investment. I didn't have to raise hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. I didn't need to mortgage anything. I didn't need the perfect marketing plan or social media strategy. I just started and I write every day.

My first email in 2007 was sent to 20 people. Now emails go out to over 60,000 people daily. My first tweet was sent to nobody, now the tweets reach almost 500,000 people daily.

I feel deeply that the Uni-verse doesn't reward us with things by giving us the money and perfect amount of time first. Rather, we are rewarded for the things we would do for free and make time for anyways.  That is what we are really passionate about. When it doesn't matter if we get paid or not, we know we are following our bliss.

So realize that it is truly the excuses that are holding you back. You can take a small step today - and one more tomorrow and one more the next day. When we rid ourselves of the excuses, we are then faced with the only option: taking action. And taking action brings up our fears, so we must consciously plan on acting in the face of our fears and letting our excuses go.

Your circumstances are not holding you back, your excuses are. Let's drop our excuses, face our fears and take one step today.  What one step can you take today? Let me know: WhatImGoingThru@TheDailyLove.com

Love,

Mastin

Do You Want Love?!

"I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want." - Muhammad Ali

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

You want love, right? You want to both love and be loved. You want intimacy and chemistry. You want to feel free.

I have a question for you.

Do you have the courage to let love in?

This is not as easy as it sounds. On the surface, the answer we all want to give is: YES, OF COURSE I DO!

But let's unpack the question and see what it takes to have this courageous.

To let Love in mean be willing to lose it. To let Love in means being willing to be hurt again. To let over in means facing the wounds and hurts from the past that will come up and having the courage to let your new awareness transform those past wounds into wisdom.

Fear and the ego are funny things. They like to keep us pining for Love when we don't seem to have it, and then afraid when we seem to have it. It's a zero sum game. We can't win. We either feel empty because we don't feel like we have Love or we feel terrified because we feel like we are at risk of losing Love.

So, what is the solution? To remember, time and time again, that other people are not the source of our Love. The Uni-verse fills us from within.
We fill ourselves by loving ourselves. We fill ourselves by taking care of ourselves. We fill ourselves by choosing to surround ourselves with loving people and keeping high standards around who we give the privilege of our time to. We also fill ourselves by getting our eyes off of ourselves and being of service to others. We reach out a helping hand to those in need with no expectation of return. We fill ourselves by doing yoga, through meditation and through eating a healthy and alkaline diet.

A relationship does not guarantee happiness and being single doesn't mean you're miserable. To find happiness either being single or being with someone, we must remember that we are imperfect people. And anyone we choose as our partner is also imperfect. When we let go of the illusion that we need to be perfect before we are worthy of being in a relationship and also let go of the illusion that whoever we are in relationship is perfect, we take a step towards happiness.

We begin to realize that relationships are opportunities for us to not only have a partner, but to grow Spiritually. It's a container built for us to face our fears, to let down our guard and to realize our own imperfection, and as a result, cultivate humility. Relationships also teach us about our own self-loathing. And when we can come face to face with our self-loathing, we have the opportunity through our awareness and self-love to recognize it, learn from it and then let it go. By doing this we grow closer to Love, both self-love and Love between ourself and our partner.

So, knowing this, do you have the courage to let Love in?

Let me know: WhatImGoingThru@TheDailyLove.com

Lots of love,

Mastin

 

A Loving Mirror

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure." - Norman Vincent Peale

Instead of trying to change someone to be the way you want him or her to be, here's a new idea: send them love.

Love them, just as they are with no changes and just send them love; see them happy, healthy and living a vibrant life.

We step out of love and into fear when we try to make people conform to our ideal of what we think they should be.

This is out of alignment for two reasons:

1. We are not unconditionally loving someone when we expect him or her to be any other way than they are.
2. We are not unconditionally loving ourselves if we are consciously choosing to be in a relationship with someone who isn't meeting our needs.

It is faaaaar easier to choose someone who you are compatible with from the beginning, than to choose to be in relationship with someone who's potential you see, but who you want to change.

When we choose to only love someone when they meet our expectations, we are letting our ego run the show. We have no idea what The Uni-verse is calling this person to do or become. If we simply put them in the box of our expectations, we are limiting their growth and closing down intimacy in our relationship with this person. A person doesn't feel loved if they are constantly being judged and weighed and measured.

We are not here to judge and value the people in our lives, we are here to be a loving mirror, to show up and to support them in their growth and journey. A person feels loved when they are seen and understood for who they are RIGHT NOW. Sure, we all have growth points, but that's not the point.

The point is, when we talk about creating rich, fulfilling and loving relationships, when expectations and judgments creep in, we have gone down the path of the ego.

Let us release our expectations of others and let us release the expectations on ourselves. Let us love ourselves and the people in our lives right where we are. We are growing daily; let us love the process instead of trying to only love a specific outcome that may or may not be in for our greatest good.

And, let us choose to be in relationships with people we are compatible with from the beginning, instead of trying to change people to be compatible with us.

Love,

Mastin

 

Accept our Worth

"I shut my eyes in order to see."  - Paul Gauguin

I have strongly desired to dive deeper with The Daily Love community, which is why I setup a new email address WhatImGoingThru@TheDailyLove.com  - this email is an opportunity for TDL readers to send us an email and let go of what they are going through in their lives. I personally read each email and am doing my best to respond to every email. We have received hundreds and hundreds of emails since this option was made available a couple days ago. It's so beautiful to see what everyone is going through within the community.

There is a common theme that I am seeing throughout many of the responses that is very prevalent in my life as well.

There is this notion that we feel we have to prove our love to other people.

One of the themes of my life right now is, "Love is not asking us to prove our worth, but to accept it."

Many have written in who have said they had chosen to be in a relationship with someone who THEY KNEW from the beginning wasn't the right person for them. Yet, they proceeded anyway, many times, to try to change the other person. I've been there. It's a part of the journey we all must go through to be able to pick people, over and over again, wounding ourselves because we are trying to prove our love.

The bottom line is this: when we know and see our own value, we will attract people who do, too.

So, let us set a new intention for our relationships: to honor and cherish ourselves and to no longer prove our worth, but accept it. Let's step into letting go of people who do not see our worth, not because we are selfish, but because we now love ourselves enough to let go.

Do you have the courage to truly accept your worth today? In doing so, who would you let go of? And who would you welcome in?

Lots of love,

Mastin

 

Live from the Inside Out!

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived."  - Captain Jean-Luc Picard played by Patrick Stewart

Living a happy life is the promise of The Uni-verse. But we are happy, not because of our outer circumstances, no, but because of what we bring to the outer circumstances of our lives.

The call of our generation is to reverse our lives. To live from the inside out. We lose power when we let the outside world determine our level of happiness. This is not to say that the events of the outside do not matter, on the contrary. We are being asked to see that our outer world is but a mere reflection of our inner world. As we begin to realize this, we are seeing that the quality of our lives is a direct reflection of what we bring to it.

Everything that is going on "out there" is the effect of what is going on "in here", both in our individual lives, but also from a larger perspective. The state of our world is the state of our collective minds.

So, the best way to change the world is to change our thoughts about the world. This goes for our relationships, our jobs, our creative expressions and so on. We must bring what we feel is lacking to all areas of our lives.

This means if we don't feel love in our lives, we must bring the love.

This means if we are choosing to be in a relationship with someone who we know isn't the right person for us, we must leave and work on ourselves.

This means that instead of reacting out of fear and letting the outer world be more powerful, we take a step back, take a deep breath and start to mold the outer world as one of abundance, rather than lack, and one of Love instead of fear.

This means that when we see other people doing things we do not approve of, that instead of judging them, we simply see their fearful behavior as a request for Love. And we answer their request and send them Love.

When we send Love in response to fear, we begin to change the world, one person and one decision at a time.

As John Lennon said, "A dream we dream together is reality". I see a world where we are all living in the knowledge that we are co-creators of our lives and none of us buy into the belief that we are victims. I dream of a world where we answer every cry for Love with Love instead of fear and hate. I dream of a world where we all know we are sculptors of our lives rather than passive observers.

Let us start in this moment by sending Love to our own fears by embracing them. Let us have compassion for others, too. Let us make healthy choices to step away from relationships that do not serve our happiness. Let us bring to the world what we feel is missing from it.

Love is contagious. Be Love today. We need you to shine. As you shine, others will join you, and as we all begin to wake up to Love and to shine, we will be dreaming this dream of Love together and it will manifest on Earth.

How can you be Love today?

Love,

Mastin

 

You Don't Always Need to be Right...

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

"Don't take anything personally. Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves."   - Don Miguel Ruiz

One of the greatest obstacles to our growth is pride. The need to be right is one of the largest blocks to Love, to Growth and to intimacy.

This need is based in fear and is of the ego. One of my favorite philosophers, Krishnamurti, says the key to happiness is "not minding what happens."

This isn't to say that we shouldn't care or that we should be lazy. On the contrary, this is a call to care, to give it our all, but to surrender the outcome.

Our pride wants us to be right. Our pride wants us to be first. Our pride cannot admit when we're wrong. Our pride is terrified of opening up and loving. Our pride loves to be in control.

If we instead look at life, not from a place of lack that requires us to control our limited resources, but as a journey into dissolving our fears, we can let go. And as Krishnamurti says, not mind what happens.

We can detach from the outcome. We cannot take insults personally. We cannot let how much money we do or do not have define us. We cannot let success define us. We can let go of the need of the approval of other people. When we don't mind what happens, we can step into simply being ourselves and sharing.

We can detach from the fearful need to be right and instead step into an intention and the action of sharing. We begin to value growth over protection of our beliefs. We are now willing to drop a belief when we come across a deeper truth.

We see the value in not needing to defend our position, but understand our fellow Seekers and share from a place of feeling, rather than report from a place of judgment.

We are being called to grow. We are asking for insight, so we must be willing to admit when we are wrong and flow with the lessons of The Uni-verse. Let us see ourselves as being sharpened so that we may cut through the B/S of life.

Soooooooooooo....

Is there any place in your life where you just really don't want to admit you are wrong? Are you willing to let it go for the sake of greater things that are waiting to enter your life?

What can you let go of today? What can you admit to? What do you want to no longer let control you?

Step into love and kindness by giving up the need to be right.

You might hate me now for saying this, but later you'll thank me. It feels sooo good to let it go.

Love,

Mastin

 

Remember Your Power!

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave." - Mary Tyler Moore

We must remember our power. We are stronger than our circumstances. We can influence and transcend our environment. Our natural ability to reason plus the intuition we were born with are invaluable tools that can help to bring us out of undesired circumstances.

One major issue that holds a lot of Seekers back is the belief that they are not worthy to receive something better. Before anything of greater value can come into our lives we must begin to believe we are worthy of people, circumstances and a life that has greater value. If we are keeping ourselves stuck in an abusive or toxic relationship, what will begin to change that is our thoughts and belief that we are worthy of happiness within our relationships.

We if we lack the financial abundance we desire, the belief that we are more valuable is core to changing our situation. Once we have the thoughts and beliefs of greater self-esteem, then we can begin to take action.

Action from this place may look like breaking up with a person we are in a toxic relationship with. It may look like continuing our education to learn greater skills that will set us free financially. Or it might look like simply charging more for our products or services because we have come to realize how valuable they truly are.

Action might also look like moving, either to a new part of town, the state or to a whole new city or country.

It is in our thoughts of unworthiness that we create a life that is out of harmony with what we truly desire. Slowly, day by day, as we change our thoughts from thoughts of unworthiness to worthiness, from doubting our dreams and intuition to believing, we will begin to take subtle different actions. These actions will eventually add up one at a time until we don't even recognize our life anymore.

We all want something to change in our lives. We want to grow. We want to evolve. We want love. We desire abundance.

We must begin by acknowledging our worth. We are not worthy because of a degree, an honor or a grade. We are all equally worthy to live this kind of elevated lifestyle because we are all Loved children of The Uni-verse. We must each realize that we are already worthy and then begin to take action from this place of already being worthy, while at the same time honor the worthiness of everyone else we meet.

We are powerful beings. Let us step into that power today and declare our worthiness as already existing.

Are you feeling worthy today?

Love,

Mastin

 

An Anitdote to Fear!

"The last, if not the greatest, of the human freedoms: to choose their own attitude in any given circumstance." - Bruno Bettelheim

Fear is a toxic and very fast spread virus of the mind. As you get deeper and deeper on The Path, you will become more sensitive to other people and their state of being. Your job is to stay aware of your being and notice when you have taken on the thoughts and emotions of others.

Have you ever noticed that you could be having a perfectly fine day and then you spend time with someone whom you love and care for, who may be in a negative and fearful place, and after you're done hanging out with them, YOU feel negative and fearful?

That's what I call catching the fear bug. You have let the energy and thoughts of another become your own. And doesn't it almost feel unfair, because they didn't even ask? They just seemed to dump all over you.

But you see, as you become more aware, as you step into your own power, this will not change the negativity of the world or of others. In fact, you will become vastly more aware of other people's fear and negativity. But do not fret.

Your job is to become strong enough to see and experience the fear and negativity of others and, instead of resisting it and calling it "evil" or "dark", to understand it is simply a deep yearning for love. When you understand and know that another's fearful and negative state of being is nothing more than a call for love, you no longer have to assume their fear or let it affect you. You can simply understand what they are really looking for and send Love instead of fear back to them.

When we understand that the fear and negativity in others is a call for Love, we inoculate ourselves against the fear bug. We have an anti-fear-otic that, through our awareness, transforms fear into Love within us. This way, we can purge our bodies of the fear of others and actually respond from a place that not only helps to elevate and heal them, but also elevates and heals us in the process.

So inoculate yourself from fear today by understanding the negativity and fear of others is simply a call for Love and decide that you are going to be the person to answer that call today.

Much love,

Mastin