‘That’ being a sense of insecurity. ‘This’ is the tendency I sometimes have to compare myself to others. Case in point; I was having dinner with a friend-a woman about my age, with whom I have much in common. Things were going well, the conversation was flowing, the food was wonderful…a good time was being had by both of us. Then I began looking around. When I did, I observed that almost every other table there, consisted of couples. And although I didn’t really think much about the compatibility of each pair, I did notice that almost everyone there (except for my friend and myself) seemed to be on a date. Why, I wonder, does the fact that I was there without a date bother me so much? I’m not really looking for a relationship, yet, here I was, taking what had been a perfectly nice dinner, and making it a little less nice by comparing myself to others. Anyway, now that I am home and relaxing, I recognize that every time I focus on what I think am missing in my life, instead of appreciating what I do have, I become a little off balance. I never realized being human would be so difficult.

This weekend was simply delightful! On Saturday I attended my monthly Meetup group. An incredible speaker, palm reader Diana Barnhill, shared her expertise with 23 eager, interested people. We all learned a lot. Later that afternoon, I attended a workshop on how to channel, with three other lucky participants. Then today, I went to my Metaphysical church and had great conversations and fellowship with many others. I love weekends! It is so nice to be able to connect with many people in so many different venues. Sometimes I think I am not reaching out and connecting with others, then something occurs, and I see that that I am doing just that. When I release the need to decide how I think something needs to look, I have learned another valuable lesson about going with the flow.

Today someone told me something about myself, and I had to take a long cold look at where I am. The comment made was objective-it dealt with how my actions were affecting others. They were 100% right. Once I got over my initial indignation, I recognized what a gift I had received. I am grateful for having received this wake-up call.

Every time I get complacent or egoistic, it seems like the Universe says ‘Oh Yeah?’, and pulls the rug from under me. I welcome this, because it makes me remember that I don’t have all the answers. This seems to be a common theme these days: being put in my place or having to reassess. Can’t think of any examples. I will say God has a great sense of humor. Even though I have no idea what the next chapter in my life will look like, I welcome the chaos, because without it there is no change…no transformation. After all the only thing certain is that nothing is certain. I like that- not knowing. It leaves the door open for a whole lot of change.

I’ve been finding myself in a less positive space lately. I’ve always struggled somewhat with maintaining a balanced state of mind (especially challenging when you’re a Libra, like myself). Anyway, I don’t really know exactly where this impatience comes from, but it’s there nevertheless. It rears its head when I least expect or welcome it. Often this seems to happen when I compare myself to another person. Even though Buddha said that the woods would be silent if every bird needed to sing the best, I find myself comparing myself to others more these days. Maybe it’s because I feel less accomplished than I want. Maybe it’s because I don’t know what I want (not necessarily a bad thing), maybe it’s because I just am. Anyway, the point is that when I get this way, I become impatient. I want change, but I am not sure how this change should look. It’s especially at times like this when I am tested about whether I believe that faith like water (slow and steady) is better than faith like fire (fast results, short effects). Anyway, I don’t know where this impatience is coming from, but it will be interesting to see where it ends up.

Gratitude-the tool for positive manifestation. There are several reasons for this. The first, is that gratitude puts you in a positive state of mind-making it easier to appreciate the little things. The next,is that gratitude has the tendency to make you more positive and, as a result, gives a sense of well being. When you feel good, you are more inclined to do things which allow the feeling to continue. You are also more inclined to see the blessing in things. Gratitude is one way of telling the Universe that you want more (of what is happening) to continue. Oprah Winfrey suggests making a list of at least three things you are grateful for each day. When you do this, it tends to make you more thankful for everything, and as a result, good things seem to happen more frequently.