Smile

Reach deep inside and discover the light that lies within. Find the person — or match — you seek in life by first finding yourself. Learn what you love about yourself, and then learn what you don’t; when you understand yourself completely, fall in love with the part that you have yet to adore.

As you reach your resonant frequency — by becoming the purest version of yourself, or the version of you that you were created to be — smile, for you’re living your purpose. You have a birthright to be you, not to apologize to anyone for being yourself, and to constantly evaluate if you are being true to who you are, at a core level. When you are being untrue to your heart, make simple shifts, rather than blaming yourself or feeling regret.

And, as you shift, smile. For, within your joy exists the opportunity to expand that which you feel and sustain a state of bliss.

We are on this planet with the opportunity to choose. In fact, even when we don’t feel we are choosing, we are choosing. Examples of this might include:

• When you are so excited about an opportunity in life that you can’t help but make it happen. The universe conforms to your every wish.
• When you are so frustrated about someone — or something — that you can’t help but notice it’s in your everyday environment, while just a few days ago, it was hardly (if at all) present in your life.
• When you are falling in love, you hardly notice any of the ‘bad’ traits you later learn someone possesses. Instead, you notice her finest qualities and focus upon them, thereby expanding them and making them omnipresent in your interactions. This isn’t to say your new love doesn’t have other qualities; this is to say what you focus upon, expands.

When we reflect back upon our lives, it become easy to recognize that our feeling — or vibration — is a message to our surroundings. And within this message, or with this communication, we are choosing a new reality.

How you feel is how you think, and how you think is how you feel; what you feel and think is what happens in your life, so therefore you are always choosing.

Can you think of an example of life happening ‘to you’? Maybe some traumatic incident, poor health, or something like that?

In these experiences, you may tend to believe the world is against you, although you may also realize that ‘when it rains, it pours’. So, even in these moments, what you focus upon expands. It’s important to understand the ‘funk’ you may be experiencing may be a wish from some other viewpoint of your life (dissatisfied with your journey, relationships, love life, career, body, etc.), and life intervenes to get your attention. The proof of this is when you shift your attitude and “get your head on straight” all things improve and get better.

I can’t help but think of when I was sick in the hospital. I spent the first 11 days thinking I was dying, and within that time period, they told me I probably wouldn’t wake up 8x. Then, I sent an inspirational email that ended up being passed around to about 12 million people, asking for prayers, intention, and support. In my email, I chose to believe, asked for a miracle, and regained my focus on what was thought to be ‘impossible’.

I chose differently.

And when I chose differently, I suddenly and radically — to the shock of all medical professionals at one of the best hospitals in the world — began to improve. 3 days later, I was discharged and on my way to recovery.

Instead of learning my lesson, I came home and became very angry. I resented my wife, the lost time with my 6 month old son, and the ileostomy bag hanging off my chest. I felt disgusting, and every night when I went to sleep, my ‘poop bag’ would explode on me and ulcerate my skin. My digestive juices were so acidic they literally dissolved my skin when a leak occurred (which was about every 45 minutes, so you can imagine how well I slept).

Then, when it got really tough — and the burns got really bad — my father came in and helped. It was a pretty disgusting job, but he plugged the hole, bandaged me up, and helped me feel that I was safe. I felt his love, as I feel love for my own son. It dawned on me that he would trade places with me in a heartbeat, and he so wished for the magic potion to help me get better. Love was that potion.

As soon as I returned to a state of love, my recovery process immediately improved. I was focused upon love — and life — and so I lived.

I reflect back on this rather-traumatic experience and have immense gratitude. I was making a choice the entire time, and life was showing my choices to me.

So, I’ll be the last to judge if you feel like the victim. And I certainly won’t say that if you’re perceiving suffering that it’s your fault or you should feel that way. However, I will say you get a choice, right now: what will you choose, from this point forward, with no obsession over your past decisions and circumstances?

I suggest you choose love, choose life, and choose bliss.

I’d choose it for you, but that’s not how the world works. You get the choice, and you have power over this moment in time. Choose connection. Choose to recognize how small you are compared to the ocean, a mountain, or even the sun. Choose to remember you have a place in this world, and your state of mind is your reality. You are always free, so long as you are free inside your own mind.

Today’s thought exercise:

What is happening right now that doesn’t feel like a choice? And what will you choose in its place?

I believe in you. I always have, and I always will. I love you.

Sent to you with love, honor, and in service,