Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing sounds easy until you think about how much conditioning has taken place in your life, and how many of your current thoughts were influenced by geography, the religious beliefs of your ancestors, the color of your skin, the shape of your eyes, the political orientation of your parents, your size, your gender, the schools that were selected for you, and the vocation of your great-grandparents, to list only some possibilities. You showed up here as a tiny infant capable of an infinite number of potentialities. Many of your choices remain unexplored because of a hopefully well-intentioned conditioning program designed to make you fit the culture of your caretakers. You probably had next to no opportunity to disagree with the cultural and societal arrangements made for your life.

There may have been some adults who encouraged you to have an open mind, but if you’re honest with yourself, you know that your philosophy of life, your religious beliefs, your manner of dress, and your language are a function of what your tribe (and its heritage) determined was right for you. If you made any fuss about going against this preordained conditioning, you probably heard even stronger voices insisting that you get back in line and do things the way they have “always been done.” Fitting in superseded having a mind that was open to new ideas.

If your parents were Jewish, it’s unlikely that you were raised to honor and respect the Muslim religion, and vice versa. If both your parents were Republicans, it’s improbable that you heard the virtues of the Democratic Party extolled. Whatever the reasons our ancestors may have had for not having open minds, it’s true that they inhabited a much less populated world than we do. In today’s overpopulated world, we simply cannot continue to live with those old styles of closed mindedness. I urge you to open your mind to all possibilities, to resist any efforts to be pigeonholed, and to refuse to allow pessimism into your consciousness. Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing seems to me to be one of the most basic principles that you can adopt to contribute to individual and world peace.

Summer is an ideal time to slow down and reflect on all the gifts of a simpler, more peaceful life. Your personal choices can help you align with the tranquil nature of the Tao. For example, why not opt to do without some of the new technology at least some of the time. You can choose to write by hand and feel your connection to your Source as the words flow through your heart onto the paper. You can choose to walk rather than drive as often as possible. You can choose to compute numbers without a calculator, and remember phone numbers as a way of personalizing your connections. Choose to swim or ride a bike for exercise in lieu of using machines.

As part of your simplification routine, you can eliminate some laborsaving devices. Maybe not having email or downloading music is your way of symbolically staying close to the land. You can know what the modern world offers in the way of information and technology, while at the same time being aware of the areas of your life where you want to keep things basic. Recognize when you’re feeling the effects of information overload, too many gadgets, or overcomplication, and switch to an environment that pleases you for whatever amount of time you choose. Simplifying your life can be a way to heighten your awareness of your connection to the Tao.

Here are three suggestions for getting back-to-basics:

Practice radical appreciation – Joyfully engage with the things you take for granted such as your home, garden, meals, clothes, family, and friends. Choose to pay attention by giving thanks and loving appreciation.

See paradise all around you – Rethink your belief that you must travel, be worldly, and experience distant lands and people to have a fulfilling life. Change your view to see the pleasure in what you have, where you’re located, and who you are. Find joy and solace in the simple and cultivate your utopia by feeling the Tao in every cubic inch of space.

Devote a day to food – Appreciate the mysterious intelligence that created food for your health and pleasure, and say a prayer with every connection to it. Going grocery shopping, cooking, planning a dinner, eating at a restaurant, grabbing a snack, or having some popcorn at the movies are just some of the opportunities to consciously explore the food connections that are part of the endless abundant cycle of the Tao.

Consider that all human beings have within them the same essence of consciousness, and that the process of creativity and genius are attributes of human consciousness. Therefore, genius is a potential that lives within you and every other human being. Many people never get acquainted with this inner world of their personal genius. I’d like you to consider what may seem like a radical idea: Genius can show up in as many ways as there are human beings.

With this idea in mind, remember that every person you interact with should feel the inner glow that comes from being appreciated, particularly for the ways in which they express their creativity. Appreciating the genius in others attracts high levels of competent energy to you. By seeing and celebrating another’s creative genius, you open a channel within yourself for receiving creative energy from your Divine Source.

My son, Sands, has a unique way of riding a surfboard unlike everyone around him in the ocean. I encourage him to do what comes naturally and express it with pride. He also created a unique language for communication, similar to my brother David, which others in the family and close personal acquaintances emulate. Creating a language that others use is the work of a genius! I tell Sands this, and my brother, too, whose unique language I’ve spoken for over half a century. My daughter Skye has a distinctive one-of-a-kind singing voice that I love. I tell her so, and point out that it’s an expression of her genius.

All of my children, and yours as well (including the child within you) have unparalleled and unique characteristics in many of the ways they express themselves. From the way that they dress, to the little tattoo, to their signature, to their mannerisms, to their unmatched personality quirks, you can appreciate their genius. Notice and appreciate your genius, too. When you’re just like everybody else, you’ve nothing to offer other than your conformity.

Take the road of seeing the face of God in everyone you encounter. Look for something to appreciate in others, and be willing to communicate it to them and anyone who’s willing to listen. When you see this quality in others, you’ll soon begin to realize that this potential is available to all of humanity. This obviously includes you. Recognizing genius in yourself is an integral part of the dynamic. As Dr. David Hawkins tells us in Power vs. Force:  “Until one acknowledges the genius within oneself, one will have great difficulty recognizing it in others.”

Comfort and luxury are usually the chief requirements of life for your ego—its top priorities tend to be accumulations, achievements, and the approval of others. Consider a new alternative for what makes you happy, one that soars beyond the superficial demands of the ego. The only thing that you need for this state of joy is something to be passionate about. Something that speaks only to you…that gets you tingling inside with excitement…that will not go away…that radiates within you…that sends you into a frenzy of good feeling because it makes you feel purposeful and connected to your Source of being. It doesn’t matter what it is. The only requirement is that you feel intensely about it and are willing to act with enthusiasm, awakening the sleeping God within you.

As Abraham Maslow once observed about self-actualizing people: “They must be what they can be.” Take a moment to think about what you can be, and contrast that with what you’ve chosen to be up until now. So what can you be? Perhaps you have an idea you’ve been carrying around with you for decades, such as a book that you know needs to be written, which only you have the wisdom to create. Can you get so passionate about realizing your vision that you activate the presence of God to assist you in co-creating your dreams? Remember, the mere presence of that passion, nothing more, is evidence that the energy of the Divine creating spirit is alive and well in you. That’s all you need—just the willingness to allow your passion to speak up and awaken from its dormant status. You don’t have to know how to activate your long-buried enthusiasm or precisely what to focus on. What you need is the willingness to say yes to signals from within you, the God within you that wants to be active.

I’ve always treasured the observations of the famous Greek scholar Nikos Kazantzakis, who is one of my favorite authors. In page after page of his wonderful novel Zorba the Greek, Kazantzakis details what a truly passionate man looks, sounds, and feels like, as the title character simply lives his bliss and feels the presence of God in every waking moment. And I’ve had these words by Kazantzakis posted in my home for more than a decade now, yet I still read and contemplate them every day: “By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”

Here’s a concept you won’t want to forget: passion always trumps excuses. Keep in mind that when I use the word passion, I’m not referring to the romantic notions that this concept conjures. Instead, I’m equating it to a vigorous kind of enthusiasm that you feel deep within you and that isn’t easy to explain or define. This kind of passion propels you in a direction that seems motivated by a force beyond your control. It’s the inner excitement of being on the right path, doing what feels good to you, and what you know you were meant to do.

It’s my contention that the mere presence of passion within you is all you need to fulfill your dreams. Remember that God is in no need of excuses, ever. The creative Divine Spirit is able to manifest anything it contemplates, and you and I are the results of its contemplating itself into material form. Thus, when we have an emotional reaction that feels like overwhelming passion for what we’re contemplating, we’re experiencing the God within us…and nothing can hold us back.

Passion is a feeling that tells you: This is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in my way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.

When you’re enthusiastic, nothing seems difficult. When you have passion, there are no risks: family dramas become meaningless, money isn’t an issue, you know that you have the strength and the smarts, and the rules laid down by others have no bearing on you whatsoever. That’s because you’re answering your calling—and the you who is doing the answering is the highest part of you, or the God within.

The presence of passion within you is the greatest gift you can receive. And when it’s aligned with Spirit, treat it as a miracle, doing everything you can to hold on to it. I feel this way about the creation of my books. I’ve learned over the years that when I go to that place of passion within me, there’s no force in the universe that can interfere with my completing a project. My life is consumed by the passion I feel for what I’m doing—yet I know that as long as I feel this, I’m experiencing the God within.

My enthusiasm seems to cause my world to endlessly offer me cooperative, co-creating experiences. I’m willing and I’m eager, and not just about my writing—I feel the same way about staying in shape, enjoying my family, giving a lecture, or whatever it may be. If you have passion, there is no need for excuses, because your enthusiasm will trump any negative reasoning you might come up with. Enthusiasm makes excuses a nonissue. When you seek the presence of your creative Spirit and are filled with passion about virtually everything you undertake, you’ll successfully remove the roadblocks from your life and enjoy the active presence of Spirit.

There’s nothing natural about living a life filled with stress and anxiety, having feelings of despair or depression, and needing pills to tranquilize yourself. Agitated thoughts that produce high blood pressure, a nervous stomach, persistent feelings of discomfort, an inability to relax or sleep, and frequent displays of displeasure and outrage are violating your natural state. Believe it or not, you have the power to create the naturally stress-free and tranquil life you desire. You can utilize this power to attract frustration or joy, anxiety or peace. So if it’s natural to have feelings of well-being, why is it that we seem to experience so much “unwellness” and tension?

The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking. That pesky ego is at work when you’re experiencing stress or anxiety. We speak of stress as if it were present in the world as something that attacks us. But the stress in your body is rarely the result of external forces or entities attacking you; it’s the result of the weakened connection to Source caused by the belief that ego is who you are. You are peace and joy, but you’ve allowed your ego to dominate your life. Here’s a short list of stress-inducing thoughts that originate in your ego self: It’s more important to be right than to be happy; Winning is the only thing so when you lose, you should be stressed; Your reputation is more important that your relationship with your Source; Success is measured in dollars rather than in feeling happy and content; Being superior to others is more important than being kind to others.

You aren’t your work, your accomplishments, your possessions, your home, your family…your anything. You’re a creation of your Source, dressed in a physical human body intended to experience and enjoy life on Earth. This is the intention that you want to bring to the presence of stress—your personal intention to be tranquil. Stress and anxiety are choices that we make, ways that we choose to process events. Each day we have hundreds of opportunities to shift our thoughts and align with the Source that intended us for lives of joy and peace.

The amazing wisdom of the Tao offers us principles for parenting if we look at the way Lao-tzu describes our power to lead by example. The 65th verse of the Tao Te Ching advises us to live by staying simple-hearted, “Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature.” Being open to the guidance of your own true nature will free others to do the same. And “when they know they do not know, people can find their own way.” Parenting shouldn’t mean imposing rules or impressing others with your supposed intelligence and superiority. Refuse to convey superiority. Show others how to live from the Tao perspective by being willing to admit that you don’t know what’s best for them, nor do you even know with any degree of certainty how your own life should go. Let other people know that you’re willing to ask for guidance. Show them that you’re not “in charge,” either of them or of what happens to you. Allow them to see a man or woman who’s humble, lives peacefully in the cycles of life, and stays simple-hearted.

Be willing to say to those in your charge, “I don’t know.” This phrase is a symbol of strength rather than weakness, so use it freely. When you teach others to do the same, they’ll begin to allow their highest selves to be guided by the Great Way. Keep in mind that nature never forces anything to grow, but is silently and invisibly ever present. Do the same to the best of your ability by not forcing yourself and your ideas on anyone (with sensible precautions for those too young or too immature to take on adult responsibilities).

Practice keeping your life simple and uncomplicated. Model this behavior for those you feel obliged to lead. Don’t “pole-vault over mouse turds”—dispose of those rodent droppings with a simple tissue and dump them into the garbage! Keep it simple. Spend a day without the label of “parent” or “boss” and put yourself on an equal footing with those who usually look to you for direction. Think of yourself as one of those you lead—in fact, pretend that you are him or her for a day. I’ve found that when I practice this with my children, they respond according to their best and true nature. For example, when I simply say to my teenage daughter, “I know that you’re perfectly capable of being responsible and sensible while I’m out of town, and I love that about you,” I remove the “authoritarian parent” label and treat her the way I’d want to be treated. When this becomes the norm, it’s obvious that Lao-tzu is correct: “The simplest pattern is the clearest” when showing people the way to their own true nature.

Have you noticed that the more you hurry, the less you get done? For example, try rushing through a shower after heavy exercise and notice how your body continues to sweat profusely. Then try showering your mind down, relaxing, and allowing the water to course over you—and notice how your body feels clean without sweating in precisely the same amount of time that you used in your hurry-up mode. Even if your ego doesn’t grasp it, this is the truth: Everything is on time under heaven’s net.

Today after rereading the 73rd verse of the Tao Te Ching, I decided to go for a one-hour “nonaction” walk to observe how everything under the net of heaven is working perfectly. I noticed the silent sun nourishing the land and providing light for us all. I stepped back and watched bees flitting back and forth between flowers, and stood there amazed by the invisible life force growing green bananas in a clump at the top of a tree. In all, I was just an observer of the Divine, invisible, silent, effortless Tao at work—realizing that while it’s in no hurry, it’s still getting everything done on time. Those green bananas will ripen in due course; but today I just loved the energy that creates, nourishes, and prepares them to appear for my breakfast someday!

Today I urge you to take a similar nonaction walk for an hour, and note how nothing slips through the net of heaven. It is heaven’s way to conquer without striving…It does not hurry, yet it completes everything on time.

You’ve often heard me say that the Tao is filled with paradox. In the 59th verse of the Tao Te Ching, for example, we find what looks like the paradoxical idea that a no-limits life begins with self-control, moderation, and thrift. Living in thrift and moderation means being in harmony with the world through your generous nature. Be one who accumulates a warehouse full of virtue by living in accordance with the Tao. When virtue is what you have to give away, you’ll naturally be more moderate, humble, and less demanding. Feel joyful knowing that the example you’re setting is helping others make the right choices, too. Practice living without limits by gathering virtue.

For years I practiced gathering virtue without realizing it. I sent hundreds of thousands of books to individuals and organizations at my own expense, getting into the habit of beginning each day with this act of love. I spent a great deal of time giving away much of what I earned, almost all of it anonymously. I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I was doing was accumulating virtue, or what I facetiously call “God points.”

I then found that not all of my life was to be peaks and mountaintops. Yet when I succeeded in getting out from under what felt like a mountain, I was virtually unscathed. This is because I was so deeply rooted and firmly planted in the Tao that my original vision was to be a lasting one, impervious to external circumstances.

Change the way you look at your life by moderating your ego. See yourself as a being who gives rather than collects, and live on what you need rather than practicing conspicuous consumption. You’ll begin to see that your purpose has more to do with Tao consciousness than ego directives. When you moderate your demands and use only what you and your family require, you’ll gather virtue points by serving rather than accumulating. Lao-tzu reminds us that this is “the secret of long life and lasting vision.”

Make a commitment to gather five virtue points today. Imagine how the Divine Source must be operating in order to maintain the creation cycles of life, and do five things that match up to it. Pick up a piece of someone else’s trash, which is an example of excess; anonymously give a gift to someone in need; or perform any other actions that help you accumulate virtue and remain deeply rooted in the Tao.

I have observed that society in general always seems to honor its living conformists and its dead troublemakers. All those who have ever made a difference in any profession have listened to the inner music they heard and proceeded independent of the opinions of others. That was certainly true of one of my favorite nonconformists, Henry David Thoreau, who walked to the beat of a different drum and followed the beliefs of his conscience. He knew that the beat you hear within yourself is your connection to your soul’s purpose.

My own eight children all march to the beat of their inner music, and in some cases it is definitely far away from what I hear. I’ve had to honor their instincts and their choices, and merely guided them out of harm’s way until they could be their own guides. I have always marched to my own beat, and most frequently it was inconsistent not only with my own immediate family, but with my culture as well. I could never find it in my heart to preach to my listeners to do it my way, when I’ve always pretty much ignored what was being preached to me.

An important teacher of mine, Abraham Maslow, always counseled that it was necessary for the self-actualized individual to be “independent of the good opinion of others.” Walk with Thoreau in your own mind. Listen to the voice you hear, and the drumbeat only you can feel, and honor it, while honoring it in those you love as well. It is the ultimate act of unconditional love. In being true to your inner calling, you may ruffle some feathers but you’ll have the peace and satisfaction of knowing that you fulfilled your divine purpose and encouraged others to do the same. Another brilliant nonconformist, Dr. Seuss, is credited with saying, “Be what you are and say what you feel, because those who will mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” 

The willingness and ability to live fully in the now eludes many people. While eating your appetizer, don’t be concerned with dessert. While reading a book, notice where your thoughts are. While on vacation, be there instead of thinking about what should have been done and what has to be done when returning home. Don’t let the elusive present moment get used up by thoughts that aren’t in the here and now.

There’s an irony to this habit of letting your mind drift to other times and other places. You can only drift off in the now, because now is all you ever get. So drifting off is a way of using up your present moments. You do indeed have a past, but not now! And, yes, you have a future, but not now! You can consume your now with thoughts of “then” and “maybe,” but that will keep you from the inner peace you could experience.

Do God’s other creatures waste the present in thoughts of the past and future? A beaver only does beaver, and he does it right in the moment. He doesn’t spend his days wishing he were a young beaver again, or ruminating over the fact that his beaver siblings receive more attention, or his father beaver ran off with a younger beaver when he was growing up. He’s always in the now. Here are lessons for us about enjoying the present moment rather than using it up consumed with guilt over the past or worry about the future.

To practice living in the moment, stop and take notice of all that’s in your immediate space—the people, animals, plants, the sky, buildings, everything. Stay in the present by meditating and getting closer to the ultimate now…God. The truth is that you can only come to know God when you give up the past and the future in your mind and merge totally into the now, because God is always here now.

A recent caller to my radio show began by telling me what a terrible guy he was— addicted to procrastination. He said he was paralyzed and couldn’t do any of the things he wanted to do. Of course, I immediately thought, don’t believe everything you think! Isn’t procrastination really just an illusion? You can stop putting pressure on yourself. You don’t have to do any of those things you’re worried about. The evidence is that you haven’t done them and you’re still here, aren’t you?  If you really wanted to do something, wouldn’t you simply do it? Procrastination is one of those excuses, born of fear, that we use to keep ourselves stuck.     

Let’s say that you now want to push past the illusion and get started. First, forgive yourself for doubting that you can achieve whatever you set out to accomplish. Give thanks for the wonderful gifts you are now ready to share with the world. According to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, acknowledged as one of the true giants of creativity, the way to get something done is to start it. The act of beginning an enterprise, no matter how small a beginning it is, ignites power. We’ve all had a brush or two with procrastination, but the story doesn’t end there. I have used such helpful tactics as putting a date on the calendar when my task will be completed, “assigning” myself to sit at my desk until the job is done, even checking myself into a hotel room and not allowing myself to leave until I’ve made the progress I need to make. Just getting started generates an energy and excitement that helps push you forward.

It also helps to surround yourself with people who are doers. Being around people who are active and engaged and willing to boldly begin generates energy, too. Stop the excuses you have come to rely on to explain why you don’t get the really important things accomplished in your life. The main reason you haven’t completed what you say you would like to is that you have refused to begin. All the excuses are just that, excuses. In your heart you know this is true.

Today is my 70th birthday and I’m going to Disneyland! Actually, I’ve been invited to a special preview at Pixar Studios—to see a short film based on a program I did some years ago and featuring an animated version of myself. The film will be shown as an introduction to Toy Story 3, and it will be as thrilling for me at 70 as it would have been for the boy I was at 7. We never outgrow our need for dreams.

You are the age you are—period. Yet those thoughts swirling around inside and outside of your head are ageless. You’re the perfect age right here in this moment, and your body can be no other age than what it is. Identify yourself in what Lao-tzu calls “the subtle realm,” or the invisible domain of Spirit, with thoughts like these: I am ageless, and I can train my body to work with me in achieving anything I can conceive of in my mind. There’s nothing about my age today that prohibits me from fulfilling my dreams.

I’ve had two very persuasive callings in my life. One occurred when I knew I’d be pursuing a college education regardless of being the oldest freshman on campus. Age was of no consequence to me. In fact, the eight years I spent as a student on several college campuses to earn my three academic degrees were accomplished in part because I was so unconcerned about my age. I was living my passion, and everything else took a backseat to that vision.

My second huge calling came at the age of 65 years and one day. Compelled to detach myself from worldly possessions accumulated over many decades, I disposed of clothes, furniture, books, records, awards, photographs, and memorabilia of all description. Studying and living the Tao Te Ching, I wrote an essay on each of the 81 verses in a book titled Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life. That I might be too old simply never occurred to me.

As I look back on my life, I realize that I’ve made many smaller decisions where I refused to consider age as a factor. At the age of 42, I decided to become a long-distance runner and ran the original Greek marathon. At the age of 17, I decided to write my first novel; and at the age of 9, I faked my age to get a paper route (10 was the “required” age).

Now, at the age of 70, I can’t conceive of thinking that I’m too old to do what I love. I continue to live life by activating my particular dharma or destiny and invite my ageless mind to keep on participating in my life.

It’s my contention that the universe not only will, but must provide you with what you conceive of. So if you complain about what’s missing from your life—including the money that you believe to be in short supply—you’ll be offered experiences that match that energy. When you say, “I love my job, but I’ll never get rich at it,” you’re aligning with a frequency that will give you what you think. This is why, I believe, the rich often get richer . . . it’s certainly been true for me since I left poverty behind me some 60 years ago.

By staying focused on what I intend to create, by believing that the universe is all-providing, and by knowing that I’m worthy of the unlimited beneficence of the Source of being, I just keep attracting prosperity to me. And by being unattached to what shows up, which means that I have no desire for more and more, I’m able to let it go easily. What remains a mystery to so many remains a simple truth to me.     

Stay in a state of gratitude, and let the awesome yet unexplainable Tao proceed to do nothing and yet leave nothing undone. Rather than asking for more—which implies shortages and, therefore, creates a vibrational match to more shortages—focus on what you have and how thankful you are for everything that has shown up in your life.

To that end, keep in mind a “happiness index” that was recently taken for different countries around the world. It turns out that Nigeria, which is one of the poorest of nations, with the least modern of conveniences, came in at number one for reports of happiness among the people there. The U.S. ranked 46 out of 50, despite having one of the highest standards of living in the world. Apparently, the emphasis in Nigeria isn’t on the mantra of the ego, which demands more, more, more. Emphasizing needing more has built within it the idea of shortage, lack, and I don’t have enough. Consequently, when you think more, you become a vibrational match to experiencing more shortage in your life . . . like it or not!

Affirm: I am aligned with my Source in all of my thoughts, and with God, all things are possible.

Ask yourself what you have to give away. Keeping in mind that your purpose is always about giving, loving, and serving, the question of what you will be able to give away as your purposeful mission becomes paramount. It doesn’t take any extra special intelligence to know this simple truth: You cannot give away what you don’t have. If you don’t have any money, obviously you can’t give money away. The same principle applies to your contribution to the spiritual revolution that is now taking place in our world.

If you don’t have love, harmony, and peace within you, then you can’t contribute these qualities. If you have anxiety, stress, fear, anger, and tension within, that is all that you will be able to give away. We cannot go on thinking in divisive ways if we want to bring about unity on our planet. We cannot go on thinking in militant ways if we want to bring peace to our world. We cannot go on thinking in hateful ways if we want to bring love to our world.

Each thought that develops into a helping, purposeful, loving act is your contribution. It matters not what others say or do—they have their own destinies to fulfill. When someone sends you criticism or hate, you can respond only with what you have inside. If harmony and peace reside within because that is how you have chosen to think, then that is what you will have to give away. In that moment you have made a difference. You have manifested a miracle into the world.

The words of Michael Jackson, “We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a better world so let’s start giving,” reflect a truly spiritual message.

You truly are the world, and your thoughts do make all the difference. Have reverence for your mind. Treat your invisible inner reality with sacred blissful appreciation, and know that you are capable of bringing about miracles. Every thought you have of love and harmony is one more atom aligning itself toward the spiritual revolution that is occurring even as you read these words. Increasingly, people are believing in their own divinity and trusting in the divine wisdom that created them. More and more people are using their invisible thoughts to visualize a better, safer, cleaner, more responsible, more loving world. We all make a difference. Our presence here is a divine necessity. Perfect and purposeful. We will see a miracle-laden world when we embrace the responsibility for creating it.

I consider Ralph Waldo Emerson one of my greatest teachers even though he passed on well over a century ago. Emerson was the founder of the Transcendental movement in America; his philosophy emphasized the all-pervading spirit of the universe, wherein God existed everywhere. To understand the greatness of Emerson, it is important to remember that during his period of history, spiritual guidance was the exclusive domain of the established religions. Emerson was challenging the dogma and rhetoric of traditional religion. In perhaps his best-known and most frequently quoted essay, “Self-Reliance,” this provocative American author examined the basic tenets of what it means to be your own person. I can still remember the impact that the essays “Self-Reliance” and “On the Necessity of Civil Disobedience”—by Emerson’s contemporary Henry David Thoreau—had on me when I was a seventeen-year-old high school student.

People who truly understand what is meant by self-reliance know they must live their lives by ethics rather than rules. The rules are not reasons to live a certain way. It is the integrity of your own mind that you must first consult if you are ever to experience this quality of self-reliance. This lesson applies to all areas of your life, from making decisions for yourself about how you spend your free time, to how you will dress, to what you will eat, to how you will raise your children. Don’t let the voices within you grow faint and inaudible in favor of that societal conspiracy. Be yourself and run your life by what you know to be right and in harmony with your spiritual essence. That is, by the integrity of your own mind.

Be yourself, respect yourself, and create a harmonious relationship between the integrity of your own mind and your daily conduct. See the unfolding of God in everyone and in all life. Know that all are equal in the invisible realm of the spirit.

Another of my great teachers, from my own lifetime, was Abraham Maslow who cautioned us to be “independent of the good opinion of others.” If we are true to the divine wisdom within, we’ll be ready to follow our path and make our unique contribution to the world.

How may I serve others so that they may have what I desire? The answer to this seemingly contradictory question holds the key to authentic inner peace. Many callers to my radio show are struggling with fears, worries, and concerns that stem, as they see it, from unfulfilled desires. I usually suggest that they try wanting something more for others than they want it for themselves. The love required to do this turns their focus away from the constant turmoil of the ego and instead opens real possibilities for living their highest and most joyful purpose.

Supportiveness, or service to others, is one of the four cardinal virtues described by Lao-tzu. When you extend yourself in a spirit of giving, helping, or loving, you act as God acts. Imagine shifting your attention off of yourself and asking the universal mind: How may I serve? When you do so, the message you are sending is: I’m not thinking about myself and what I can or can’t have. Your attention is on making someone else feel better.

Anytime you’re supportive of others, you automatically remove ego from the picture. And with no ego, you go from edging God out to being more like God. Practice giving and serving without expectation of reward (or even a thank-you)—let your reward be spiritual fulfillment. This is what Kahlil Gibran meant when he wrote in The Prophet: “There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.”

The greatest joy comes from giving and serving. That’s much better than the discomfort and distress of focusing exclusively on yourself and what’s in it for you. When you make the shift to supporting others in your life, without expecting anything in return, you’ll think less about what you want and find comfort and joy in the act of giving and serving. This giving, loving, serving person is the real you.

Do you blame other people and circumstances for keeping you from achieving the level of success, happiness, and health you’d like to enjoy? Blaming others for deficiencies or any of the conditions of your life keeps you from fulfilling your own highest destiny. Everyone in life does exactly what they know how to do given the conditions of their lives. That’s the way I’ve chosen to look at the story of my life. My mother had three small children under the age of four; and an alcoholic husband who walked away without ever providing any support. She placed one of my brothers and me in a series of foster homes, while my other brother lived with my grandmother until I was ten years old. This is not a story of pity or blame; it’s precisely what had to take place in order for me to learn about self-reliance firsthand. Because I’ve lived self-reliance, and then gone on to teach it to millions of people, I don’t find fault with anyone for any of the conditions of my life. I see all of my early-childhood experiences as necessary gifts, even the ones laced with pain and sadness.

Be willing to accept total responsibility for every facet of your own life. You didn’t inherit your personality traits from anyone in the past—you’ve repeatedly chosen them, even though you may be unaware of how or why. If you’re shy, loud, fearful, assertive, loving, hateful, kind, or cruel, learn to say: This is what I’ve chosen for myself up until now.

Similarly, if you find yourself mired in debt, languishing in poverty, wasting away in an unfulfilling career, or wilting in an unsatisfying relationship—whatever the current conditions of your life, ask yourself if you’re willing to take responsibility for them. I know this appears difficult. You indeed may have suffered at the hands of uneducated, poorly informed, badly addicted people. It was not your fault.

Even as we recognize this, I urge you to accept, without guilt, that everything that has shown up in your life has value equal to your assuming responsibility for its existence. There’s something for you to learn in any difficulty. Be willing to say, “Thank you, God, for the experiences I’ve lived through” on a daily basis. Look for the blessing in all situations, and remind yourself that you’re no longer a child, but a fully functioning adult willing to accept the responsibility that will now give you control of your destiny.

Perhaps the greatest lessons of my life have revolved around the slogan of the recovery movement: “Let Go and Let God”—a notion that involves relinquishing ego’s attachment to, or fear of, something. The single most pronounced attachment for most of us during the morning of our lives is the attachment to being right! There’s nothing ego loves more than to be right, which makes it an important and satisfying attachment to practice letting go of.

I seriously doubt that there’s anyone reading this who hasn’t engaged in arguing about trivial matters that turned into disagreements, which had a net effect of following a road of self-righteous anger. And all of it probably seemed to be for no reason other than the need, the desire, to be right! Eventually we may look back with wistful amusement, realizing now that our fear of actually being wrong was so strong then that another person’s opinion could energize this unwanted feeling. Ego’s strategy was to be right no matter what, a highly successful maneuver that effectively distracted us from genuine purpose. Letting go of an attachment to being right can be a fairly simple exercise.

So how can you choose to let go and let God, in a quest to eliminate an attachment to being right?  You can handle it with these simple words spoken to another—You’re right about that. It stems from a soulful decision you make that when given the choice between being right and being kind—you’ll always choose to be kind. Saying “you’re right about that” will gradually open the entry point to a road that leads through letting go and letting God to experiencing a more significant life.

Part of the meaning we gain by letting go is a movement toward real contentment. Most stress in our lives results from hanging on to beliefs that keep us striving for more, because ego stubbornly believes we need it. When we make the shift away from attachment, the influence of our ego fades. We replace attachment with contentment. Chasing and striving—and then becoming attached to what we chased after—is a source of anxiety that feeds Ambition, but it won’t satisfy the need for Meaning at our soul level.

There’s a wonderful Turkish proverb that succinctly relates a message underlying both the movie version of The Shift and the book of the same name. It says, “No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back.” It doesn’t matter how long we’ve allowed ourselves to travel the road of our false self. We know when it isn’t leading us to a sense of purpose and significance, and we can admit we’re on the wrong path. The awareness that our life lacks Meaning is more than enough evidence that it’s time to make a U-turn.

In The Shift movie, I relate how I found the road that resonated with the calling of my soul. I did so by listening to what I was feeling deep within me, rather than what my ego was saying to me about how to capitalize on my fame by writing books to make more money. By trusting my inner excitement, I was able to make a big shift in my life, a real U-turn, away from writing about psychology to writing about living life from a spiritual orientation. That shift away from the Ambition of ego, which tried to control my writing and speaking career, put me on the path of Meaning.

When you turn away from ego control, what is it that you trust to guide you? There are three markers to look for on this road—trust in yourself, trust in others, and trust in the Source of being. When you trust in yourself, you listen to your soul speak and hear what your intuition or the “voice within” is saying. When you trust in others, you practice noninterference and free yourself from trying to control others who have their own inner voice to follow. When you trust in the Source of being, you trust the mystery of creation. The universal Source of all creation, invisible though it may be, guides you just as it guided your development in the womb. When you trust in Divine intelligence, you cooperate and invite the shift to Meaning.

One of my personal heroes is Mother Teresa, who spent her later years teaching and serving others. She once remarked, “Love cannot remain by itself—it has no meaning. Love must be put into action, and that action is service.” These words have inspired me and have helped me make the shift away from my ego’s Ambitions for serving myself toward a life dominated by service to others. Today my life is almost 100 percent devoted to service in one way or another. Each day begins with a prayer of “Thank you,” which are the first words out of my mouth as I awaken. This is to keep me in a state of gratitude for all that I receive, as well as for the opportunity to live my days in service to others.

Before beginning my day, I make every effort to do something for someone else. Since I receive volumes of mail, I often send off a book or a DVD of The Shift, a set of CDs, or a DVD of a PBS special—something that I feel will brighten the day of a total stranger somewhere in the world. As I affix the postage, I take great joy in knowing that a surprise package of love in action will send a message to someone that there are people out there who care, and I am one of them.

Often I call someone I’ve been told is grieving the loss of a loved one or is ill in a hospital setting. Other times some money in an envelope goes to one of the many people who serve in my community. If I’m on the road in a hotel, I seek out the maids who serve me so anonymously and surprise them with a gift of some unexpected cash. The things I’m doing aren’t reported here for recognition, but to provide real-life examples of how shifting from Ambition to Meaning affects daily life. The ego seeks recognition, but in a life of Meaning, loving action is its own reward. I’m reminded of Ram Dass, who told me that his years of putting his ego aside and being of service to his mother, father, and stepmother; as well as to people with AIDS and cancer, were the most fulfilling and meaningful times in his life. There are a multitude of ways in which we can give. It doesn’t really matter what we do—the point is to get in the habit of replacing our attention on ourselves with attention toward others and take loving action.

In the movie version of The Shift, I have a brief discussion with several of the characters about the following key concept: Everything in the material world must be like what it came from, including each and every one of us. In the film I refer to a slice of apple pie on a plate, asking, “What is that one piece of pie like?” The obvious answer is that it’s like apple pie because it must be like what it came from. This is a familiar concept if we think of blood being drawn for a diagnostic test. A small syringe of blood provides medical practitioners with information about the entire supply of the person it was drawn from. Why? Because the sample must be like what it came from.

I extend this logic to myself and you as well. Since I didn’t come from my parents, it isn’t a logical conclusion to state that I must be like they are. Since I didn’t come from my culture, my religion, or anything in this world, it isn’t necessarily so that I must be the same as my surroundings or my society. But since I did come from an invisible energy Source that some call God, or Tao, or Divine mind, then I must be like what I came from. My conclusion about my origination is that I came from Spirit, and my true essence is that I am what I came from. I am a Divine piece of God. I am first and always a spiritual being inextricably connected to my Source of being.

Understanding the answer to Where did I come from? involves, more than anything else, attempting to live from a perspective that’s in rapport with our original nature. We must become more like the spiritual nature of our origin. By recognizing the expression of Divine consciousness that is our physical being, we in turn make the choice of how to express that Divine spirit.

I’ve been engaged for many years in helping people (including myself) reach their highest potential. I have now made almost 70 trips around our sun, and the one thing that stands out very clearly is that all of us want our lives to have purpose and meaning. What does it take to reach a state of consciousness that nurtures a life of purpose and meaning? First, in my movie The Shift, and now in the companion book of the same name, I’ve tried to map things out. All of us on this glorious human voyage into adulthood have to make some shifts, or transitions, during the trip. The first shift that we all make takes us from nonbeing to being; from Spirit to form; from the invisible to our corporeal world of things. The next shift is the phase I call Ambition where we take on an ego self that is the opposite of the place of Spirit from which we came. Ego in this context is our false self. These first two shifts are mandatory in the human journey. Unfortunately, for many people, Ambition is often the end of their life story.

But there are two more shifts open to us. We can all choose to make the leap past the second shift of ego-driven ambition. We arrive at the third shift when we realize that we have an option to make a U-turn away from the false self. We can do an about-face and head back to the place of Spirit in a third shift. And then, in the fourth shift, we achieve a life of Meaning and purpose by rededicating our Ambition to the fulfillment of our authentic self. We discover that the laws of the material world do not necessarily apply in the presence of the Meaning that is encouraged by our shift to Source. Manifestations of miracles begin to populate the landscape of life. Meaning is now what defines all the moments of our existence. We can fulfill our greatest calling when we consciously undertake the journey from Ambition to Meaning. We can transform our individual lives and influence the destiny of our sacred planet as well.

This week you’ll have the opportunity to get a copy of Dan Caro’s life story—The Gift of Fire: How I Made Adversity Work for Me.  Dan is a professional jazz drummer and inspirational speaker and a man of exquisite courage and spirit. You saw him play the drums on my most recent PBS special Excuses Begone! Dan banished excuses as a tiny child when he survived an injury by fire that destroyed both of his hands and almost took his life. Dan survived and grew up loving music and wanting to be a musician. He found a way to play the drums and play them well, proving to the world that the only limits in life are those you create for yourself. When Dan isn’t playing jazz in his native city of New Orleans, he is traveling the country encouraging others not just to overcome life’s hardships, but to view adversity as a gift that can drive us toward reaching our full potential. Dan is passing on the love and support that buoyed him up through the years, giving his all to life in a way that few of us are challenged to do. Dan also serves as an Ambassador for the Shriners of North America, whose hospitals provide specialized medical care for children, including treatment for burn victims. Think of Dan the next time you are tempted to pull out that ever-popular excuse “It will be difficult.” Dan took the gift of fire and used it to fuel the powerful spirit of his extraordinary life.

What’s the difference between our authentic self and the false self created by ego? Authentic self wonders: How may I serve? Ego’s attitude, on the other hand, is: Gimme, gimme, gimme—I need more, and I can never be satisfied. When we align with ego’s voice, the universe provides experiences that match the Gimme, gimme, gimme energy. It may not seem obvious at first, but if we pay attention, it’s quite clear that this energy creates pressure, anxiety, and stress. Why? Because allying with ego means that we’ve chosen to live in a demanding environment. We simply haven’t realized that we have a choice to join forces with our authentic ideals and live in a nondemanding environment. The Law of Attraction works either way!

The more we demand from the universe, the more is demanded of us. The more we give away, the more is given to us. It’s truly a simple matter of attitudinal energy generated from within ourselves. Consistently thinking of needing more attracts that needy energy back to us. When we consistently generate thoughts of giving, however, we attract the energy of giving back to us.

Lao-tzu speaks of the “absolute joy and freedom” we can experience by aligning ourselves with the practice of “kindness and selflessness.” My new book The Shift: Taking Your Life from Ambition to Meaning is a contemporary interpretation of this ancient teaching. I hope to impart that “Meaning” is not achieved through your ego and its selfish ways, but through the part of yourself that is selfless. Lao-tzu speaks of practicing “undiscriminating virtue”—this is your path to the freedom and joy that characterize a purposeful life.

Think about all the people who share the stage with you as you move through life. Can you affirm that everyone you need shows up, and that they’re perfect in every way for whatever needs you have at the time? In this intelligent system that you’re a part of, everything arrives from the field of intention where the infinite, invisible life force flows through everyone and everything. This includes you, and everyone else as well. Trust in this invisible life force and the all-creating mind that intends everything into existence.

I suggest that you do a quick review, and note all of the people who’ve shown up as characters in this play called your life. It has all been perfect. Your ex-spouse showed up at just the right time—when you needed to create those children you love so much. The father who walked out on you so that you could learn self-reliance left right on time. The lover who abandoned you was a part of this perfection. The lover who stayed with you was also taking his or her cues from Source. The good times, the struggles, the tears, the abuse—all of it involved people coming into your life and then leaving.

This is your past, and whatever your energy level at the time, whatever your needs, whatever your station in life, you attracted the right people and events to you. You may feel that they didn’t show up when you needed them, that in fact, you were alone and no one showed up at all, but I urge you to see it from the perspective of all of life being in divine order. If no one showed up, it was because you needed to handle something on your own and therefore attracted no one at that time. Viewing the past as a play in which all the characters and all entrances and exits were scripted by your Source and represent what you attracted at the time, frees you from guilt, regret, and even revenge.

As a result, you’ll go from being an actor who’s influenced by others playing the roles of producer and director, to being the writer, producer, director, and star of your glorious life. You’ll also be the casting director who possesses the ability to audition anyone you choose. Base your choices on taking the path of no resistance and staying harmonized with the ultimate producer of this entire drama: our universal all-creating Source.

As the father of eight and grandfather of six, I’ve been blessed with abundant opportunities to be present with babies. That’s how I know the amazing lessons that we can all learn from observing babies and trying to emulate their joy. You didn’t come forth into this world to suffer, to be anxious, fearful, stressful, or depressed. You came from the God-consciousness of joy. Just watch little babies. They’ve done nothing to be so happy about. They don’t work; they poop in their pants; and they have no goals other than to expand, grow, and explore this amazing world. They love everyone, they’re completely entertained by a plastic bottle or goofy faces, and they’re in a constant state of love—yet they have no teeth, no hair, and they’re pudgy and flatulent. How could they possibly be so joyful and easily pleased? Because they’re still in harmony with the Source that intended them here; they have no resistance to being joyful. Be like that baby you once were in terms of being joyful. You don’t need a reason to be happy…your desire to be so is sufficient. And in case your world is short on newborns right now, take a look at Anna Quindlen and Nick Kelsh’s wonderful new photo book Naked Babies for a visit to the world of the youngest among us.

The devastating earthquake that shook the island nation of Haiti on January 12 speaks to all of us. The number of lives lost staggers the imagination—once and growing toward twice the entire population of Maui, the island I call home. My prayers have been very deep for the healing that needs to take place on Haiti. All of us can send our prayers, our love, as well as our financial and material support. Whenever a crisis such as this happens, the better angels within all of us begin to take over. In times of crisis, our true humanity begins to show. We forget what divides us and people everywhere on the planet come together to help. You see people digging through rubble, working 18-20 hour days without sleep, flying in from all over the world, saying, “How may I be of service?” It’s the mantra of the higher self—“how may I serve” rather than “what’s in it for me” or “what I don’t like about you.” Whether it’s a tsunami or an earthquake or a hurricane or any kind of natural disaster or even a war-like disaster, it brings out our true nature, our original nature as Lao-tzu calls it, which is reverence for all life, kindness, simplicity, caring, and serving. We show our love for God by serving one another. And there are miracles—lives saved against all odds—to remind us how fragile and precious life is.

HayHouseRadio.com will be broadcasting a special edition of the Hay Foundation’s “Acts of Kindness” program on Wednesday, February 3 to raise funds for Haiti. Featured guest will be Dr. Carolle-Jean Murat whose Angels for Haiti Project has been providing medical and financial support for Haitian schoolchildren for many years and now is helping fund the relief effort. Please tune in. Every loving thought helps!

This has been called the age of information. There’s no shortage of information; in fact, there may be way too much. When a nominee was named for the Supreme Court, the Judicial Committee was given a list of every single movie that this person had rented for the past 10 years! If we look at this word information, in the very center of it there’s the word form. Form describes the world of the physical, the world of boundaries, the world of beginnings and ends. When we are in the world of form, what we get is information. But let’s shift our attention to another world which is the source of everything physical.

St. Paul said, “That which is seen hath not come from that which doth appear”—the source of everything in the world of form is not from the world of form. It’s from the world of Spirit—the world of the invisible which has no boundaries, no beginnings and no ends. When you are in the world of Spirit, what you get is “inspiration.” What we have in our world today is a spiritual deficit. We don’t have enough emphasis on the importance of being inspired and living in-Spirit.

One of the most important lessons I ever learned comes from the great spiritual teacher Patanjali: “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” Imagine that just by moving into the world of inspiration you can activate “dormant forces,”—forces that you thought were dead, that you thought were not available to you—and you can make them work for you when you are inspired. You don’t get tired, you don’t get hungry, you don’t worry about money, and you don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow. You’re moving into the world of God. Being inspired is probably the most important thing you can do. Look at all the things around you and say, “Where did all of this come from?” It all came from the world of Spirit, the world of inspiration. It’s the spirit that gives life.

Among the callers to my weekly show on HayHouseRadio.com was a young man in Guadalajara, Mexico, who reported that he was able to turn his life around with the mantra “How may I serve?” He was able to make his business prosperous at a time of presumed deep economic gloom. He is one among so many who have embraced the message of love and service and is now passing it on. It’s as simple as tuning in to Spirit instead of struggling to figure things out by ourselves, and mostly moving in circles. When we shift our thoughts from fear to love, represented by the act of serving and giving, we align with the infinite abundance of Spirit.

It was Neville Goddard, a New Thought lecturer of the mid 20th century, who recommended that we “assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled” if we want our dreams to become real. Feeling good is feeling God—our good feelings align us with Spirit. Use your imagination to create an image, a picture, that will help you focus on the life you want to achieve. As you go to sleep, don’t review bad feelings, fears, worries—instead assume the good feeling of the wish fulfilled. Go to sleep with visions of what you love. Let your dream vision marinate overnight. Wake up with your positive, hopeful thoughts in place, ready to guide you through a day in which you step ever closer to the life you dream of. You align with God when you ask, “How may I serve?”

True imagination is not fanciful daydreaming; it is fire from heaven.

— Ernest Holmes

One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way of living. Buried within you is an unlimited capacity for creation that’s anxious to plant seedlings to fulfill your dreams and your destiny. The absence of balance between dreams and daily routine can reveal itself in symptoms of depression, illness, or anxiety—but it’s more often something that feels like an unwelcome companion by your side, which continually whispers to you that you’re ignoring something. You sense that there’s a higher agenda; your way of life and your reason for life are out of balance. Until you pay attention, this subtle visitor will continue to prod you to regain your equilibrium.
When you live your life going through the motions, it may seem to be convenient, but the weight of your dissatisfaction creates a huge imbalance in the only life you have now. It shows up when you’re sound asleep and your dreams are filled with reminders of what you’d love to be, but you wake and return to pursuing your safe routine. Allow yourself to think about this “fire from heaven.” What are your dreams and how can you shift your thinking habits to match your dreams? Commit to thinking about what you want, rather than how impossible or difficult that dream may seem. Give your personal dreams a place to hang out so that you can see them in your imagination and they can soak up the energy they deserve. Thoughts are mental energy; they’re the currency that you have to attract what you desire. Learn to stop spending that currency on thoughts you don’t want. Your body might continue, for a while, to stay where it’s been trained to be, but meanwhile, your thoughts are being aligned with your dreams. Align your inner creative energy—your thoughts—so that they match up perfectly with your desires. Dream and you shall become. 

This month you’ll have a chance to check out my friend Jorge Cruise’s new book The Belly Fat Cure. I had a chance to test the Excuses Begone! paradigm in my own life by applying some of Jorge’s wisdom. I had been carrying an extra 15 to 17 pounds around my waist for about ten years, using the excuse that “this is what happens when you get old.” It’s called “man weight,” I told myself. Then I had an interview with Jorge and he told me some startling figures about sugar consumption. In the 19th century, people consumed an average of about 13 grams of sugar a day. Today we consume an incredible 285 grams per person per day. Doesn’t it look like there’s a connection between that huge increase and the increasing waistlines of our nation? According to Jorge, reducing your waist circumference can add years to your life. Jorge recommends cutting sugar intake back to between 25 and 30 grams a day.

I had been harboring the notion, the excuse, that my 17 pounds of belly fat would be very difficult if not impossible to get rid of. After all, time had put it there! I decided to test my excuse by reducing my sugar intake down to about 20 grams a day. In 30 days, that 17 pounds had melted off my waist. And it wasn’t all that hard to do.

The fact is we can do this with anything—from belly fat to any excuse-bound situation that is blocking our health and/or happiness. Once I decided to believe that I could release the weight that had accumulated around my middle, I let it go. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right.” Why not believe you can?

The 77th verse of the Tao Te Ching suggests thinking about the surpluses we can put back into circulation to decrease deficiencies that exist elsewhere in our world. Lao-tzu asks you and me to put the wisdom of this verse to work in our personal lives by seeing what we have but don’t need as an opportunity to be “Tao people.” Lao-tzu isn’t asking our government, political leaders, or captains of industry, but us personally: “What man has more than enough and gives it to the world?” The answer is, only the man or woman of the Tao. When there are enough of us, there will be a pool from which we Tao-centered people emerge to govern. Then we’ll put into place the way of living offered in this verse.

It’s fairly simple to understand a surplus of money or possessions, but the word actually symbolizes much more. For example, there’s the surplus of joy you feel that you can offer to yourself and your family. Then there’s the excess of intellectual prowess, talent, compassion, health, strength, and kindness you can share with the world. Whenever you see deficiencies in joy, abundance, educational opportunities, perfect health, or sobriety, make your own surpluses available. Lao-tzu urges you to look at what’s deficient and be an instrument of increasing, rather than a collector of more, which marginalizes and divides the oneness that is all of life.

Reduce what’s in excess in your life and then offer it where it can be utilized. Begin with your stuff: clothing, furniture, tools, equipment, radios, cameras, or anything that you have too much of. Don’t sell it; rather, give it away (if you can afford to). Don’t ask for recognition for charitable acts—simply behave in harmony with the Tao by reducing your surplus. Then think about your intangible abundance of health, joy, kindness, love, or inner peace, and seek ways to offer those glorious feelings to those who could benefit from your bounty.

Just as nature fills voids by maintaining the cyclical balance necessary to our world, be an instrument of increasing where you observe deficiencies. Practice giving by dedicating a portion of your earnings to be used to ease deficits, for as Lao-tzu points out, “The master can keep giving because there is no end to his wealth.” If you can’t offer money to those who are less fortunate, say a silent blessing for them. Offer a prayer when you hear an ambulance or police car siren. Look for opportunities to fill the empty spaces in other people’s lives with money; things; or loving energy in the form of kindness, compassion, joy, and forgiveness. Be a man or woman of the Tao!

Namaste,

Wayne

One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is choosing the kind of universe you exist in: is it helpful and supportive or hostile and unsupportive? Your answer to this question will make all the difference in terms of how you live your life and what kind of Divine assistance you attract.

Remember that you get what you think about, whether you want it or not. So if you believe that this is an unfriendly universe, you’ll look for examples to support this point of view. You’ll anticipate people attempting to cheat, judge, take advantage of, and otherwise harm you. You’ll blame the antagonistic, inhospitable cosmos for not cooperating with you in the fulfillment of your desires. You’ll point the finger at belligerent people and bad luck for the kind of world we all live in.

I implore you to see the universe as a warm and supportive one because you’ll look for evidence to support this view. When you anticipate that the universe is friendly, you see friendly people. You look for circumstances to work in your favor. You anticipate good fortune flowing into your life.

My favorite affirmation when I feel stuck or out of sorts is: Whatever I need is already here, and it is all for my highest good. Jot this down and post it conspicuously throughout your home, on the dashboard of your car, at your office, on your microwave oven, and even in front of your toilets! Remind yourself: I live in a friendly universe that will support any thing or desire that is aligned with the universal Source of all.

I’ve found that by shifting my belief about the nature of the universe, I attract whatever I desire into my life. I desire love. I desire peace. I desire health. I desire happiness. I desire prosperity. When I pray, I do so in the spirit of Saint Francis, who beseeched God to “make me an instrument of your peace.” In other words, “Let me be like the Source from which I originated, and then I will rest in the knowing that my desires must be here, on their way, and for my highest good.”

Namaste,

Wayne

As I was driving my daughter Sommer to the airport for her return to college after a long weekend home, she was admiring my new watch. This was the first new timepiece I’d had in at least a decade. I really enjoyed looking at its shiny steel-and-black face, and as I did, I’d think about how this was my favorite watch of all time. Yet I knew in my heart that Sommer would love to wear it, since men’s watches seemed to be the current craze for young women.

As I dropped her off at the curb and assisted her with her luggage, I was prompted to remove the watch and give it to her, even though it was my most prized possession (particularly since I have almost no possessions any longer that I even care about, let alone prize).

Sommer’s response was, “No, Dad, you love this watch!”

I insisted, telling her that I’d feel greater joy by giving it to her and knowing she’d treasure it. I also felt that it would symbolize our staying together in time, even though we’d be thousands of miles apart. She boarded her plane glowing, and I left feeling that I had grown immeasurably as a person, since such a compassionate act would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for me several years ago.

Sommer called me in Maui a few months later to tell me that she was sending me a present, stressing that it was a very, very special gift. It turned out to be her all-time favorite painting that she’d created and had hung in her apartment for a long time. As she told me later: “I really learned something the day you gave me your beloved watch, and I wanted to give you something that’s my single most precious item. I’m giving it to you, Dad, even though it’s difficult to part with, because I want you to have a piece of me that I love with you.”

The painting hangs proudly on my wall as a symbol of the beauty and perfection of reaching out compassionately in response to a felt moment. By being and living compassion, you invite and encourage others, just by your example, to choose to do the same.

Namaste,

Wayne

Here’s a favorite quote: “The law of floatation was not discovered by contemplating the sinking of things.” Think about this observation by the great mental-science practitioner of the early 20th century, Thomas Troward. In the early days of shipbuilding, ships were made of wood, and the reasoning was that wood floats in water and iron sinks. Yet today, ships all over the world are built of iron. As people began studying the law of floatation, it was discovered that anything could float if it’s lighter than the mass of liquid it displaces.

The key word in Troward’s quote is contemplating, or what you’re placing your thoughts on. You can’t discover the law of co-creation if you’re contemplating what’s missing. You can’t discover the power of awakening if you’re contemplating things that are still asleep. The secret to manifesting anything that you desire is your willingness and ability to realign yourself so that your inner world is in harmony with the power of intention. Every single modern advance that you see and take for granted was created by someone contemplating what they intended to manifest.

The way to establish a relationship with Spirit and access the power of this creating principle is to continuously contemplate yourself surrounded by the conditions you wish to produce. Dwell on the idea of a supreme infinite power producing the results that you desire. This power is the creative power of the universe.

The Wright brothers didn’t contemplate the staying on the ground of things. Alexander Graham Bell didn’t contemplate the noncommunication of things. Thomas Edison didn’t contemplate the darkness of things. In order to float an idea into your reality, you must be willing to do a somersault into the inconceivable and land on your feet, contemplating what you want instead of what you don’t have.

Namaste,

Wayne

Peace isn’t something you ultimately receive when you slow down the pace of your life. Peace is what you’re capable of being and bringing to every encounter and event in the waking moments of your life. Being peaceful is an inner attitude that you can enjoy when you’ve learned to silence your incessant inner dialogue. Being peaceful isn’t dependent on what your surroundings look like. It seldom has anything to do with what the people around you think, say, or do. A noiseless environment isn’t a requirement.

St. Francis’s famous prayer states it better than I can: “Make me an instrument of your peace.” In other words, St. Francis wasn’t asking God to provide him with peace. He was asking for guidance to be more like the peace he trusted was his Source. Being peace is different from looking for peace.

This principle isn’t about merely choosing tranquil thoughts when you’re feeling frayed and anxious. I suggest picturing a container deep within yourself out of which all your thoughts flow. Inside of this container, at its very center, imagine a candle flame. You need to make a commitment that this flame in the center of the container holding all your thoughts will never, ever even flicker, although the very worst may go before you. This is your container of peace, and only peaceful thoughts can fuel the burning candle. You don’t need to change your thoughts as much as you need to learn to be an energy of peace lighting the way and attracting serene, harmonious thoughts and beings. In this way, you’ll become a being of peace.

As a being of peace, you make a huge impact on those around you. It’s almost impossible to be totally stressed out in the presence of someone who has opted to be peace. Peace is a higher and faster energy—when you’re being peace, just your presence alone will often nullify the uneasiness and tension in those around you. The secret of this principle is: Be the peace and harmony you desire. You cannot get it from anything or anyone else. 

Namaste,

Wayne

Recently, a Canadian friend told me about taking his kids to a concert put on by a big name, hugely successful rock band. My friend was delighted with the heartfelt gratitude the musicians expressed to their fans, thanking them for making possible a life of creative joy and opportunity. The fans were wildly grateful, too, for the enjoyment the band provided. 

Most of the people I’ve met or observed who are at the top levels in their chosen fields have these attitudes of gratitude and “radical humility.” After all, when so many high achievers reach for their statuette or championship trophy, they say, “First I’d like to thank God.” It’s almost as if they can’t help themselves—they’re so grateful for their accolade, but even more than that, they know that there’s a Force in the Universe way bigger than they are that allows them to act, sing, write, compete, or design. And if we adopt this kind of an attitude, we’ll inspire others to do the same. If we practice gratitude as opposed to maintaining an attitude of entitlement, we’ll automatically extend inspiration wherever we go. Being grateful helps remove the influence of our egos, which is certain that we’re better than everyone else. An attitude of gratitude allows us to adopt the radical humility that’s very persuasive in helping others connect with the Spirit that unites us all.

Without exception, I begin every day of my life with an expression of gratitude. As I look in the mirror to begin my daily ritual of shaving, I say, “Thank you, God, for this life, for my body, for my family and loved ones, for this day, and for the opportunity to be of service. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Gratitude and humility send signals to all who meet us that we’re all connected to something larger than life itself.

Namaste,

Wayne

Before merging into form, we were a part of God, with all the inherent qualities of a Creator who sends forth abundance, creativity, love, peace, joy, and well-being. The spiritual dimension calls to us in this material world of beginnings and endings. When we listen and allow it to, Spirit guides us to something greater than our life as a physical being. When I let myself align with Spirit, I have a feeling of contentment, but more than this, I experience joy. I’m able to receive the vibrational energies of my Source—call them voices, messages, silent reminders, invisible suggestions, or what have you—they’re vibrations of energy. I’ve learned to get my “self” out of the way and remove resistance to the free flow of this spiritual energy.

Spirit doesn’t dwell on the impossibility of anything—that is, it doesn’t focus on not being able to create, on things not working out, on expecting the worst, or on being stuck in place. When I’m in-Spirit, I want my present moment and thoughts to align perfectly with what I desire to share. I want to offer an experience of inspiration to my audience, so I don’t give a speech thinking, I’ll probably disappoint them. I choose to think that if I stumble or forget something in the middle of my talk, the inspiration to get me through it will be there. When I sit down to write, my desire is to invite Spirit to express through me, and I encourage ideas to flow freely. I’m connected in-Spirit, expecting to be the instrument of my spiritual Source.

When we remember that we’re always connected to Source, we can summon the well-being of God. Each and every one of us represents God or Spirit revealing Itself here on our planet. Experiences of being in-Spirit are available to all of us. Remember that your life is bigger than you are. Dedicate your life to something that reflects an awareness of your Divinity. You can begin by committing to at least one daily experience where you share something of yourself with no expectation of being acknowledged or thanked. For example, before I begin my daily routine, I go to my desk and choose my gift for that day. Sometimes, it’s just a phone call to a stranger who’s written to me, or perhaps I order flowers or send a book or present to someone who has helped me in a local store. It doesn’t matter if this activity is big or small—it’s a way to begin the day in-Spirit. Make a silent dedication to encourage and express your Divine nature.

Namaste,

Wayne     

Are there any life problems that seem beyond our power to overcome? Let’s think about that for a minute. In the face of life-threatening problems like alcoholism and drug addiction, excuses for feeling powerless like “It’s too difficult,” “It’s too big,” and “I’m not strong enough,” might spring to mind. Yet we know people who have beaten even these deadly and crippling problems. Two years ago, I had dinner in New York with Patti Davis, daughter of President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. Patti had just published an essay on Newsweek’s “My Turn” page about her struggle with cocaine addiction and how grateful she would have been for the rehabilitation programs that celebrities today so often treat with utter disrespect. It’s one of the most honest essays I’ve ever read. At our dinner, Patti was celebrating five years of freedom from drugs. She acknowledged how powerful the comfort and pleasure of cocaine had been in her life, but she knew she would never go back to using it. How did she manage to stop? It wasn’t a reluctance to continue disappointing herself or her parents that finally made the difference. She stopped because she no longer wanted to disappoint God, that highest part of herself that all of us share as our connection to the Divine. We all have a place of well-being, bliss, joy, and perfection within us. We are called to be there and from that empowering place we can reach out as Patti has done to help others find it, too. With God, nothing is impossible, and when we align with Spirit, no excuses are needed.

Namaste,

Wayne     

Having lived by the ocean for many years, I’ve observed the strength and beauty of the tall palm trees that grow at the water’s edge. These stately giants are able to withstand the hurricane-force winds that uproot and destroy many larger, older, and more majestic trees. What is the palm trees’ secret to staying in one piece through huge, devastating storms? They bend almost down to the ground at times, and it’s that ability that allows them to survive. The Tao invites us, too, to be resilient, elastic, and pliant when we face the powerful winds that are part of life. When destructive energy comes along, allow yourself to resist brokenness by bending. Look for times when you can make the choice to weather a storm by allowing it to blow through without resistance. How does this work? Be willing to adapt to whatever may come your way by initially allowing yourself to experience that potentially destructive energy, much like the bending tree in the hurricane. When criticism comes, listen. When powerful forces push you in any direction, bow rather than fight, lean rather than break, and allow yourself to be free from a rigid set of rules—in doing so, you’ll be preserved and unbroken. Keep an inner vision of the wind symbolizing difficult situations as you affirm: I have no rigidity within me. I can bend to any wind and remain unbroken. I will use the strength of the wind to make me even stronger and better preserved.

Namaste,

Wayne

“I’d love to write a book, if I only had the time.” Have you heard someone say this recently, or maybe even said it yourself? Do you really want to write a book or maybe paint or dance or sing or fulfill any creative longing that’s been sitting on the back burner of your life? And is time really the issue? We all have the same number of hours in a day and most of us make decisions about how to spend them. In my movie The Shift, we see a young mother rediscover her love of painting because she gives herself permission to do so. Instead of continuing to assume that her dream is impossible, she asks for the opportunity, the time, she needs and she gets it. Why don’t we do the things we say we want to do?  In the vast cornucopia of excuses, not enough time or “I’m too busy,” easily tops the list. But how can a person be too busy to make room for what they love? Thoreau is right in saying that we have nobler faculties we need to pay attention to, in addition to all the other details that occupy our lives. If you fear the part of your soul that’s calling you to a higher place, then you’re probably using the “I’m too busy” excuse. There is time to do what you love when you step back and look at your life from a higher perspective. Make sure that fear, doubt, and unexamined beliefs about yourself and your talents are not the real culprits keeping you from your creative endeavor. Rather than telling yourself you are too busy to pursue an activity you love, use the following affirmation: I intend to take time for myself to live the life that I came here to live.        

Namaste,

Wayne

When Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” he was defending his practice of teaching his students to think for themselves, to examine the ideas that had been “given” to them. We all have thoughts that were given to us by our families, our society, our culture. These given thoughts are so pervasive and so ingrained that they seem like part of our very being, but that’s exactly why we need to dig in and examine them if we want a life worth living. Richard Brodie talks about these given thoughts or memes in his book Virus of the Mind as “thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes in your mind that can be spread to and from other people’s minds.” Memes are ideas that are transmitted, like viruses, and take up residence in our heads. Their presence can influence our behavior and limit us in ways we don’t even notice unless we make a real effort to examine what we think and why. Memes die hard because they’ve become who we think we are. They aren’t necessarily good or bad; some may even serve our health and well-being. But, if we allow these unexamined thoughts to become excuses for not living our best life, such as “I’ll always be poor, unlucky, overweight, shy, lonely, angry, addicted,” then they need to be hauled out into the sunlight and challenged. Don’t let your unexamined thoughts cause you pain and keep you from living your Divine purpose. 

Namaste,

Wayne

One of my secrets for feeling successful and attracting bountiful abundance into my life has been an internal axiom that I use virtually every day of my life. It goes like this: Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change. This has always worked for me.

The truth of this little maxim is actually found in the field of quantum physics, which, according to some, is a subject that’s not only stranger than you think it is, it’s stranger than you can think. It turns out that at the tiniest subatomic level, the actual act of observing a particle changes the particle. The way we observe these infinitely small building blocks of life is a determining factor in what they ultimately become. If we extend this metaphor to larger and larger particles and begin to see ourselves as particles in a larger body called humanity or even larger—life itself—then it’s not such a huge stretch to imagine that the way we observe the world we live in affects that world.

Think of this little journey into quantum physics as a metaphor for your life. Your feelings of success and your experience of prosperity and abundance depend on your positive view of yourself, your life, and the Universe from which success and abundance come. Changing the way you look at things is an extremely powerful tool. Start by examining how you look at things. Is the Universe matching your way of looking?

Namaste,

Wayne

Everyone has a favorite spiritual setting, a natural place that speaks to your heart and thereby to your soul. Living on Maui, I find beauty in all directions—the lush green mountains, the ocean, the sky, the flowers. While filming The Shift, we had a chance to experience the spectacular rocky, windswept coast of central California. The sea can range from turquoise to emerald to steely gray in a single afternoon and when the fog rolls in, it swirls mysteriously around the dark branches of the pines. Surrounded by nature’s majesty, it’s easy to feel the presence of Spirit and reconnect with the love that supports all life. Wherever you live, you’re only a few hours (or even minutes) away from a natural setting that will revive, refresh, and inspire you. What scenery do you love—the shelter of the forest, the expanse of the desert, the peace of a mountain meadow? Give yourself permission to get away so that you can camp in the outdoors, swim in a river, lake, or ocean, ride on horseback, or ski down a mountain. While you’re making plans, take a walk in the park, breathe deeply, hug a tree, notice the natural world that surrounds us, and I guarantee you will feel closer to the real person inside.     

Namaste,

Wayne

Do you avoid the supermarket line with the crabby clerk who is flinging the groceries across the scanner while scowling at the customers? Try this experiment which I love to practice. See if you can convert the cranky clerk, the surly waiter, or the rude, impatient public employee with a dose of kindness and courtesy. It makes a great chance to cultivate the third cardinal virtue spoken of by Lao-tzu: gentleness, which manifests as kindness and consideration for others. Gentleness means accepting life and people as they are—leading the way to peaceful relationships. Kindness is contagious. Modeling it opens the door for the cranky, the surly, the rude, and the crabby to let go of what really are uncomfortable, unhappy, and unrewarding feelings. Smiling and showing consideration for someone’s feelings, pointing out something positive to focus on are ways I like to use in my efforts to convert those who are clearly suffering in their appointed tasks and need help to feel better. Remember the calling of our Divine nature—“How may I serve?” We can serve by offering a helping of kindness to those who serve us and enjoy the pleasure of lifting them up to a more peaceful, joyful place.

Namaste,

Wayne

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of the great men and women who have inspired me with their work and their lives. In their presence I felt the radiant energy that living in-Spirit brings. In 1978, I was invited to go to Vienna to participate in a presentation to a group of young presidents of companies. I was assigned to be on a panel with a man who had been a huge source of inspiration to me: Viktor Frankl. Frankl was a medical doctor who had been herded off to die in a Nazi concentration camp in WW II; while imprisoned, he kept notes that ultimately became a book called Man’s Search for Meaning. This work, which touched me deeply, illustrated not only how Dr. Frankl survived the horrors of Auschwitz, but also how he helped other camp mates do the same. He taught them to be with his spirit and infuse it in others who were giving up on life. He even practiced sending love and peace to his captors, and refused to feel hatred and vengeance because he knew that this was foreign to his spirit, which he wouldn’t forsake. Viktor Frankl stayed true to his spiritual origins in the face of horrors that destroyed so many. When I met him, he exuded joy, peace, kindness, and love, and he wasn’t bitter. Instead, he felt that his experience taught him lessons he’d never have known otherwise. I spent a good part of that afternoon in Vienna listening and being in awe. Viktor Frankl had been one of the truly inspirational figures in my life, and being on the same panel—under the pretext of being a colleague of this master teacher—was overwhelming to me. It was an afternoon I’ve never forgotten, full of pure exhilaration and inspiration.

Namaste,

Wayne

Just as a candle spreads light in a darkened room, people who are living in-Spirit give off a higher energy that can bring light to our hearts and minds. In other words, we can be inspired just by being in their presence. How can we find people who are living their lives in-Spirit? One measure that has worked for me is the “joy index.” When we meet others who we think might be living in-Spirit, we can ask the following questions: Do they seem to have a rapturous heart, sending out signals that they love the world and everyone in it? Are they jubilant about the work they do? Do they see the world as a friendly place? Are they at peace with themselves? Do they appear to be kind rather than judgmental? Do they tend to be cheerful? Do they love to play? Are they willing to be students as well as teachers? Do they love nature? Are they in awe of the world? Are they approachable? Do they take great pleasure in serving others? Do they accept all people as equals? Are they open to new ideas? The answers to these questions will help us determine whether another person is potentially an inspiring influence in our lives. We can recognize them by how we feel in their presence. We recognize their high spiritual energy, which longs to be active in our lives. For me, it feels like a warm, soothing shower that’s running deep within me. I know I’m resonating with a higher energy that makes me feel incredibly good!

Namaste,

Wayne

In talking about my new movie The Shift, I’ve had a lot of questions about the nature of ambition. If the shift to a purposeful life is moving from ambition to meaning, why is it that we have to get away from ambition? What’s wrong with ambition? Isn’t that what we need to reach our goals and realize our dreams? I know it sounds contradictory—isn’t life full of seeming contradictions that we have to balance?—but in fact, we don’t have to give up ambition, only shift it toward the things we are here to achieve, the music we are here to play. You can be ambitious about having meaning in your life. I don’t think I’m not ambitious right now. I get more done now than I’ve ever gotten done in my life: creating books, writing all the time, living a very fulfilled life, making money, giving lectures, and doing all the kinds of things I do, but there’s a part of me that is so content and peaceful with who I am and what I’m doing that I know this is the music I came here to play. I’m ambitious, but I’m ambitious not so much about accumulation. It’s not the having but the being—the peace and the joy—that lets you know when your ambitions have meaning.

Namaste,

Wayne

I hope you’ll be taking a vacation this year—and I don’t necessarily mean a long journey to a distant land. The word vacation comes from a Latin root meaning “freedom or release from something.” On vacation, you are free from your regular routine; your time is empty or vacant and you can fill it with something new that will heal and inspire you. A great way to move forward in your life is to use your vacation or release time to practice facing your habitual fears and the limiting behaviors they create. You can take a vacation anywhere—to a new neighborhood, a new city, or a new country—and simply be a new you who is flexible and flowing and tries new things. Take a vacation without any guarantees—just go, and let yourself be guided by your instincts rather than a detailed itinerary. Eat at a restaurant that serves food you are unfamiliar with, attend a ballet or a soccer game, visit a mosque, take a yoga class, go on a nature hike, or do anything else that you may have been afraid of. Decide to outgrow the excuses you’ve employed, and adopt a philosophy of having a mind that’s open to everything and attached to nothing.

Affirm:

I choose the less-traveled path and resist seeking out familiarity and an illusion of security. 

Namaste,

Wayne

Always keep your eyes open for the thoughts and ideas that will inspire and empower you. When I was just about to start writing Excuses Begone!, I got a tip on a great new book from Hay House president Reid Tracy. He told me he was sending me a copy of Dr. Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief with the promise that I was really going to like it. He was right. What I found in Bruce’s book was a fascinating science-based discussion of concepts that dovetailed perfectly with the premise of Excuses Begone!—that our self-limiting beliefs stand in the way of our higher, healthier, and happier life. In my book, I talk about working our way out of the collection of unexamined excuses we have for why our life isn’t working. Bruce’s work revolves around the mistaken notion that people can’t change because of their DNA—their genes make them who they are, give them illnesses, keep them stuck. In The Biology of Belief, Bruce describes the stunning research that demonstrates why we are not limited by our genes but by our beliefs. Literally, our beliefs can change the read-out of our genes. That makes one less excuse for not being all we can be, doesn’t it?

Namaste,

Wayne

While visiting downtown San Diego last spring, I took a walk on the waterfront to watch the ships sailing on the bay. A bicycle bell sounded behind me and I looked around to see the smiling face of a “cabbie.” This enterprising young man was offering me a free ride in his pedicab, the modern-day version of a rickshaw. With no set fee for the ride to any particular hotel or store or restaurant destination, his income depended on the good will of his customers—who most likely would give him a tip suitable to the value of the trip. This is enterprise—offer a service that people want and need and let the income you require flow to you. Remember the old saying, “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it”? You can give the Universe a chance to support your hopes and dreams by putting your best efforts into them. Many years ago, I set out across the country with a carload of a book called Your Erroneous Zones, determined to make a market for my work. I needed an opportunity to reach my dreams and so I set off to make one—one bookstore, radio station, and newspaper office at a time. Be a swimmer in the vast and welcoming sea of opportunity!

Namaste,

Wayne

I hope everyone has a chance to see The Shift , my new movie from Hay House. It’s about the shift that happens in every life when we realize that we want to be something more. That’s be something in the spiritual sense when we examine ourselves to see if we are realizing our potential, singing our song, giving the world what we came here to contribute. It’s when we begin looking for opportunities to help, to serve, and to create. My favorite character in the movie is a guy named Joe. He’s a quiet, in-the-background sort of guy, but as the movie progresses you realize that he has been around quite a bit, interacting with all the major characters. Watch for him—reaching out, serving, caring, noticing the little things. You assume he must be the handyman, the gardener, the room service attendant. Eventually, you learn more about him and find yourself amazed at how little you noticed his presence, but how important his presence is to the experience of the movie. He’s one who has made the shift and through his loving service, his happiness, he helps others move in the direction they are called to go. Look for Joe in the movie—and in the world around you—he’s there.

Namaste,

Wayne

“Isn’t it hard to follow the Tao and try to be independent of the good opinion of others?” people ask. Actually, it’s much harder to struggle with either seeking approval or trying to shake off disapproval. If everything you do must be measured against the good opinion of everyone else, what happens to your good opinion of yourself? Who’s looking out for the soul that is your connection to the Divine? You have to decide what your passion, your bliss, is calling you to do. When you’re following that call, your feelings of joy, contentment, and peace will be strong enough to keep you from worrying about pleasing all the people all the time—as if that is even possible. For example, after a seminar not long ago, I received a letter from an audience member who told me the workshop “did not live up to her expectations.” An audience of a thousand people will probably have a thousand different sets of expectations. How could I possibly meet completely all of those varied and intimate and unique sets of expectations? I have to dance to the music I hear and I invite you to do the same. Honor the Divine within you by going to a quiet place this week and tuning in to the sacred melody.

Namaste,

Wayne

If you ever feel like you are trying too hard, you probably are! Who said that effort and striving are the keys to success? I think the Beatles were on to something in their classic song when they advised that we simply “Let It Be.” Verse 47 of the Tao Te Ching suggests that effort and striving, along with the struggling, worrying, stressing, fretting and agonizing that we can’t seem to resist, are behaviors that actually keep us from experiencing the harmony and sense of completion that are part of our connection to the Divine Order. What if we learned to live by being rather than trying? “Without going out the door, know the world. Without looking out the window, you may see the ways of heaven,” says the Tao. For example, consider how the beating of your heart, the inhaling and exhaling of your breath, and a myriad of other life functions take place without effort from you, even as you are reading these words. You are a single beat in the one heart that is humanity. The Divine is at work within you, moving you toward your life purpose. Let yourself be guided and see what happens when you simply “let it be.”

Namaste,

Wayne

Henry David Thoreau said, “If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.” Not only is this great advice for dealing gently with what other people want to do, say, or think, but these words are also about our own self-reliance. Be sure you’re stepping to the music you hear—no matter what other people think. My understanding of the13th verse of the Tao Te Ching is this: it’s crucial to remain independent of both the positive and negative opinions of other people. If you gain their approval, you’ll become a slave to outside words of praise. If you gain disfavor, you’ll spend your life trying to change other people’s minds about you. Either way, you lose your selfhood. If you want to follow your passion, be independent of the good opinion of others. Give yourself permission to two-step, march, waltz, or boogie to your own beat.

Namaste,

Wayne

In 1992 when the time came to write a dedication for my book Real Magic, I decided to recognize three special people—my dear daughter Saje, my spiritual brother Deepak Chopra, and my friend pop superstar Michael Jackson. I wanted to recognize Michael “whose words, music, and love remind us that it is only through giving that we are saving our own lives.” Michael Jackson had a special relationship with the principles of Real Magic, the idea of “creating miracles in everyday life.”  With his enormous musical talent, he created a body of work that brought joy to millions. My children and I spent five very happy days with him at Neverland in 1991. He wanted to talk to me about “real magic,” but the truth is, he already had the magic—the power he needed to dream and create and give. Michael was dedicated to ending world hunger and helped create the 1985 “We Are the World” celebrity sing-along that brought together some of the biggest names in popular music to raise funds for famine relief in Africa. I didn’t have to explain “real magic” to Michael because he was already a spiritual being, already kind, loving, and ready to use his musical gift to create miracles. Along with millions of people around the world, I say, thank you, Michael, for sharing your amazing talent to lift our spirits. I’ll remember you as a beautiful human being with a heart as big as the sky.

Namaste,

Wayne

I’ve always had a knowing that whatever I’ve found interesting or exciting or passionate or moving or motivating there’s a way to make a living at it. It doesn’t make any difference what it is. My son, Sands, age 21, is passionate about surfing. He’s in college at the University of Central Florida and doing fine, but his whole life is about surfing. He gets up in the morning and checks where the waves are all over the world. I tell him he doesn’t have to get a business degree now; he doesn’t have to go to college in his 20’s. He talks endlessly about surfing—the feeling of being on a surfboard, riding that wave, being at one with the ocean.

I tell him there’s a way to make a living while following his passion. Imagine yourself there—teaching people to surf, working in a surf shop, starting a surf shop, making surfboards, studying oceanography, being a boat captain who takes people to surfing locations. There are endless ways to be connected to your dream, to follow your bliss. And it doesn’t matter how old you are or how long you’ve been doing something. Men in their 40’s and 50’s tell me, “I can’t change professions now. I’ve been doing it for 25 years.” I ask, “Who decided you would be an engineer or a doctor or a lawyer?” “I decided when I was 18.” “And now you’re 50? Would you go to an 18-year-old for advice on what you should be doing with your life?” Not unless that youngster tells you to listen to your bliss! I think it’s a really important lesson for us all.

Namaste,

Wayne

If you could have any job in the world what would it be? Here’s how I have handled the getting of jobs and how I have advised others to go about it. First, get a really sharp, clear vision of what you would like to see yourself doing. Then go to a quiet place in meditation and make conscious contact with God. The beauty of meditation is that you begin to get answers. Instead of asking for something for yourself, put all of your energy and attention into visualizing yourself in a capacity of serving, offering, or creating. It’s then that doors begin to open for you.

Lao-tzu says that doors don’t open while we have attachment to physical things for ourselves. What he calls the angelic guides or Source energy doesn’t enter our lives until we take the focus off “what’s in it for me?” or “what kind of job am I going to get?” or “how much money am I going to make?” and instead focus on “how may I serve?” Get that inner picture of yourself serving in the capacity of your choice and then be at peace with it. Take the focus off scarcity and lack and visualize service. That’s how Spirit works—when we’re letting go, when we’re not trying, not chasing. “Let yourself be lived by it,” says Lao-tzu. Go within and trust Divine timing. That’s how it’s always worked for me and I’ve always had more work than I could handle.

Namaste,

Wayne

My latest book Excuses Begone was written day by day—every day from February 1st to October 2008. My inspiration came from nature in the most beautiful way. Before beginning each new chapter in the book, I would drive 35 miles east of where I live on Maui and then hike over an incredible number of rocks and through trees for about two hours. There’s a place where a 50-foot waterfall drops into a pool, surrounded by guava trees covered with guava fruit. Here I would stay right under the waterfall and just let the water cascade down on my head. In the hours I spent there, everything I needed for my next chapter would appear. I didn’t have an outline or any organization—just a beautiful, blissful place in the rain forest. It was almost as if God wrapped his arms around me and said, “This is what you’ll need for the next chapter. Just be at peace.”

After a couple of hours of being out there in nature and finding my own nature, I would come back and sit down to write and everything just flowed so easily and so beautifully. That’s how it works when you follow your bliss. Everyone says, “That’s crazy—you have to drive 35 miles and hike two hours and it’s so isolated out there.” I wouldn’t even begin to know how to start a new chapter without making conscious contact with God. That’s my way—it’s not the way—it’s just my way.

Namaste,

Wayne

I had to smile at Abraham’s response to the scary rollercoaster of economic news people are facing these days. “Chill out and go to work!” It’s a great way of reminding us to take a deep breath and focus on what’s really important. Here’s something to think about: There are no times of financial crisis. It’s just the way the world is, and you always have a choice about how to react to it. Don’t listen to negative news and don’t be consumed by the worry, the fear, the anxiety, and the anger. Go within and know that you don’t need another penny to have a fulfilled and happy life. To believe that you need what you don’t have is a definition of insanity, according to my friend Byron Katie. Go within your own heart and don’t allow yourself to be brought down by the negativity.

There are only two emotions—fear and love. Go with love. Love yourself, love God, and know that you have within you the capacity and the power to weather through all times, not only to weather through but to make them work for you, and to turn them around. If enough of us begin to act and believe and live this way then negativity and fear will no longer be part of our consciousness. You can live peacefully even when there is tumult around you. Just know that you have the power to weather anything.

Namaste,

Wayne