Until you are honest with yourself, you cannot be honest with others.

Until you are honest with yourself, you cannot make joyful changes.

"The truth shall make you free." -- the point of honesty is more freedom and joy.

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Honor the Creator with your expressions.

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When you stop wanting someone else to take care of you, you will stop manifesting neediness.

_____

Your life is governed by beliefs, not facts. When you change your beliefs, many of the facts will change as well.

_____

The assistance you desire does not dwell in the vibration of fear and worry. To receive what you really want, you must release your hold on misery and turn your attention inward, opening yourself to joy. Breathe. Relax. The answers are there, waiting for you to quiet yourself and listen. Open your heart and receive.

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Make each day a series of magic moments, strung together with Love and gratitude.

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"Live in the now, but motivate yourself with the future. Develop a dream." - Lazaris

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A closed mind imprisons limitations. An open mind naturally flows into the current of higher awareness and expanded possibilities of the eternal heart.

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Have a question? Before you go to sleep, write it down. If you are open to expanding your possibilities, you very well may wake up with an answer.
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You are a carrier wave. What energy are you bringing to your world today?

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Often, there is wisdom in silence.

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Shifting perspective reveals new opportunities.

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Be in your heart.
The rest flows from that.

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Observe what makes you feel alive, timeless, energized, joyous and loving.

These are clues from your higher self.

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Finish this sentence:

"It is natural and normal for me to be... "

What did you come up with?

How about this?
"It is natural and normal for me to be supernatural and paranormal."

;-)

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Stars dance in the night sky. The moon goes through her phases. Seasons change, and trees change their clothes. Dawn comes every morning, a gift of light and colour and warmth and bird song, whether or not we appreciate it.
Life is like that . . . freely and generously giving us blessings whether or not we notice or receive them.
Are there gifts that you've been blind to? When is the last time you looked at the sky and appreciated what you saw? What blessings will you notice and receive today?

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Whatever you tune into, you amplify.

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When your incarnational self is feeling small, that's a great time to connect to something / SomeOne larger and much grander.

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It is not the circumstances themselves, but rather your judgements about where you're at, which immobilize you, disempower you, and cause you to feel "stuck."

Release your judgements of self and others, and find your freedom to change.

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You are not your feelings. What you feel is transitory. Who you are is eternal.

The nature of earthly life is change. Feelings, thoughts and sensations blow through like winds. How will you choose to experience these winds of change? Will you be a leaf at the end of a branch, battered, quivering and shaken by each new experience? Or will you be the tree, rooted and grounded in Love, dancing and swaying with the rhythms of Life?

_____

Attachment to the incarnational story is attachment to struggle.
Attachment to struggle is attachment to the incarnational story.

Give up your "story," and BE who You truly are.

-----

When faced with a decision, ask yourself, "Which choice expands me?" "Which choice contracts me?" "Which option would fear choose?" "Which option would Joy and Love choose?" "Which choice energizes me?" "Which choice feels almost boring?"

Then finally, give it "the rocking chair test:" When you are an old person sitting in a rocking chair looking back on your life, which choice would you be proud of yourself for making, which option will have enriched your incarnation the most?

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Opening the Heart, opens one to receive all the other many many blessings one has longed for and yet resisted.

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To free yourself from fear, simply make a decision to Love all Life.

_____

There is a Light inside of you more powerful than any perceived lack of light in your circumstances.
The more time and energy you invest in focusing on, tending to and increasing your own inner connection to the One Light which enlivens us all, the brighter your life will be.

(AND a brilliant, radiant, illumined, clear, open, enlightened, divine YOU
make the world better for all of us simply by Be-ing Light.)

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Do you want peace in the world? Well the bad news and the good news is that peace is an inside job. Science can now prove that the state of our personal energy field affects the whole of 3D reality.

So ...
Want peace? Be peaceful.
Instead of indulging your ego, simply observe it.
If you feel your little self tensing up in anger, closing down your energy field and hardening your heart,
Stop. Breathe. Bless. Open.

If you truly want to work for lasting peace, your task is nothing less than to affect the collective consciousness by choosing peace over fear, awareness over ignorance, openness over armament, understanding over criticism, and kindness over aggression.

As we each accomplish this in our own lives, we affect the quantum soup of thoughtforms from which political puppets and warlords get their information.
New input = new output.

Today, practice being peace.

"If the people lead, the leaders will follow."

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Here's one quick and easy way to become aware of whether you are in your "monkey mind" or your heart, in the non-existent future or the eternal Now, unwrapping the Present:

Ask yourself, "Am I anticipating or enjoying?"

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Future joy depends on releasing with Love in the present moment our "stories," emotions, mental loops and unhelpful habit patterns of the past.

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What would happen if just for today you pretended that you knew what you were doing, and that you loved your life?

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Simply Be Love, Here, Now.

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As you open and prepare for what's next, stay open also to the many gifts and opportunities of TODAY, for it is in TODAY that you access your true power.

_____

Once you become the improved version of yourself that you hope you'll be someday, how will you live your daily life? What will you do differently? What new attitudes and behaviours will you display?
If this is how you're going to be "someday," perhaps you'd like to practice today.

_____

Did you know that you are very Loved?
You are!
As you read these words, angels are surrounding you, doing their best to encourage you to receive Love.

A gift left unopened is never Divine.

Right now, take a few minutes to STOP, put your hand on your heart, close your eyes and breathe in. Receive some of the golden white Light and Love that is being poured out to you. Now. (Because there is only Now.)

_____

What if all that you've been chasing after "out there" has eluded you or left you dissatisfied because what you've really been looking for is within you?

And what if everything you think you've been missing already exists within, laying dormant in seed form?

And what if all it takes to grow those seeds of fullfillment is YOU, ceasing from frenetic activity and choosing to shift your focus to the generating power of Love and your own spiritual heart?

_____

Become a discoverer! Listen for bird song. Search for a delectible scent. Study a bug. Feast your eyes on natural beauty. Touch a leaf. Taste clean water.

Life is full of gifts and teachers waiting for you to become aware. See what you can discover and enjoy today.

_____

As you become more conscious, you will have repeated opportunities to choose between expansion and contraction; between saying YES! to Life, or saying no; between being open and welcoming or being closed and [ego]self-protective. (Feng Shui practitioners will tell you that one obvious clue to your current position can be seen in the entry way to your home.)
Today, ask yourself, "Am I accessible? Can miracles find me?"

7 July 2004 - Some of you have been wondering what happened to Light Snacks. Well, we moved, and during the moving process I didn't bring in any new Light Snacks. The new office is all set up now, and Light Snacks is Back by Popular Demand:

At some point in the future, your discomfort with being stuck will be stronger than your fear of moving forward. Why wait? Why create more discomfort in your life?

Just for today, take action on behalf of your Higher Self and your Divine Vision.

_____

"Why? Why? Why?"
just keeps you stuck, stuck, stuck.

_____

Learn the difference between being "nice" and being kind.
"Nice" is often duplicitous.

Kindness demands that we speak the truth in Love.

Is there someone in your life to whom you have been "nice?"
Perhaps it is time to get real, and be kind.

_____

New Life, Growth, Blessings, Love, Joy, Peace, magic and miracles happen as we open and make space to allow room in our lives for transformation.

_____

Consider what might happen if you added the adjective "Great!" into your everyday vocabulary AND your everyday endeavors.
(What if you did great work, lived in a great home, had great ideas, made great progress, had great meditations, great Love, great friends, great health, etc?)

Vocabulary shapes reality.

_____

Gratitude is habit forming.

_____

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,
but a means by which we arrive at that goal. " Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

_____

Be the Living Proof that dreams do come true.

_____

While it may be true that "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone,"

It is also true that
you don't know what you've been missing until you receive it.

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Reality is personal and subjective.

Your current reality is a product of your previously held beliefs.

Your future experience of reality will be created from the beliefs (thoughts, emotions, perceptions) you choose today.

_____

What if the future of the Earth and her inhabitants depended upon the people who have been afraid to share their unique way of refracting Divine Light?

Insecurity, withdrawal and withholding Light and Love are just as much of an ego trip as arrogance, bullying and inflicting hollow words on others.

You are here to make things better.
What can you do today to add more beauty, Love, joy, peace... to your world?

_____

Doubt your doubts. Trust your trust. Love your Love.

_____

Awareness is great place to start.

_____

Society can program people to be fearful, to be distrustful and to expect the worst.
Break the trance! Surprise someone today with a no-strings-attached act of loving kindness.

_____

Life often speaks to us in the language of symbols. Today, be open to the signs all around you. Make note of what sights and sounds catch your attention. In the ocean of sensory input, there is usually a very good reason when one particular item pops out at you.

_____

You will receive several invitations to play today. An invitation may be extended from a child, a dog, a bird, a passing cloud, a branch of apple blossoms, a friend, a stranger..... Or the offer may come as a gentle nudging from your own True Self. You may be given the opportunity to share a ten-second celebration of Life, or a 10-minute giggle fest. Whether or not you accept or even notice any of these invitations is entirely up to you. Life is lived in moments.

_____

Do you have a "to do" list... a list of tasks, chores or errands you wish to accomplish today?
If you do, take a look at it right now. How many items on your list have to do with improving your world, nurturing your soul, or blessing others? How many items are more about "swatting at flies" or "putting out fires?"
Taking care of the details of day to day living is part of having a functional physical incarnation. However, we can choose whether our errands and interactions are "necessary evils" or an opportunity for personal growth and soulful connection with others. It is up to each of us to decide whether our tasks are annoying and mundane or energizing and full of opportunity.

What could you do today to turn each item on your To Do list into a personal spiritual adventure?

_____

If there's an area of your life where you are feeling stuck in some way, TODAY take one small step in the direction of your dreams. Any action, no matter how small, starts a new trend.
(Of course if you want to keep the momentum going, gain more confidence and feel more alive, you may want to take several steps in the direction of your dreams today!)

_____

Sometimes, spiritual journeyers get distracted by what the poet Rumi calls "blandishment noises." Other beings and situations can be loud, intrusive and demanding of our time and energy. As a "good" person, one can sometimes find oneself pouring tangible and intangible resources into "helping" someone who has not asked for and does not really want true help or lasting change.
This is where clarity, focus and discernment come into play. If we are clear on our own intent and focused on the desired end result for ourselves, then it becomes much easier to know when we are empowering ourselves and others, and when we have merely stopped our own journey to watch or participate in needless drama. Become clear about the kind of help you wish to give. Examine your ego's hidden desires to have people speak well of you, or to play a leading role in a melodrama. Then, release old patterns, and choose to honour others as equals on a freewill planet. Give in ways that truly assist, accelerating yourself and others with Love and freedom.

_____

Imagine that your human energy system is similar to a radio. You have the ability to both receive and transmit energy signals. Energy broadcasts are received unconsciously and randomly, or consciously, by choice. If you randomly receive and amplify in an unconscious matter, you will just add to the energetic noise, confusion and "static" in the world. On the other hand, if you take the time to consciously tune in to the higher, finer vibrations of Light and Love, you will eliminate much static from your own life, and broadcast a clear and harmonious energy into your world. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the term "Clear Channel Communications" doesn't it? ;-) Stay tuned!

_____

Here are some words to use when you are cleaning up your act on any level:

I no longer need this ___________. I release it to Light,
and receive in its place ____________.

_____

Every act of creation that flows freely from the heart in Beauty, Love and Joy grows your energy field bigger.

_____

You are like geodes. Crack open your shell and let the world experience your beautiful brilliance.

_____

As we change and grow, our outer world gives us feedback. Sometimes this feedback may come as a benediction, sometimes it may come as static. Whatever input you are receiving from your outer world, take it as confirmation that you are shifting your own energy. Then decide for yourself how you would like to move forward. (We can always choose to move forward in growth, Love, joy and peace.)

_____

Inner Peace, by definition, cannot be found outside yourSelf.

_____

Today's light snack comes from Ganesh:

If there are obstacles in the path you are dancing, focus on the dance.

(Think Gene Kelly -- Everything in his path became part of the dance).

_____

What do you want?
What should you want?
What have you been conditioned to want?

Stop.

Breathe deeply.

Inhale as if you're about to swim underwater.
Exhale as if you're blowing a long note on a saxophone.

Now...

From the core of your eternal being...

What do you REALLY want?

How are you using your thoughts, words, time and energy TODAY to help create that?
_____

What if you met someone with tremendous potential who had no idea how gifted they were?
What would you do to encourage them to discover and share their Light with the world?
Could you aid them in realizing that whatever abilities they have been given were entrusted to them to bless their world?
How could you help them unveil their gifts?

You do meet that person...
every morning when you look in the mirror,
and every day when you look into the eyes of another human being.

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When you are at home in and with your own heart, you can feel at home with others.

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The commitment to a daily spiritual practice is often put to the test during unusual circumstances. If we make our commitment to spend quality time with Spirit first thing EVERY morning, regardless of where we are or what is happening in our lives, the stress we used to choose in unusual circumstances is seen clearly for the distraction it is. By choosing Love, union, balance and harmony first thing every day, we find ourselves calm, centered and much more able to deal effectively with any circumstance. In choosing peace over drama, we find we are creating much less drama in our own lives.

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Remember when you were learning to drive a car (or a ride a bike or a motorcycle or sail a boat or pilot whatever kind of vehicle you're familiar with)? The novice looks only at the space around and directly in front of the vehicle. When we are "short-sighted" like this, looking only at what is immediately in front of us or looking only at our surroundings, it becomes very difficult to hold steady, to move ahead without wobbling. Experienced journeyers learn that it is much easier to move forward without wavering if we simply lift up our eyes and focus further on down the road.

Where are you heading today? What is your future destination? Is your focus on your desired end result? Are you looking ahead on the road you wish to travel?

Our bodies, like other vehicles we pilot, tend to move in the direction of our vision.

_____

Meditate. Communicate. Celebrate. Explore.

_____

Be your Higher / True Self, and
let action proceed from your core being.

_____

Looking for a way to bring more truth, beauty, Love, joy and peace into the world?
Live it! Your own vibration, thoughts, words, actions and presence have a profound effect in the Earth plane and beyond!
_____

There are different perspectives and action plans that most people choose to use as they look at their life's circumstances. Most of us use a combination of these two approaches:
One is that things happen to us. Another is that we are creating or attracting the situations in our life.
The first approach encourages frantic scurrying to try to prevent or ameliorate "bad" circumstances. The second viewpoint encourages self-examination and expansion to create changes internally which automatically result in changes externally. Each approach produces some sort of quantifiable results in outer circumstances.
Believing things happen to us produces defensiveness, fear and weariness. Examining our own roles in creating our experiences produces wisdom, expansion, forgiveness, empowerment, enthusiasm and peace.
Take a look at your beliefs and behaviours today. In what areas are you a creator? In what areas do you play the role of victim? In what areas do you choose peace, Love and expansion? In what areas do you choose fear? Where are you self-directed and proactive? Where are you reactive? Which approach works better for you?

_____

You have chosen a unique path for yourself in this incarnation.
Can you see, then, why strengthening your own inner guidance system is so very important?

_____

There are approximately 6 billion people on this planet, and they all need love. If someone does not want to receive what you have to offer, release them and yourself from needless struggle. Put your time, attention and Love where it will do the most good.

_____

Looking at your life from the outside in...

What talents, gifts and blessings does this person (you) have
which they (you) have barely acknowledged or utilized?

_____

Have you made room in your life and your thoughts for magic and miracles?

_____

Acknowledge and receive Love in all the many forms it is being offered to you today.

_____

There is a path from where you are now to where you would like to be in your life. In order to arrive at your desired destination, changes must take place in your beliefs, thoughts words and actions. Forward movement requires you to take steps, and walk in new ways.

_____

Imagine a jar of muddy water. When we literally stir ourselves up with repetitious undisciplined, unconstructive thought patterns, we create confusion and befuddlement.

Clarity is achieved when we cease the physical, mental and emotional swirling and agitation, quiet ourselves and drop into our heart center.

Ahhhhh.... Things become so much clearer when we allow our selves to BE.

_____

Offer Love and blessing
freely, without possessing.

_____

That which is appreciated, grows in value.

_____

We are not only thankful and joyful and Loving because our lives work.

Our lives work because we are thankful and joyful and Loving.

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Who people are when they are alone is who they really are.

How about you?
Whatever you do, are you doing it for show, or genuinely coming from your heart?

_____

Re-kindle wonder. Open.
And your life will be more wonder-full.

_____

What CAN you do?

_____

A cup that runneth over begins as a glass that's half full.

_____

Every word that comes out of your mouth is an affirmation of something.

_____

Matter responds to Love.

_____

Give where it will do the most good.

_____

Have you learned yet the difference between control and guidance?
Control is based in fear. Guidance is a gift of Loving example.
True leadership evokes the innate gifts in all whom it encounters.

Look at your life today. See those areas where you are giving Love and inspiration, and be honest about where you have been trying to control, repress or punish. Also look at areas where you have been giving your power away to others who try to control, repress and punish.

There is a wonderful old proverb worth quoting here:
"Never give power to someone who wants it."

As we play together to co-create a better reality, many of you are finding yourselves placed in positions of leadership. This light snack is a gentle nudge to remind you that the authority which has been entrusted to you is a gift so that you can do things in a NEW way, based in Love and honour and equanimity.

_____

Want to do something new for a change? Try this:

Go to a public place. Sit quietly off to the side and mentally bless and send Love and peace to every being who passes by you. Try it for just 15 or 20 minutes. Then, let us know what you experienced. Thank you in advance for doing this.

We bless you. We wish you peace and fulfillment. May you now feel the Love that is constantly surrounding you.

_____

Confidence is built by gaining mental knowledge, and also by repeatedly doing the thing about which you lack confidence.

_____

Are you waiting for permission to live your purpose?
Sometimes we delay living our mission by pretending to ourselves that we need the approval or permission of others to be our true selves. It is very common and very counter-productive to blame relatives, circumstances, politics, friends, and society in general for our own lack of initiative.
How would you create more beauty, wholeness, Love, joy and peace in your life and your world if you could? You can. Give yourself permission to fulfill your life's purpose.

Start today. Try spending just 1/2 hour per day creating.

Imagine a world where each person on the planet co-operated and conspired and co-created with Beauty, Love, Kindness, Joy and Peace every day!

_____

Re-sent-ment happens when the same stinking, poison thought is repeatedly re-sent by the ego to brain, body and surroundings. With repetition, it begins to permeate the energy field like something rotting in the back of the refrigerator. Yuck!

Blessings and thankfulness can break the pattern and free you from the stench and repetition of resentment. Try it.
Bless (instead of cursing) your self, others, your surroundings, your situation, your past, your present and your future.

Blessings and thankfulness open the door to release and cleanse the past, expand opportunities in the present and make room for a sweeter and more expansive future.

_____

To experience what is and create what can be,
we let go of what was.

_____

It's hard to receive with your fists clenched.

Relax. Breathe. Open. Receive.

_____

Sometimes we immobilize ourselves using the excuse that we can't see the future or we don't know "the plan."
Eternity permeates every moment of today.
In your morning meditation, ask your heart or the Divine,
"What one thing would you have me do today to bring more Light and Love to the world?" Then DO it.

Today, rightly lived, takes care of tomorrow.

_____

A basic formula for happiness:

Love. Create. Let Go.

_____

You do not have to live under the tyranny of the old mental noise. Observe your thoughts and you will discover that you are bigger than your mind. From this larger perspective, you can then choose new thoughts which nurture and support you. Speak, write, read, listen to, and sing the concepts you like. Such ACTIONS "install" constructive thoughts as your new mental background music, and give you the strength and joy to co-create and enjoy Life.

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This is YOUR incarnation. It's up to you and you alone what you do with it.

_____

One of the definitions of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Try something new today, for a change. ;-)

_____

Joy is contagious. Kindness spreads through contact. Love affects the in unity (I'm You-nity) system. Be Warmed!

_____

Are you setting goals and making resolutions? Goals can be a helpful tool. Like a roadmap, they can help us reach a desired destination. Goals can also be a detour or distraction from our true purpose in life. Look at your list. How many of your goals have to do with seeking human approval in some form or other?
If you were to spend the next year with no human contact, what would your goals and plans be for YOU? Write them down.

Now, assuming you could have contact with just 7 humans in the coming year, who would they be? What relationships in your life matter most to you?

Now expand your view. What type of new friendships would you like to cultivate? (You may want to include other Life forms here.)

What actions can you take that have eternal benefits?

_____

Assuming 8 hours to sleep, 90 minutes to meditate and a half hour to shower and dress, You have 840 minutes today to co-create your dreams.

_____

Life is conspiring to give you what you speak about.

_____

Here's a fun little quiz. Below are four quotes. See if you can name the source attributed to each:

1 "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

2. "The infinite spirit can be reached by contemplating its infinite action."

3. "Be still and know that I am God."

4. "Go placidly amidst the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence."

Now that you've finished the quiz...
Can you practice the wisdom?

(Answers:
1. the book of Isaiah, chapter 30, verse 15
2. the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 4, verse 24
3. the book of Psalms, chapter 46, verse 10
4. this is a tricky one attributed variously to the Upanishads, an anonymous poem found in a church in Baltimore in 1692, and an American named Max Ehrmann who supposedly wrote it in 1927. I'm guessing Max probably translated it into English from the Upanishads. If anyone has more info, please let me know.)

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A small shift in consciousness can create a radical change in experience. Are you open to new possibilities?

_____

When one awakens from a dream, all the dream adventure which seemed so real and had consumed attention and incited emotions just minutes before, begins to fade away. In the light of a new dawn, dream images are seen as creations of consciousness.
The dreamers, upon awakening, can free themselves from the constraints of the old dreams, of what had seemed to be "reality."
Once they have chosen to awaken,
body, mind, spirit, energy, emotions, and attention are free to create something better than any slumbering soul could have imagined.

Every moment of wakefulness is a gift of awesome opportunity.

Fear would woo you to hide your head under the covers, and go back to sleep.
Life is awake outside your door and inviting you to come out and play.

_____

Work is Love made manifest.

How can you manifest more Love in the work you do today?

_____

Knowledge is better than ignorance. Learning will give you tools for change. But skill comes only with practice.

Whether you desire to be a ballplayer, an artist, a musician, a business tycoon, or an enlightened, Loving, spiritual human, theory is no substitute for practice.

Reading about meditation, thinking about Love, discussing living from your heart may be inspirational, even motivational.
But it is through conscious ACTION that we improve our skills.

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(Older Light Snacks are being formatted into a booklet. If you would like to order Light Snacks Volume 1, please contact us.)

©2003-2004 Lighthawk