The photo above is my beautiful daughter taken at a mystical spot on Mount Shasta on her thirteenth birthday. The photo was taken by Paul of Venus.

Years ago I learned a prayer from the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.

It goes like this:

Please guide me from ignorance to wisdom,
From restlessness to peace,
And from desire to contentment.

I say it each time I pray or meditate.

And for years, a part of me, a little spark, would resist the last part. I didn’t want to give up desire. Without desire, I told myself, I’d get fat. I’d accomplish nothing. I’d BE a nothing.

It wasn’t until I learned to love myself that I was able to ask for contentment without resistance.

I’m sitting here feeling pretty damn content.

It’s not that I don’t desire.

I desire peace on this planet.
I desire spiritual union.
I desire to be a bestselling author.
I desire to be a millionaire.
I desire to be in a state of complete health.
I desire to travel.
I desire that my children spend their days safe, healthy and happy.
I desire to heal myself, others, and mother earth.

But the desires come from deep inside my heart where love lives. They no longer hold the charge of shame, self-contempt or a feeling of “I have to have it to be enough.”

Do you love yourself?

Can you offer yourself compassion when you make a mistake?
Do you allow yourself to feel your feelings?
Can you be alone with yourself?
Or…Do you say things to yourself in your head or out loud that you wouldn’t dare say to another?
Do you keep yourself from speaking up or taking action when it comes from deep inside your heart? Do you even know what is deep inside your heart?

Some people refuse to love themselves because they believe they don’t deserve it or that loving the self would mean they are selfish, vain, conceited – a narcissist.

I’ve got news for you. Whether you choose to love yourself or not YOU ARE ALL OF THE ABOVE.

You are selfish at times. You are vain. You are conceited and even narcissistic.

To love yourself is to accept yourself. To forgive yourself for all of your shadow.

I’m an empath, meaning I can sense emotional frequencies. Big time.
And lately the earth frequency has gotten so loud. There is so much fear. So much anxiety. So much hate.

It has been rough, right?

What I literally just realized is this.

What is happening on earth, to earth, is a representation of the shadow – our collective dark side.

There is so much happening. So much.

And what I see clearly now is that I have a choice. I can jump into the frequency of fear, anxiety and hate and swim around with the masses.

Or I can see it as a reflection of myself. A mirror.

And I can accept it, forgive it, integrate it.

I am not separate from this fear, this anxiety, this hate.

As within so without. As above so below.

And in the same way I can forgive myself for hurting another, without condoning it or using it as an excuse to abuse myself, I can forgive the collective shadow that is being shown to me now.

The only thing I can do is bring the light of love in.

Light, love, acceptance, forgiveness. This is where our true power resides.

In this video of me and my kids, we are playing the “pink bottle challenge.” I made this game up because there was a water bottle sitting on the kitchen counter for days that I wanted to wash. Each time I tried to open it, the lid would not budge. One night I challenged my kids to try. Anthony has gotten so strong! Alice too! This time I tried to open the water bottle by putting love into my hands. I channeled love and light and the joy of play.

Love is how we take back our power.

Swim there with me.