“You act like you don’t know the way.  Like it isn’t etched into your veins, like every breath isn’t wind in your sail, like every heartbeat isn’t the sound of your own two feet walking on the path that leads you home.” Kristen Hubbard.  It’s easier to pretend we don’t know what our own soul is telling us than it is to listen and hear the difficult parts of what it’s telling us.  Our souls know what we are here to do.  What we are wanting to do.  All we have to do is listen, but we give into the distractions we’ve created because it’s easy.  Going inside is painful and it’s scary.  Going inside means the possibility of seeing something in yourself that isn’t the same as everyone else.  It’s recognizing that you’re needs are different and your goals are different. 

We are born with the imprint of what we need to do.  I feel my calling every day and every time I have to push it aside for what “needs” to be done, I feel weak.  It’s when I’m doing what I love and I’m fully enveloped in it that I feel the most empowered.  Free.  We all seek freedom but disguise it as needing money or material things.  We seek experiences but make it seem like we need to have something to validate it.  The experience of life is enough—that is what we are really here for. 

I’m not sure when it started, the need to hide ourselves and our wants.  I feel like, on some levels, it’s a primal instinct to avoid separation from the crowd.  I also feel like it’s an old indoctrination that we still follow because once we learned to harness some of the power of the natural world, we tried to harness the power of man to serve the few.  We started training people about loyalty and instilling fear in them that if they didn’t do as they were told they were going to die and go to a hell that only the select few could see.  A few people learned about power and getting people to do as they wanted so they created a duality here in the physical plane and then created a duality in an afterlife no human could know about.  We just never stopped that structure. 

As more people feel this restlessness building inside, we are questioning the lives we have built.  More and more people are venturing out into things that spark their curiosity and finding what brings them joy.  For the most part, not one of those things is a THING.  We develop our instincts again and learn to follow our own intuition. We remember that it was in us all along, the ability to create a life we want.  We remember that we are able to do things we are called to do, not that we were obligated to do in service to other people.  I want to add a side note that I do believe people need direction and guidance—they do not need their lives dictated to them.  And that is where listening to the voice inside pays off.  That is where we find who we are.

We have created an existential crisis on some levels with the availability of goods and resources.  We’ve lost the meaning of work that has meaning because we’ve made the goal acquiring money.  And anyone who is on this path knows that isn’t what we are really looking for.  We are seeking the freedom to live our lives as we see fit. If we are honest with ourselves and stop pretending we don’t know what we need we will get that freedom.  There is no crisis when you answer your intuition.  When we are in our integrity and do what we are meant to do all becomes clear.

“We are the alchemists of our own bodies.  You can change your own chemistry just by breathing, cold exposure, and mindset.” Wil Hof. After not being able to properly take care of my body for almost eight weeks, I couldn’t agree more.  Additionally, my mind went through some really dark things and it’s impressive the level of perceived control we let external circumstances (and sometimes internal) take control.  I had to pull myself up every day and remind myself that I had a reason to exist.  And I see how intricately the body is tied to the mind. 

I’m making it a point to bring health to my body and to appreciate what my body does.  It can always endure more than we think and if our minds are aligned with a purpose, we can go even further than that.  I struggle with slowing my mind so I am making sure to start each day with gratitude and pulling some cards to sent the intention for the day and to connect with myself.  I have every intention of being around for my child and I am in awe of how the body can come back from anything.  We truly have a purpose that we are meant to fulfill.

I love the idea of being an alchemist of our bodies because it reminds us that there really isn’t anything we need externally that isn’t provided for us.  Food, water, air, and with some ingenuity, we have the materials for clothing and shelter—they are all readily available. We can let go of the idea that we have to be a certain way because all we have to be is integrated in nature. Our bodies don’t NEED a television to survive.  They don’t require $500 shoes.  We don’t need a Bentley to get to work.  We will live without gold and diamonds.  But we require the elements nature has given us and we require human interaction.

We have more power than we think we do as long as we take the time to connect.  I’ve been examining my need to control and the things that make me angry as well as my fears and what I want to do.  I realized how often I have been feeling bad and that I have a really negative mindset.  And I realized I didn’t want to feel like that anymore—and that I was doing it to myself.  Every day.  All the time. 

I choose to learn to work with my mind and slow down enough to hear what I really need.  To change my mindset to connect with source first.  I choose to let go of the things that make me angry because it isn’t getting me anywhere.  I choose to let go of distraction and to focus on what is really important.  I choose to connect with my body and to treat it well so I can be here for my son.  With practice every day I will get closer to the goals that matter.  And as I have been taking steps toward that, as I have peeled back the layers of what has made me feel like crap, I have felt better. It starts with recognizing what we don’t want and leaning toward how we want to feel.  Then take the steps to get there.  I may not ready to run a marathon yet, but tonight, I can take a bath. 😊          

“It passes, until then, it teaches,” Vienna Pharaon.  Buddhism speaks of the circular nature of lessons.  We will face the same lesson over and over again until we learn the lesson.  And sometimes it’s like an onion where we may integrate the first part of the lesson but a while later, even after we think we’ve resolved the issue, it shows up again.  We are constantly learning in this life.  I think about how many times I’ve rushed through my day.  How angry I’ve gotten on the drive into work because people weren’t driving how I wanted them to.  How I’ve wanted to be home while I’m at work.  The common thread there is not wanting to be where I am.  I started to realize that I was wishing my life away.  I was spending more time hating what I was doing than I was building what I wanted to do.  All of that was serving to teach me to be patient and to take the chance to do something I really wanted to.  It was teaching me not to waste my time.

I spent so many years wallowing in things that were long passed.  I created a horrible track for myself going over every mistake I made, repeating everything that had been done to me, every negative experience I had ever been through.  At one point it clicked that I was looking for the negative in every situation.  I relished being the victim.  Being the victim meant I was perpetually innocent and there was nothing I could do in life to make my situation better.  Any lack of success was not a result of my actions so I couldn’t be held responsible for any failure.  I could wrap myself in a little cocoon and stay safe while someone else did the work.  And then I realized that I didn’t want to do that anymore.  Yes, failure sucked but I could keep going because I wanted to achieve something more than I wanted to be the victim.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t have my fair share of really tough experiences—who doesn’t?  But I finally understood that I had some say in how I looked at those experiences.  Being the victim wasn’t getting me anywhere, and I really wanted to get somewhere.  I also had to learn that not all experiences were for me.  I wasn’t meant to be the best at everything.  I was meant to be the best at what was meant for me.  It took a lot to understand that I really had a lot more say than I thought I did.  Just because I wasn’t able to make people drive how I wanted them to, I did have the power to go a different route or to play games with my son to make it easier.  That made me realize that I could change pretty much anything in my life. 

I’m still practicing this because I’m stretching my “intuition legs” so to speak.  I’m learning to follow the signs and to trust the universe.  I’m no longer saying no to what is meant for me.  I’m learning to have faith that if something happens that it was meant to be, and yes, even with imperfection good things can still happen.  Sometimes we build up what we fear and what we think will happen so much that we lose sight of what really is. 

The other lesson is that sometimes we have to give in and allow the lesson to reveal itself.  Even if there are multiple levels to it, the sooner we acknowledge what is happening, the sooner we can integrate and move forward.  My control issues were phenomenal to the point where I couldn’t stand the simplest interruption to my plans.  Had I simply allowed and learned earlier, I know I wouldn’t have faced three quarters of the issues I did.  Letting go and trusting in order to learn is another one I faced over and over until I stopped controlling every facet of my life.  Sometimes we see it, sometimes we need to hear it a thousand times.  Either way, the choice is ours.

“Look at your daily habits and ask yourself if they are causing you to evolve or revolve.  Are you moving forward, or just moving in circles?”  This is such an important distinction.  I’ve spoken a lot about the difference between activity and productivity and I’ve had to reevaluate that recently.  I found myself repeating most days recently and it didn’t feel the greatest.  I was on autopilot trying to get through each day and I saw how dangerous that can be.  It felt stifling and heavy and everything felt like an obligation. 

There are times for everything, and I was quite literally trying to survive for a while there.  I had no choice but to do what I needed to in order to get through the day.  I am grateful I did get through it and I am grateful that I can redirect and shift my habits toward something more productive for myself.  I am choosing to do something differently.  Taking care of my health means addressing everything from my physical health to my mental health as well as my spiritual health.  I’m able to get back in the habit of pulling cards in the morning to center myself.  I’m also able to do some light stretching in the morning to move my body a bit again.  It sets me up for the day.

Beyond that, I’m looking at how I’ve been approaching the rest of my day.  I’ve been making more time for the things I want to do like my writing and spending time with my son.  And I’ve been making the effort to be more present when I’m doing something.  There are moments I struggle with paying attention and with doing one thing at a time so slowing down helps me stay focused and in the moment. 

Sometimes there are wrenches thrown at us that we don’t anticipate—we don’t even see them coming.  But those wrenches have the ability to show us exactly what we need to do.  It doesn’t always take a crisis to show us what we need to do.  Even if you’re just stuck in a rut, that can show us what we need to do.  Sometimes when things don’t feel right they can lead us toward what does.  Every day is a new start and if you’re not sure where to begin, look at the good you can do.  We always have a chance to do something good for others and for ourselves—and to do something good for ourselves by helping others.  We start by look at our habits.      

“Everything in life starts with your mindset first and your actions second.  Your actions follow your thoughts, your beliefs and ideas.  To make a shift, to free your energy, start with getting your mind right, and then take action,” Sylvester McNutt III.  Over the last couple of months, there were many moments I wasn’t sure I was going go survive.  I didn’t know if I could endure one more thing.  That was just the physical component.  I waged a mental war on myself every day, hoping I would feel better, knowing I wouldn’t but not knowing how to resolve the situation.  Feeling like everything was my fault.  It became more and more evident that the moment I had hoped would be beautiful and provide some completion for my family was not meant to be. 

In all of that, I am grateful for my body because I genuinely had intuition that something was wrong from the beginning.  Even though we had been trying to have another child for some time, the hope I had could not outweigh the reality of the situation.  I have intense moments where I still feel guilty but I also have this sense of understanding that it all played out how it was supposed to.  I feel conflicted most days, and honestly, the guilt and the peace can come at different times in the same day.    

What I’ve learned is that moving forward is all about perspective.  Like McNutt says, “Everything in life starts with your mindset first.”  I’ve wanted to bury myself in my bed but my life doesn’t allow for that—and that’s a good thing.  I have a son to look after, a house to take care of, a husband who has also been affected by all of this, teams to manage, my personal goals to work on.  Letting this moment define me would be a death trap.  A life sentence of rehashing things I will never know—the what-ifs and the should haves.  None of that matters.  What matters is what IS.  And I am beyond grateful that I was able to recognize what a terrible mindset I was in. 

I’m more grateful that I was able to recognize how much good there still is.  How much beauty.  How precious life really is.  How fragile it is.  How important it is to respect and appreciate the time we’re given.  I saw my husband step up in ways I never thought he was capable.  My body withstood unimaginable trauma day after day for almost two months.  My mind endured the trauma of trying to keep some semblance of normalcy with managing my home, my family, and work—and I had many moments of feeling like a failure—all while dealing with love and loss and the possibility of losing my own life in addition to my child.  I still managed to pull through.  The mind drives the ship and mine took me through some dark places.  Not that I am entirely the same, but it pulled me through.

I’ve changed a lot over the last eight weeks.  I see the actions I need to take.  I see where talk is cheap and how I need to act on the things I want.  I see now just how much I am capable of.  I see how important it is to not take that for granted.  I see how blessed I am.  It is from that place where life begins.  Real life—not the bullshit we think we are supposed to do.  I see where I need to get my mind right and the people I can rely on to do that.  How I need to reach out for help.  I see how precious this life is.  One thing about being at your lowest is that your thoughts become crystal clear.  There is no doubt about what you hear at the bottom because it’s just you—there is no interference from anything.

Marie Forleo says, “Clarity comes from engagement, not thought.”  That is even more clear to me now as well.  We can spend our time theorizing or planning but we won’t get to the goal if we don’t act.  And for me, I need to make myself whole again so the rest can fall into place.  I used to think it was the opposite:  once things fall into place you feel better.  But that isn’t true.  You get clear through trial and error and learning what works for you.  It’s all about mindset and that is no joke.  Nearly losing it all helped me decide the actions I want to take next.  In spite of what it cost, I am grateful for that.  So welcome the possibility that you need a different perspective and that, sometimes, the things we think we can’t do are the very things that show us what we can do.  It all starts with you.    

Today I am grateful for decisions.  My husband and I have been working really hard at hearing each other out.  The last few months have been challenging for him as well and now that we are on the other side of it, we are working out what we want to do next.  I am really grateful that we are making the effort to work together because we have both been really fragile and I think we both needed to feel support again.  Specifically support from each other and working together has reinforced that for us.

Today I am grateful to look at things with new eyes.  I mentioned above that my husband had been having a hard time the last few months as well and I didn’t realize the extent to which things were weighing on him.  I’ve always known he struggles with expressing what he is really feeling—he tends to keep most of that inside—but the extremes we faced with my health and losing our child pushed him to the edge as well.  Just the fact that he opened up about being upset with the situation gave me pause and let me see his vulnerability.  He needed support as well.  I am so grateful to see that in him because it was his reality and he was able to share that so I could be present with him and not only in my head. 

Today I am grateful for reminders about how precious life is.  I’ve had an abundance of these reminders the last few weeks and it is enormous encouragement to continue on my path.  We never know what life is going to throw our way so I am grateful to garner confidence to do what works for me.   

Today I am grateful for learning.  I’ve invested in a lot of books over the last few weeks and I’ve enjoyed every one of them.  It feels so good to pick up on things I’ve been interested in and a few books I’ve been waiting to get.  I am grateful to do something for myself that expands my mind and my heart and feels good.

Today I am grateful for projects.  I feel this surge of energy to move forward with things around the house.  The timing is right for the next stage of our lives and to start working toward one of our goals—to get a single family home.  We’ve put a lot of things on pause so it feels good to make some progress toward what we want.    

Today I am grateful for reminders to stay in our truth.  Some issues have come up with a few of our neighbors and it has put us in an uncomfortable position.  I see that the person responsible for some of these issues has been struggling for the last year and is probably feeling completely out of control so they are trying to control anything around them.  For me it also serves as a reminder that we are not going to let someone bully us because they feel weak and we are on the right path.  We’ve outgrown this space and know what we want so we are going to stick with our truth and keep moving forward.  It just isn’t worth the fight.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.

“I used to think that I had to struggle to succeed.  Now I know that true success is an inside job,” Gabby Bernstein.  Every day I looked for something shitty that happened.  I used to wallow in it.  I would relish the opportunity to use whatever negative thing that happened as an excuse to not do what I wanted.  Constantly the wounded victim, I created a cycle of trying something new only to watch it fall apart because of some horrible thing that happened.  Or if it wasn’t horrible, it was some unfortunate thing that prevented me from moving forward.  As much as I wanted to move forward, I realized that my comfort zone was dreaming…not doing.  Because the doing meant accountability and responsibility to keep it going.  If something stopped me, then I couldn’t go forward through no fault of my own.  It was a deceptively comforting story to tell myself.

Essentially I grew tired of the same bullshit story.  The desire to create and do something original and fulfilling for myself outgrew the need to be a victim.  That’s when this pattern hit me—I didn’t it to myself.  I went through a long phase of believing I needed to prove myself.  That the only way things we want come true was if we suffer for it.  I never believed success came easily.  There were times I felt the tide turning in my direction and I would bail because it felt too easy and I didn’t believe it was “my time.”  I did a lot of soul searching and I understand now that if it is meant for us, it will come—it really is that simple. 

I also learned that struggle is no indicator of success.  It has no bearing in determining where we end up.  I’m not saying that we don’t have to work—and sometimes work is a struggle—but making things unnecessarily difficult on ourselves will not get us where we want to be.  That’s martyr thinking.  And the thing with martyrs is they never get where they were meant to go.  Their sacrifice only serves to hurt them in the end.  I digress.  Changing the mindset around struggle clicked for me when I realized that if things seem to be flowing easily or happening quickly, it’s because of alignment.  It isn’t because the shoe will eventually drop.  Brene Brown talks about foreboding joy where when we feel hints of success we fear it because we believe something bad will happen because of our success. Sometimes our success is just the result of what we have done.  It is never a lure into something we were not meant to have and it isn’t a trap to punish us for something else.  Success is meant to be enjoyed.

When it comes to success being an inside job, Bernstein is talking about feeling worthy of the results of our work.  As a society we are used to letting people determine our worth—everything from what they pay us to their critique of the service/product whatever it may be.  When we know our own worth, setting those boundaries becomes much more comfortable.  We know we don’t have to struggle to prove our worth as that value isn’t tied to other people’s opinions.  We know we have a say in the result.  So find your alignment and go with the flow.  If you’re struggling, ask yourself how you can let go more, not how you can push more.  Do the work to set your boundaries and know your worth.  Nothing has to be a struggle—it’s all how you look at it. 

“Anti-Social behavior is a trait of intelligence in a world full of conformists,” attributed to Nikola Tesla.  I simply found this quote an interesting commentary on social behavior.  I personally don’t believe our socialness is a mark of intelligence because there are so many facets to intelligence.  25 years ago Daniel Goleman discussed Emotional Intelligence and we are seeing now what a key factor that plays in success in life.  Academically successful people aren’t necessarily socially successful.  And socially successful people don’t always know the ins and outs of what needs to be done.  There is a fine balance that we are still trying to achieve.

Toward the end of Tesla’s life, he became increasingly reclusive so if this quote is his, I’m not sure he was in the right mind frame to take this with much faith.  The man was traumatized on a personal and professional level so his ideas regarding human social behavior may have been a bit skewed.  But even if it was a skewed judgement, it’s interesting nonetheless because Tesla remained astute and had spent much of his life alone working on ideas. 

I used to think being anti-social meant an intense dislike for people and avoiding them at all costs.  I see now it encompasses a dislike for small-talk or a discomfort with new social situations.  In those contexts, being anti-social may very well be beneficial as a choice in being where you want to be and with whom.  Not everyone will get along as not everyone holds the same ideals so a certain degree of selective settings suggests a self-awareness.  It is true that many people conform because they are afraid of what other people will think if they do something differently.  If you’re socially selective, none of that matters.

I actually prefer the term socially selective to anti-social because it seems the norm.  We can’t possibly be available for everything regardless, and not everyone will like us and vice versa.  So self-awareness is key and does suggest intelligence.  Knowing who supports us and what interests we have are traits that will push us in the right direction.  It takes a lot to stand firmly in our identities but that is when we feel best.  Not to mention sometimes we all need a break.  We need time away from stimulation and from other people’s energy.     

I’ve often been anti-social and I’ve often been wrong.  I’ve always been a bit socially awkward so there were many events I found myself avoiding because I assumed I wouldn’t like them.  After a bit of digging, I realized that I avoided a lot of things because I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted.  So it wasn’t that I was necessarily anti-social, I was afraid of social situations.  Those tend to be the moments I wish I had learned to bolster my courage a bit more because often times saying “yes” teaches us we can do more than we think.  So be socially selective.  Make choices to do things that really interest you and really spark you.  Try new things but only if you feel they challenge you for a purpose.  Above all, let go of any concern about what people think.  This is your life—live it for you. 

“There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart.  So you’d better learn the sound of it.  Otherwise you’ll never understand what it’s saying,” Sarah Dessen.  I’m guilty of not listening to my heart.  I’m guilty of pretending I couldn’t hear it.  I’m guilty of telling it to shut up because I had other things to do.  It left me lost and alone and feeling unfulfilled and unheard.  I never understood the importance of recognizing my own beat until very recently.  I found myself repeating other people’s stories rather than creating my own.  I felt like I wanted something for me, but I couldn’t shake the fear that I was unsupported.  I was raised with the idea that taking care of ourselves was a personal obligation—you don’t ask for help and if you fail you pick yourself up.  I was fortunate enough that my parents DID help me, but it was challenging to allow myself to try things when I knew I might fail.  So I often stuck with the book.

I’ve spoken a lot about that voice inside and I started feeling like a hypocrite once I realized how long I ignored mine.  I played it safe.  The entire first year of working on this blog I tried to fit it in after work.  If I missed days I would feel upset but I allowed myself to skip because I had other things to take care of—I had to work late, or my son needed my attention because my husband was video gaming.  Shifting this to a priority was uncomfortable at first because I felt like I didn’t have enough time.  Then I felt guilty making time for it because I felt like I was ignoring my family, especially my son.  And then I realized that this is more than just a little blog.  This is my outreach.  This is my connection.  This is my vulnerability sharing these stories with people who may resonate with them.  This is something I did for myself to be there for my family when it really mattered.  I needed to share these words for my own sanity.

I spent 36 years of my life doing what I was told and keeping that voice so silent I didn’t even know it could make a noise anymore.  But that voice is strong—and it never went away.  Rather than continue to listen to the monster replaying every mistake I ever made, I decided to listen to the inspiration telling me I couldn’t afford to not do what I wanted anymore.  That we have one shot and it’s time to do what made me happy because once I go to that place, I would be able to help those around me even more.  I could be even more present with my family. 

I realized how much more fulfilling it was to tell my own story rather than try to be a copy of someone else’s.  It’s also much easier.  I surprised myself.  I didn’t know how detailed I wanted to get on the personal side of things but I found myself sharing some of the deepest parts of me.  I found myself sharing things I’ve wanted to talk about for years.  I started to find my real voice because I listened to my inner voice.  That intuition is never wrong.

I’m sorry for all the years I ignored what my soul was trying to tell me.  I know on an intellectual level that things are meant to happen in their right time and that what is meant for us will never miss us.  It still hurts to think about the “what-ifs.”  What if I HAD listened earlier?  What if I hadn’t been so damn stubborn and just listened to what I really wanted?  What if I had been able to go with the flow more?  What if I hadn’t been so afraid?  What if I had said what I really wanted to do from the start?  The truth is none of that matters because what happened is what happened.  If it was meant to go another way, it would have.  And all of those moments that I let go by taught me not to waste another second more.  They taught me to slow down and listen.  They taught me that not everything is meant for me.  They taught me that I can try and fail and still try again—and that has no bearing on who we are, only on what we learn.  They taught me that perfection is a myth and that living in sync with what works for me is what matters.  I am grateful to hear, loud and clear, what I am meant to do now.  Trust me, take the time to find the beat of your own heart.            

“The more we unlearn, the more we remember,” Dulce Ruby. How much have we been told about who we are that is not our own?  Things like we have to go to a certain school, get a certain job, make a certain amount of money, behave a certain way in public, buy a certain house, have a certain marriage to a certain type of person, and have a certain number of kids.  The beauty in learning about ourselves is that we learn to be ourselves. 

As we get closer to our purpose, the more we see how much of what we do isn’t what we want to do—it is what we were told to do.  We’ve perpetuated the same system with little thought as to why for centuries.  The good thing about a system that hasn’t evolved as we have is that we are starting to see the flaws—and they are getting more difficult for people to hide.  We can no longer pretend that the system serves us and we are understanding that we serve a system. 

It is our responsibility to continue to awaken and remember what we are here for.  Unlearning can be uncomfortable and even scary because we are often working from a place of unknown.  As creatures who seek answers, foresight, and closure, moving forward into an uncertain and unpredictable future is terrifying.  But moving into the unknown is what we have done for a millennium.  We’ve followed our curiosity to learn what works and what doesn’t.  We have lost touch with that curiosity in place of what we are told to do. 

Remembering is about letting go of all of those preconceived ideas we’ve been taught and putting faith in the creation of something new even if it isn’t tangible yet.  We have to trust in our ability to learn something new.  And we have to reinforce the idea of global impact.  We are moving into a new paradigm and this last year has shown how inextricably linked we all are.  This is the perfect time to dive in to make those changes.  To let go of the outmoded ideas we have been living in.

Unlearning is an opportunity to learn something new.  It all starts with paying attention to what we do without thinking every day.  We live so much of our lives on auto pilot—everything from hitting the snooze button to driving to work to drinking that extra cup of coffee to finishing the entire plate when we stopped being hungry half way through.  When we pay attention, we notice the patterns and we notice what doesn’t work—where we need to change.  We are meant to evolve and develop new systems.  We aren’t meant to repeat the same patterns forever, especially when they no longer serve.

If you’re unsure of where to start, pick up a new book.  Try a new food.  Take a new route to work.  Get out of bed without hitting snooze.  Try to shake things up a bit.  Get out of your routine and do something else.  There is a lot of life to live outside of your comfort zone.  For me, the first thing I did was try working out every morning.  I felt good with a light workout and it started my body moving again.  I didn’t feel so lethargic.  Then I threw in a spiritual practice of drawing cards every morning.  I found that to be a nice way to set the tone for the day.  Each small step in our own lives creates a ripple out in the world.  You see yourself differently and you perceive the world differently.  It all starts with us.  Let’s change reality.