More catch up this week for the calendar journey. I hope those who have ordered the calendar are enjoying it. Let me know! I’ve received plenty of wonderful comments. Of course, you can purchase your own personal calendar to brighten a corner of your world, via Lulu. If you feel inclined, feel free to post an ecstatic, heartwarming or witty review on the Lulu site, here. 
January’s theme continues: Love self now — it is the answer to all questions. To review my thoughts on this theme, click here.
January exercise week 3: Let go of beating yourself up
Most of us are masters at beating ourselves up. Listen to people talk. Their stories often burst with self criticism. And those are just the thoughts they verbalize. The inner conversation can be much worse. The habit of self criticism is so deep, we often aren’t even aware of the endless depreciating chatter going on in our heads. An overblown boastful personality or relentless judging of others is often an attempt to drown out the severe internal pummeling going on inside.
This constant dissatisfaction is the voice of ego. The best description of ego I’ve heard is that it’s the energy within you that puts you above or beneath another. It is consumed with jockeying for position. It is never at peace. To ego, our successes are momentary illusions, our failures never die.
Loving self now is both the goal and the remedy to the destructive, obstacle-filled energy of ego. Every moment, every situation we encounter presents us with a choice: a) have compassion, acceptance and love for ourselves, or b) beat ourselves up. This is the secret to life. Out of these moment to moment choices, our lives are constructed. If you are choosing to heal, you need to make a determined decision to choose option “a.” Choosing ego’s option “b” always, always, always digs you into a deeper hole. Despite this truth, ego’s option “b” is such a habit, choosing self love takes a lot of practice. Choose to let go of beating yourself up every time you catch yourself. Smile at yourself instead.
January exercise week 4: Decide all actions take you toward trust in self
Betrayal is a widespread experience in our current time. Much of what we’ve believed in is being severely challenged. From the institutions we rely on — the companies we work for, the banks we deal with, the government we believe we elect — to the expectations we’ve held for our lives, the foundations of our world are getting a good shake up. The revelation of so much deceit and collapse is raising a grand question in most of us: what can I trust?
The shake up is unearthing an even deeper betrayal — feeling that we’ve betrayed ourselves. Why in the world did I trust this institution? How foolish could I have been? How did I let myself be hoodwinked? How could I have let this happen? Why did I put up with this for so long? Why didn’t I see this coming?
We have been turning over power to supposed authorities, many of whom are revealing themselves not to be on our side. In a certain sense, this is a mirror of our inner world: we have been turning over power to our egos — we’ve allowed this ever-critical, never-satisfied aspect of ourselves to run our lives. We are beginning to see that ego is not, after all, truly on our side. All ego creates is endless obstacles and drama. But if this voice in our head is not to be listened to, who, then, do we trust? Giving yourself love quiets the mind. By doing this, we can hear and build trust in our wiser intuition. Decide to honor your best self — it’s inside behind the judgmental chatter and fear. Decide that each step in your life now will take you toward trusting this wise and courageous self — it is the part of you that will lead you to true happiness.
January exercise week 5: Curl up with a good book
In this world of twitter, txts and video overload, we can forget the experience of enjoying the quiet world of imagination. The journeys the mind and emotions take with a good book often far surpass even a great film — imaginations are exceptionally personal and unbounded by the budgets or casting quirks of Hollywood. Give yourself the chance to settle in a quiet corner in a favorite chair, undisturbed for a block of time, to begin a new journey this week.
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