The alarm goes off at 4am for me. At the end of the day, my head doesn’t hit the pillow until 10pm. And in between those times my day morphs into a neverending story.

I used to become overwhelmed very easily. But nowadays I’m fairly even keeled most of the time.

Situations that would have most people putting up streamers for a pity party, don’t even make me bat an eyelash. And that’s because when I feel insanity wrapping its arms around me, I fight back by giving…

There are few things that help me instantly change a negative mental state. Giving the Universe thanks for all the many blessings I have in my life is that survival mechanism for me.

I give thanks that I’m healthy. That I have a great apartment in the heart of the city. That no matter where I go in the world, I continue to meet great people. That my daughter really and truly loves me. Because I’m able to work at home. Because the older I get, the wiser I become. Because I’ve got warm, comfortable boots.

You name it – I give thanks for it.

And you know what?

Giving thanks – especially when you’re feeling stressed – grounds you. It gives you energy and strength. It’s a reminder that regardless of the momentary glitches, life really is good.

So today I want you to have a day of thanks. For every good thing that you see, give thanks for it. Give thanks for every morsel that you put into your mouth, and for the clothes on your back.

Even if you live in a breadbox, give thanks for your breadbox. For there are many who live in shacks and sleep on dirt floors.

Don’t get hung up on what’s wrong. Simply focus on the beauty of all that you have.

And don’t be surprised if you end up in a pool of joyous tears at the end of the day. You truly are blessed.

Yesterday I channeled another message from Caroline.

The question I asked her was related to what’s going on in my life right now. You’ll find the message quite  appropriate for understanding what you must begin to do and to see to take advantage of the multitude of opportunities that present themselves to you.

Enjoy!

This is not complicated. Definitely not as complicated as you might think it is.  Perception, oh perception, it can be tricky from the vantage point to which you sit.

You are sitting on top of a huge mountain. You are sitting on the peak. And yet because of its height you may be afraid to turn around. From the peak you only look down at what’s in front of you. And so you only see things from that single angle.

That does not change the fact that you can see everything going on around you that will benefit you. It only means that you have made a choice to look down and see that one section in front of you.

Stand up! Turn around! Look at the vast view the Universe has given you. Look to your left. Look to your right. You will begin to notice things that you may not have seen or given much attention to in the past.

That is how you advance your situation. You advance your view. You make a choice to observe that which may you may have not observed in the past.  In this way you can be led to putting ideas together.

For you this may mean taking on projects and assignments that may seem contradictory to what you’ve done in the past.  This might mean taking a completely different approach to the way you handled your business in the past.

The direction that you currently look in is quite boring to you. It feels like work. When work didn’t feel like work you were able to advance. And you were able to do so quickly and easily. Everything slid into place for good reason.

At that time you had gotten up and changed your position while sitting on the peak of the mountain.  That’s why it all flowed for you as quickly as it did.

And now it’s time again to rise up. To turn around, to look left, to look right, to look up, to look behind you. To see it all. Not just taking it in from the single vantage point.

Once you do, the path to everything you desire will become abundantly clear for you. Everything will begin to click. Like the puzzle pieces finally sliding into place. And the work becoming like play again.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a nun who I had recently started channeling. Her name is Caroline and you’ll probably be hearing more from her over the next few weeks.

Yesterday I transcribed a message from her which describes why we may find certain situations in life so difficult. Enjoy!

People often think that they are here on earth to learn a lesson. Would you be shocked to know that there are no lessons?

People continue to attract the same type of person or situation over and over again because they like that particular situation. Even when it is destructive, it is comfortable. Think of it like an old, comfortable pair of slippers. With no feet in the slippers they stink. As soon as a foot goes in the smell goes away and the comfort begins.

Is it understandable to you that you have a choice? Of course. It is understandable to others that they have choices too.

People do see the vastness of what the world offers. And yet they make an active decision to remain in situations that perhaps pockets of humanity see as damaging or destructive.

It’s not about conquering the bad habit of attracting the same destructive situation or person. It’s a matter of simply deciding that you want something else. You have a choice. And if you want something different it is your responsibility to choose something else.

Just as many religious people create a God in their image, who is not forgiving, who is angry, who must be appeased with prayers and strict living – the spiritual people (who claim not to be religious) create a God who says, “You must go through Olympic-sized trials in order to realize a lesson!”

Thus spiritual people look at the religious people with disdain. They spiritual people cry, “Can’t they see that God is not some awful hater? He is filled with love!”

And then they (the spiritual seekers) turn around to reveal that God has given them these tough grueling lessons that they must overcome.

God is no more an angry punishment giver then he is a sadistic test giver. The only thing God has done is give us choices. And perhaps that is the hardest part of being human. Truly not having anyone to blame in the matter because we do have choices.

So today – and this might be tough – take a good hard look at the choices you have made. Realize they are not your lessons. They are your choices.

And if you don’t like them, it is up to you to choose again.  And possibly again, and again, and again. Choose until you have reached the Garden of Contentment. And when you get bored, choose again. And when you get weary of that scene, choose yet again.

Placing the blame on your destiny or your past lives is the easy way out.

Having the strength to choose exactly what you want is the stuff that legends are made of.

The most important lesson I learned from this past week (which was actually more than a week since the last time I blogged about this topic) was that if you have a psychic message, you should react to it.

Case in point, I was running the bath for my daughter recently. I noticed an almost empty bottle of tea tree oil castille soap on the shelf, and a psychic flash prompted me to tell my daughter not to mess with the bottle.

I love this particular brand of soap. But my UPS delivery wouldn’t be in for another couple of days. So I was trying to salvage the little bit I had left.

Even though I had this clear message to say something to my daughter, I didn’t. And you know what happened? She called me into the bathroom to show me that she had poured the rest of the soap into the bathtub, and she was now using the bottle as a water spray.

I was partially amazed and partially pissed off that I hadn’t said anything to her. But moreso amazed because she NEVER messes with the castille soap. Ever!

The mitten that should’ve never been lost

On Christmas Eve my neighbor took my daughter present shopping for me.

Before they left I felt a psychic push to hook my daughter’s mittens to her coat. In my mind I saw her coming home with only one mitten.

But once again I didn’t follow through. Mainly because (once again) my daughter has never lost a single mitten in her life. Before she goes out to play, she makes sure she always has her scarf, hat and mittens on. She just doesn’t like being cold. So I never felt like I needed to hook her mittens to the coat.

Darn it… I should’ve acted on my impression! As soon as I went looking for the mitten, she admitted that she’d lost one at the store. But then again, I knew that would happen.

The corner that should’ve never been turned

Every night before I go to bed I take my trash and recycables to the incinerator room, which is around a rather longish corner on my floor.

Because I’m walking around that corner with my pajama’s on, I normally check in psychically to make sure that I don’t run into any of my neighbors. Especially because the incinerator room is in the same vicinity of the elevators.

So this one particular night I’m preparing to take the trash out, when I get a clear “don’t go right now” message.

I paused for a second, and checked in again. The second time I checked in I got nothing. So I thought it was my imagination.

I start sprinting down the hallway and around the first corner. Just as I get to the second corner where the elevators are, an elevator door opens, and out pop 6 tipsy people. One of whom insisted on chatting with me, while I’m standing there with pajamas on and rollers in my hair. I was so embarrassed!

But then again, I knew that would happen too.

If you’re going to use your psychic skills, don’t be shocked

The problem a lot of people have is that they make an active decision to be more intuitive, and then they end up not reacting to the messages that come through.

If that’s you, I want you to take one day to act as if all of your psychic impressions are completely valid. If you get a mental flash that’s alerting you to a potential situation, react as if you just heard that message from a real person. Don’t ignore it.

This will do two things:

1. You’ll learn to better tell the difference between your intuition and your imagination.
2. You’ll re-affirm your psychic ability, which will make that ability even stronger.

So just try it for one day. I’m sure you’ll be amazed.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the iChing oracle for over 15 years. I don’t use it anymore because I prefer to exercise my psychic ability in other ways.

But in the end I found that no matter the method – be it my own innate psychic skills, the tarot cards, or just reading the signs around me – I’d always run into the same problem that would further enhance that love-hate feeling.

The problem?

I’d get the same psychic message over and over again, while the actual situation would turn out COMPLETELY different.

Oh my gosh, I’d be soooo excited about a particular relationship (because the iChing gave me a good message), only to have the whole thing blow up in my face like some kind of exploding cake on America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Why was this always happening?

It’s called the Law of Seeing What You Desire. (I made this law up!)

When we have a deep emotional attachment to the outcome of a particular situation, we will often see that outcome reflected back at us during a reading.

If you’ve been craving that promotion, a tarot card reader may very well see you getting that promotion. But in reality it might pass you by completely.

The Law of Attraction showed it to you. Reality said - “Nope.”

How can you stop this madness?

Ask for the truth and be willing to accept it.

Whenever you’re getting a reading, or reading for yourself, ask the Universe to only show you the truth.

In other words, don’t go into the reading feeling like you’re going to walk away with the answer you want. Go in strong enough to take whatever is given to you.

And trust me when I say, reading these words, and putting them into action are two very different things.

Over the years I’ve had multiple situations where I’ve gotten an upsetting response from a psychic. Then I’ll go home and pull a few tarot cards, and get a positive response. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but the psychic always ended up being right.

Asking for the truth means that sometimes you’ll walk away with a big grin on your face. Other times you’ll feel like you’ve just been stung by a jellyfish, a scorpion, and a hive full of angry bee’s – all at once.

But when you make an active choice for truth, you are always enlightened. And that’s what you have to keep in mind.

Choose truth over a quick feel-good high.