I want to share how I harness the energy of jealousy. Something that really helps is having confidence. Because jealousy is the emotion relating to fear that something you have or someone will be taken away by someone or something. I really feel like there is nobody else like me in this world. So what do I have to fear, right? Even with that confidence, I’ll still feel jealous occasionally. I’ll look at that moment and ask what’s the deeper emotion behind that? There’s no way I could be jealous over someone I don’t even care about. It’s a strong emotion that is telling me hey I care about this person. Then it’s oh what a nice feeling it is to care about this person. I focus on that. If it’s appropriate, I find a way to show my caring. It gives my jealousy a positive outlet. If it’s a close friend making new friends without me, what can I do to encourage our friendship? If it’s a romantic partner spending time with other people, how can I continue to be a bright light and indispensable? If it’s a family member with new commitments, how can I support them which helps them and gives us more time?

Jack Kornfield: ”To live an awakened life is to be here in the reality of the present, in the now which is all we have. And to recognize that thoughts about the future are thought. You can use them, but you don't have to believe them, because half the time they don't come true. And thoughts about the past are gone. The past, you can learn from. To be awake is to live here so that when you are with the person you love, you’re really present, or with your dog, or with the work that you're devoting yourself to, or your creative life. Or whether you listen to your heart and realize that you are caught in fear and confusion.” I want to encourage you to look at your calendar for today and organize it so that you can be present for every moment.

“We know where the mind is. We experience it as our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions, our ideas. But where is the soul? Between every thought, we have a little space. That still presence that you feel, that’s your soul. It was there when you were a baby. It was there when you were a teenager. It's there now. It will be there tomorrow. And if you get really in touch with it, if you become familiar with this center of awareness that you really are, you will see it's your ticket to freedom.” Deepak Chopra. My question for you today, what are you doing to get familiar with this center? Take a few minutes to feel into that presence, that’s your ticket to freedom.

One year when it was my birthday, I pulled out a dress to show my best friend that I wanted to wear to the party. She said, “Oh my gosh it's so beautiful! Aren't you afraid you'll get it dirty.” I replied, “That just means I had a party and I had a really great time.” I felt like that was the reason for having a beautiful dress, was to actually be able to wear it. Are you still saving your special things or are you making things special? How can you go about making today extra special? An extra accessory to your outfit, put out the nice China for your meal, light that candle you’ve been saving for a special occasion? Go ahead, make today extra special. Want answers? Send your questions, comments or thoughts about life to [email protected]

What’s something in your life that's taking up massive amounts of bandwidth and energy and just giving you very little in return? It's time to consider letting go. A tip for letting go is to fill the space with something good. Because in order to move away from one thing, you have to move towards something else. Think about what you can move towards to make the letting go more palatable. Want answers? Send your questions, comments or thoughts about life to [email protected]

At some point, as you're pursuing your hearts desire and chasing your big dream. You’re going to have to stop taking advice. For the most part, advice that’s given anyways really  isn’t that great. It won’t apply to your specific situation. It's like a small entrepreneur trying to take personal finance advice from somebody in the corporate world. There’s a time and place to max out your 401k. There’s a time and place to take all your savings and put it into your company and go for the gold. You have to have had enough experience, made enough of your own mistakes and failures that you can own all of it and be able to trust and lean into your own judgment. At that point, stop listening to other people. You don’t need that kind of advice. 

Is perfection a bad thing or good thing for you? Here’s how to find out. If perfection is driving you to improve a process and you have fun while you're perfecting it, then it's not getting in your way. It’s you in perfect alignment with something that you're passionate about that you enjoy and energizes you. But if perfection is overwhelming you. The idea of having to have something just right prevents you from even getting out the gate. That's when perfection is holding you back. That’s when it's time to let it go. There's no need to get bogged down by absolutes. Just go with what energizes you. So if perfection is motivating you, then keep at it. If it's basically stopping you in your tracks, feel free to let it go.

Today I want to talk about Envy. You can turn that feeling into an aspiration. Envy is the emotion of coveting what someone else has. How do you go about turning this seemingly negative quality into something positive? For example, if you envy someone's success, news of a colleague’s promotion or someone's financial windfall. Ask yourself what’s behind the feeling? Notice perhaps your ambition and take a moment to admire that. If you envy someone's image or looks, perhaps it's the discipline behind the body, or the radiance. or confidence that you see. Find what you can emulate. That's how you turn your feelings into aspirations.

We have a tendency to worry about the future especially the uncertainty of the future. Consider instead your habits because your habits will become your future. If you have a habit of great dental hygiene, then your future will include fewer cavities and a brighter smile. If you have a habit of eating nutritiously and staying active, then your future will include a  greater level of fitness. If you have a habit of reviewing your finances regularly and saving, than your future includes an account with money in it to do what you want. Your habits become your future.