It's been another week of hard news in the world, and understanding can seem hard to come by. No matter how much we want others to understand us, we must be willing to pause, to listen, to pray, and to understand before we ask others to understand us.

We're so used to operating from the basic expectation that everything is a matter of winning or losing, and, in Truth, the most optimal outcomes will always occur when we function from the knowing that my good never comes at you loss. We can ALWAYS choose to expect Good, and always choose to work with others until we come to a point of win/win (or no deal).

One of the most challenging lessons for us to assimilate is that we are ALREADY whole, complete, perfect, and that our words, thoughts, and actions are important. You are not insignificant- YOU MATTER! Licensed Unity Teacher, Susan Smith, shares her insights with us today.

Susan Smith, Licensed Unity Teacher, shares her wisdom with us today. The stories we tell ourselves are important- what are you telling yourself?

We're at a pausing point in the 7 Habits- moving from those habits which cultivate our fullest interdependence, and then taking that interdependence to the next step, the practices of Interdependence. We may think we're doing this work for ourselves, but really, our goal is nothing less than the transformation of humankind!

As a teaching Center, we offer Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute (UWSI) Spiritual Education and Enrichment (SEE) classes on a regular basis. These classes are the first level of credit classes for those who wish to dive deeper into understanding the spiritual principles and practices which make up Unity's theology. Today, we enjoy lessons from two of those students, Birke Earl (currently our Board Secretary) and Larry Bearden (currently our Board President). Settle in and listen to two of our upcoming leaders!

We're approaching the mid-point in our exploration of the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and a shift in focus is beginning. The move is from "me"- centered behavior to "we"-centered practices. The fact is, we need to master ourselves with the intention of better service the Wholeness of which we are a portion.

Core values came under discussion a couple of sessions ago, and this is where they really start to come into play. Our life experience is determined by the choices we make, and we must have clarity around what is most important if we are going choose wisely.

When we're cultivating optimal behaviors, we need to recognize when we are actually leading our life rather than simply managing the external events which show up in our lives. There is a place to use our mangement skills, but that comes later.

It's hard to know whether you're headed in the right direction if you don't know where you want to end up. This week's lesson includes a guided meditation from the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and it would be best if you listen at a time you can sit by yourself quietly and consider - deeply - what you value in life.