This path of spiritual/personal growth is rife with paradox. Things that appear on the surface to be contradictory but upon deeper exploration reveal themselves as deep Truth (capital T).

We can't tap into our most essentially creative power or the flow of abundance when we're rushing forward. Our fullest power and potential are only available when we're firmly grounded in this present moment. 

The more we strive for perfection, the less worthy we feel. The antidote to the thankless, life-force-depleting, never-ending perfectionism cycle is simple. It's the deep-in-your-bones trust that: You are enough.

Two antidotes to suffering:

1) Keep your eyes on your own paper (or yoga mat). 2) Let yourself let go of things you can't control.

You might not understand why you've been called to do the thing you feel called to do, but you do it anyway because it just feels right. It's only in hindsight that you see how it all connects.

You don't have to believe it fully for the seeds of possibility to start to germinate. You just have to keep the door of possibility open, and acknowledge that even slightest sliver of what's possible.

All we need to do to get unstuck from a sticky moment - aka a sticky thought - is to: Pause. Step back. Take an objective look at what's actually happening (not in your mind, but in reality). And get curious about what's under the microscope, with no clinging to or pushing away whatever you discover.

Every time you let a should trump a genuine desire, you're telling your big “S” Self — your natural core of love and kindness — to get out of the driver's seat so your little “s” self — your control-loving ego — can take the wheel.

Yes, long-held beliefs have layers. But if you chip away steadily and with heart-centered intention, you'll get to their core, and you'll uncover what's actually always been true: That you are 100% whole. That there is nothing you need "out there" that you don't already have "in here."

When we align our actions in a committed way with our most sincerely heartfelt desires, the universe tends to step in to support us in some way, even if not in exactly the way we'd envisioned. But we have to meet the universe halfway.

You never know whose life you might be changing for the better right this second by just showing up. There's no different way, no "more” you need to be to positively impact someone's life right now.

When the landlord opened the door to the apartment I now live in, my first thought was, Wow, this is tiny. My second thought was I know I'm gonna live here. I just knew in my gut this space was for me. And the past 3 years have proven that intuitive hit to be right on the money. Sometimes intuition comes clearly like that. But when fear is involved, intuition can feel fuzzy.

I thought there was something defective about me that I hadn't been able to figure out how to kick these maddening, self-defeating eating habits.Then one day this question crossed my mind and really hit my gut: "I wonder what I'm using food to distract myself from?"

Don't sweat the details at first. They'll clarify as you go. Start with just the ONE thing you know from deep in your being you want - and you see - in your ideal future day. Keep that one thing front and center in your vision; trust it and build on it.

When you stay plugged into your sense of what really feels right for you, when you stay open enough to be willing to try out just this one little shift, you can have those breakthroughs. You don't need to wait for some gigantic shift in outer circumstances to break through your inner barriers.

Worry is a subconscious way of keeping ourselves comfortable - aka (emotionally) safe - aka small. But if you stay aware, you can use worry to your advantage. You can start to view it as a signal that you're about to step into some sweet, new, expansive territory.

In hindsight, it seems a little crazy that I couldn't see where all this was heading given all the synchronistic arrivals of one "just what I needed at the perfect moment" circumstance after another in those years. But that's how it is. We're ready for what we're ready for when we're ready for it.

Our tendency is generally to try to "fix" our way back into balance once we realize we've fallen out (and we of course have to be fortunate/willing enough to have the awareness to notice that we've wandered from center ground to even do that). But balance is actually our natural resting place.

With too little awareness and intention, we stay stuck in the same place. With too much force, we bulldoze right past the present moment. But when you hit it just right, you get to hang in that ease-y space, where it feels like you're being magically supported. You know when you've hit that sweet spot because the effort suddenly doesn't feel like work.

At first the details will likely seem fuzzy. No problem.

Pieces of your ideal day vision that at first might seem frivolous hold powerful information about what your soul is longing for.