The Everyday Mystic

There is a Sufi saying that states, "Trust in God and tie your camel."  This is a poetic way of describing the paradox of surrendering to Source energy, letting it bring blessings and surprises to you, while at the same time making plans and taking earthly precautions.  This is the balancing act that you are called to do as a spirit in an earthly body.  Finding the balance between surrender, or accepting what is, and setting a goal is a minute-by-minute challenge.  Those who do it consciously do it better.

I was reminded of this the other day.  In my rush to get out the door to give a presentation to a women’s group across town, I forgot my purse.  I discovered the omission 15 minutes into my drive, and I realized right away that I couldn’t go back to fetch it if I wanted to be on time for my presentation.  So I kept on. Then, I started listing in my mind what was in my purse - my driver’s license, my credit cards, my money, my lipstick and - Oh no! - my smart phone, which held the name of the company that I was speaking at, the address AND the directions to it!  Without my phone, I couldn’t even call someone to get directions!  I not only felt naked without my purse, I felt bereft of my technological safety net. I  wracked my brain for the details that I remembered, which were - well, not much: the name of the street and the approximate route to get there.  And, I remembered that the company name had three initials in it, like TXO or something similar.

"OK, God," I prayed, "I am in your hands now.  I trust you to guide me to my destination."   Then I just gave it up, trusting that Source would guide me to my destination.

I had just read an article in Newsweek about the four actions that people who have a high "survivor IQ" do to increase their odds of being lucky.  One of these actions is to remain fully aware to life and the possibilities inherent in every situation.  Taking that to heart, I drove very carefully, with an unusual level of vigilance and with my eyes wide open, scanning for possibilities in every moment.  I exited off the freeway - that much, but only that much, was I certain of - and then I just opened my eyes and my heart for what was going to happen.  I recognized the name of the street just as I was almost past it, took a screeching right turn, then again beseeched God to guide me.  I drove about 3 blocks, and suddenly came upon a beautiful office building with a peaceful fountain in front.  There, right before my eyes, I recognized the company name on the building’s marquee - AXA Advisors! Another screeching right turn, and I was parking in the visitor’s lot.  As I entered the building, I saw a colleague who was running the meeting and she greeted me like nothing had happened. 

Everything seemed normal to my friend, but for me, a miracle had happened.  I had neglected to tie my camel, so to speak, and I had to trust in God to get me to my destination.  Surrendering control is not easy for me to do, even though I try to let go and let God.  But that day, I had no choice but to hand over control to Source. 

What I learned is that you must meet God half-way, you can’t just give up and let God do all the work.  I had to keep going in order to be able to receive Source’s blessing of guiding me to my destination.  If I had given up or turned back, I would have cheated myself of the blessing, and certainly the lesson.  But I also had to let go of my need to know how I would get there; I had to relax my control of the itinerary.  I had to trust that divine energy would get me there.  And it did.

Step forward and keep moving, all while trusting that Source will ultimately guide you to your destination.  Trust in God and tie your camel.

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Gossiping can suck the zest out of your spirit.  Gossip is mean-spirited and little-minded; its goal is to make the gossipers feel superior to the gossiped-about. It is seductive, addictive and a way of bonding with other gossipers, all while pulling you down to the lowest spiritual common denominator. Gently observe your interactions with others, and catch yourself if you feel you are getting sucked into gossip.

Let’s define what gossip is and is not.  Gossip is judgmental chit-chat about another person or group.  It is conversation that lacks compassion for the other party, and sets up an "us versus them" mentality.  It pits one viewpoint against another, with that of the gossipers as better than the others. Gossip tends to make the gossipers feel better by stroking their egos. It severs the gossiper’s connection to their true essence, which is love.  Gossip sounds like this: "I can’t believe our neighbors put out those hideous pink flamingo sculptures in their front yard! It looks so trashy!  They even have wings that rotate in the wind and make the worst noise.  What horrid taste! Can you believe it?"

Observations, on the other hand, are more neutral statements of how you see a situation or a person.  We are presented with much diversity in our world and our experiences, and our job is to decide what experiences, attitudes, perceptions and people we want to welcome into our lives. We must discern which path will be ours.  Observations can include a discernment statement, as in, "Our neighbors put up pink flamingos in their front yard.  That’s not my style, so I won’t be doing the same."  The observation includes an implicit respect for the other person’s tastes or decisions, acknowledging that we all have our foibles.

So what can you do when other people are trying to suck you into a gossip session?  Here are some suggestions:

1. Be aware.  In order to do anything, you have to be aware of what’s going on.  Gossip has a different energy from observations, so start observing your feelings and your spirit as you converse with others. Try to discern whether the conversation has the heavy, judgmental feel of gossip or is still in the energy range of non-judgmental observations.  Be gentle with yourself - we all gossip from time to time, but the first step to a gossip-free, more spirit-filled life is to be aware of when it happens.
2. Be silent.  I have a friend who is my personal gossip police, even though she doesn’t know it.  Every time I steer our conversation toward even a mildly  gossipy statement, she gives me a look (that I now recognize) and says nothing.  I know I need to shut up - fast - before I jump over the precipice into that nasty river of hatefulness and judgment. Practice being silent - it can be highly effective with people who are sensitive to the ill effects of gossip.
3. Use shock and awe statements.  I remember being a software support representative in San Francisco in the mid-1980’s - not so long after the Summer of Love and its infamy.  I was on the phone with a customer who asked where we were located.  When I told him our office was in San Francisco, he spewed, "Oh yeah, the city of fruits and nuts!"  Rather than follow his lead, I replied with a shock and awe statement that shut him up, "Yes, San Franciscans accepts everyone’s eccentricities, including mine." 
4. Refuse to engage. This is highly effective. It’s like a martial art - you deflect the attack and turn the energy away from danger. You do this in conversation either by changing the subject or replying to a judgmental statement with a neutral observation. 

Be your own gossip police and put a stop to gossip’s negative energy in your life!

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It’s important to incorporate spiritual moments into daily life.  I am constantly searching for new ways to work spiritual awareness into the rhythm of my day.  I recently discovered an awareness practice that I’d like to share with you.  I call it the Shower of Love and Intention.  Even very busy people can take time for this practice.  You’ll love the peace and tranquility it brings into your day.

Practicing the Shower of Love and Intention is easy, and it only takes a few minutes.  Most adults in the United States take a shower daily, and it is usually in the morning.  During your morning shower, instead of only focusing on cleaning the body, linger for a moment or two.  Imagine that the shower’s warm water is enfolding you in tender Source love.  I imagine that the water is composed of silver droplets of divine essence that surround me in a cocoon of unconditional love.  Then, I think briefly about the upcoming day and say aloud a positive intention for it.  Perhaps I might say, "I speak from my heart today during my presentation." Another example: "I embody love in my interactions with my daughter and spouse today."  Or, "I accomplish all I need to do with ease and a light heart."

That’s all there is to it.  There is no excuse for not doing this easy practice, because it takes so little time.

And, the best part is that your day goes better when you do it. 

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Practicing scales is a daily discipline for a musician because playing scales, the basic building blocks of music, maintains his or her level of technical mastery. For an aspiring musician, practicing scales is how you develop musical facility in your brain, fingers, embouchure (the placement of your mouth on the instrument) and ears. It takes a long time to master a musical instrument (including the human voice), requiring many years of daily practice and a great deal of patience and perseverance.

The same can be said about most things in life. It takes time to build up good habits, to build a new business, to develop a career, to develop spiritual muscles. We need to remember that patience toward ourselves and perseverance are necessary traits as we seek to achieve mastery in our lives.

I recently started practicing the piano again after a twenty-five year hiatus.  My church’s beloved professional accompanist suddenly passed away before Christmas, and, for lack of anyone better, I am now the interim accompanist at my church services for the next several weeks.  Over the holidays, it became painfully clear that I needed to start practicing in order to NOT embarrass myself. So I am practicing again, starting with scales and other agility exercises.  In college, I was a music major who performed first on piano and then on viola, so I am fortunate that my fingers and brain used to know what to do.  I assure you that both my fingers and my brain have forgotten almost everything, and it is very humbling to attempt to build up muscles and memory again after so many years.

As we begin a new year with all its resolutions, I am aware of the special meaning that practicing scales holds for me and for you. You must remember that new year’s resolutions are nothing without perseverance to the task and patience toward yourself.  You must practice scales before you can play Chopin or Beethoven - there is no shortcut! In other words, Rome was not built in a day - rather, a little work was done each day to ultimately create the magnificent city. That means that you must do your homework, your preparation, your daily lessons, your meditation or prayers before you can achieve mastery. It means that you will build a new business client by client, you will write your new book paragraph by paragraph, you will find a new job by re-writing your resume and finding interviews.  Practicing scales enables us to achieve our dreams.

I am not saying that achieving mastery needs to be hard. Indeed, it should be joyful! As a youngster, I loved to practice because it gave me joy and a sense of accomplishment to be able to play an exquisite piece of music.  I didn’t love practicing scales, but I loved the end result - my musical expression of beauty.

May you prepare for creating beauty in your life - however you define that - by practicing scales.

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The new year is fast approaching, and now is a perfect time to take a few quiet moments to examine your life’s journey over the past year and look ahead to the promise of the coming year. I try to do some comprehensive journaling at this time of year, and find that self-examination is especially helpful as you look ahead.  I’ve created a list of questions to help you examine the past year and plan for the new one.

I am not a great fan of setting goals for a year at a time.  The reason for that is that life seems to bring changes that I can’t predict 12 months in advance.  But I am a proponent of setting over-arching themes to a year and a few specific goals, such as an overall financial goal, and then revising them every three months or so.  The tendency for life to throw curve balls at you is the reason that some corporations revise their budgets every quarter, to account for mid-course corrections. As an example of a curve ball I received, last December, I set myself a goal of making X dollars per month by September 2008 from my blogsite. I didn’t achieve that goal for several reasons that I couldn’t have anticipated a year ago, but I sure learned a lot from the experience! Interestingly, I did achieve the overall financial goal I set for this year, but in far different ways than I anticipated.  So, I recommend you set overall goals but leave room for God to fill in the specifics of how you will achieve them. Indeed, expecting divine intervention and surprises is what makes goal setting fun and exciting!

As you prepare to answer these questions, you might go back to your calendar or journal and review your activities for each month of the year to remember what you did - memories can be fleeting.

Here are the questions - my new year’s gift to you:

Looking back:

• What successes did you have this year?  What were your inner successes, such as a change in perspective, forgiving someone, letting go of old hurts, etc? What were your outer successes or tangible achievements? 
• What were the lessons learned this year, perhaps from difficult situations?  What good came from the hardships you endured? (If you are reading this, one good thing is that you survived!)  From these lessons, what can you remember and apply to the coming year’s activities to make you wiser, stronger, healthier or more prosperous?
• What were some of the Kodak moments that I want to remember from this year?  (Kodak moments are those times when you want to capture the picture or feeling of the experience forever.) It might be with your family, in nature, with friends.  It might be an awe-inspiring experience on a busy street corner.

Looking ahead to the coming year and beyond:

• What would you like to do to improve or maintain your physical body’s health and well-being?  This could include diet, exercise, medical interventions and rest.
• What steps will you take to improve or maintain your social relationships, such as those with your family?  What about the quality of your friendships? Do you have at least one person with whom you can confide some of your deepest thoughts? What can you do to improve or maintain these connections?
• What is your financial goal for next year?  What are the steps that you will take to achieve them?
• What are you tolerating in your daily life? In other words, are there minor irritants in your life that, once eliminated, could make your life flow more smoothly?  What five tolerations could you eliminate in the coming 30 days?
• How can you advance your career this year?  What steps can you take to enrich yourself or your business to take it to the next level?  Are there educational opportunities that you should take advantage of?
• What can you do to improve your spiritual life?  Are there some practices, such as prayer, meditation, reading or being in nature, that you could incorporate into your daily routine?  How can you feed your spirit this year?
• How can you be of service to others?  Can you give back to your community in a new way this year?  What would make your heart sing while serving others?
• Lastly, what one big goal do you have for your life?  What would make you happiest, most fulfilled, most purposeful in the next 10, 20, 30 or 40 years?  What is your plan to achieve it?

Happy New Year!

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In everyday life, we tend to notice only those things that are at eye level or below.  Our natural inclination is to look down - to look at our feet as we walk, to make sure we don’t trip, to see where we are going in the next step.  It takes intention and practice to look up and notice what is above our accustomed field of vision. Teach yourself to look up, because there are lights in the heavens, stars to be seen.  To look up is an act of viewing things from a higher perspective, to see not only the details of the moment but a vision of the future.  To look up is a metaphor for the ability to see opportunity in hard times, to hold fast to hope and faith, to realize that change is the only constant. 

During this holiday season, it is especially important to look up and see the big picture.  Many families are hurting from the tough economic times we face; others are grateful for whatever jobs they have and the ability to weather this storm.  Looking up will provide you a broader perspective, and the assurance of brighter things to come.

In December, many religions celebrate the looking-up themes of hope and the promise of the future. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus; Jews light Menorah candles to remember hope and the miracle of the temple lamp oil lasting eight nights; in early December, Buddhists celebrate Rohatsu, the anniversary of the enlightenment of the Buddha and the possibility of enlightenment for all beings; earth-centered religions anticipate the coming of longer days by lighting yule logs in the fireplace. In the Christmas story, the shepherds and the wise men literally look up to see a bright star, a light in the sky, that guided them to the birthplace of Jesus and the promise of the Christ’s message of love. 

It is so easy to get caught up in darkness, whether it is the physical darkness of the winter days or the mental darkness of despair or just dull days.  We light candles and fires to remind us to figuratively look up, to see that there is hope even in darkness, that the light will return just as surely as a new day will dawn.  I derive great joy from the sweet turning and returning of this holy season. My hearts stirs with hope and faith when I observe stars in the winter night sky, Christmas lights in neighbor’s yards, and candles in the Menorah and in Christmas wreaths. I know that the days will start to lengthen and that warmth will return to our world. I give thanks that hope, love, joy and peace are celebrated at this time.

Remember, light always conquers darkness. Love and hope conquer fear. May peace reside in your heart. Look up and see the stars!

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Thanksgiving, which we celebrated in the US yesterday, is a celebration of God’s abundance - a time to give thanks for the harvest and for the many blessings in our lives.  Today is the day after Thanksgiving, called in the popular press "Black Friday" because of the multitude of people who will descend on stores in hopes of finding a good bargain. For me, today is a day of reckoning and of anticipation. I am reckoning with the tightness of my jeans this morning, with all the leftover food in our refrigerator and the memory of spending all day in the kitchen yesterday. The words of my husband, who exclaimed last night as he was cleaning up after our extravagant feast, "This seems wasteful - why do we do this every year?" echo through my mind.

I didn’t have the words to answer my husband last night, but now I do: I reckon that for me to spend one day a year in the kitchen creating food for my family and friends is a creative and worthy endeavor.  For me, preparing an extravagant Thanksgiving feast is a labor of love.  It is a way to honor the memory of my mother, who was commander-in-chief of my birth family’s holiday feasts and celebrations.  It is a way of celebrating God’s abundance, blessings and the love that I am so fortunate to share with my amazing family. This is why we do this every year.  To do any less would seem, well, less abundantly thankful.

I am not against making Thanksgiving simpler, and I may be moved to do so in the future.  For now, this is what feels right.

Today is also a day of anticipation of the coming holiday season. Many of you have already been out in the stores, snatching up a bargain and working on that Christmas life of gifts.  For many, however, this Christmas will be a lean one, due to lay-offs, slow-downs and reduced revenues caused by an economy that seems to careen from one disaster to the next. Instead of focusing only on gift lists, Christmas cards and the business of the season, take some time today to anticipate how you will find meaning this holiday season. In addition to preparing a budget for your holiday gift spending, make a budget for participating in fulfilling holiday experiences, many of which cost no or little money.

What will bring you the most satisfaction during this holy time of Advent, Christmas, Hanukkah and the Solstice?  How will you honor the birth of the Christ child and the return of the Light within you this season?

• Will you re-commit to your personal prayer or meditation practice and be more faithful to it?
• Will you attend a retreat or special religious service that connects you with the real meaning of the season?
• Will you participate in a service project, either at your place of worship or in the community?
• Will you contribute money to the causes and charities that mean the most to you?
• Will you find some time in every day to listen for the still, small voice of God in your life?
• Will you attend a concert, ballet, play or Christmas pageant that brings joy to your heart?
• Will you bake a family recipe and deliver it to a friend?

Take some time today to reckon and anticipate.  Take a reckoning of where you are right now, in all aspects of your life.  Then, anticipate how you will celebrate the true meaning of the holiday season.

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Beauty feeds the soul.  It is important to recognize this and incorporate beauty into your everyday life.  Beauty can be visual, auditory or tactile.  It can be found in nature, in your home, in your leisure activities and at work.  Because our inner life is reflected in our outer life and vice versa, the environment that we attract and create around us is a mirror of the beauty inside of us.

I was reminded of the need for beauty at a symphony concert last night.  Classical music is a testimony to the highest emotions and spiritual yearnings of a human being. So much of classical music is religiously inspired or is the composer’s attempt to express his/her life’s meaning in the midst of its joys and sorrows. Listening to classical music, especially instrumental music, is the equivalent of reading a book vs. seeing a movie of the same book.  The music invokes your imagination and emotions just like a book does, but it does not proscribe the visual images that you create with it. That is up to you.

Visual art also reflects the artist’s attempt to express his/her highest self amidst human frailty.  I need to view art on a regular basis to feed my soul.  In fact, I need some in my home. Nature is another form of beauty that is vital to the nourishment of our souls.  Many people crave the sensory beauty of nature because in nature comes their most poignant connection to Source.

We need to incorporate beauty in everyday life.  To some, that may mean preparing a beautiful meal every night.  To others, it may mean wearing beautiful, stylish clothes.  Or it may mean savoring a good glass of wine or beer. Or creating a beautiful home and garden, or bringing in a flower arrangement into the home or office every week.  To some women, it may mean getting her fingernails done every other week. Thank goodness there is an endless variety of how humans can seek beauty.  This diversity of tastes and preferences results in the rich and varied world around us.

Everything that we experience in this human body is spiritual, so our quest for beauty to feed our souls is a spiritual pursuit.  Contrary to what you may have learned as a child, our whole body experience is God-given and everything about it is designed to provide joy and pleasure, and also challenges and learning opportunities. 

In pagan religions, you often hear a quote about the Goddess: "All rites of love and pleasure are mine."  In other words, enjoy beauty, enjoy bodily pleasure as long as it is loving, love lavishly and live abundantly, because to do so honors Divinity.

Where does our search for beauty become ego-based and not spiritual?  There is a fuzzy line between yearning for beauty to feed our soul and yearning for more and more things because of a need for prestige or social standing.  When does the need for beauty turn the corner into a want for more? 

Each person must examine their own values and motives in seeking beauty.  There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting a beautiful house, car, clothing and other accoutrements of the abundant life. If your motive, deep inside, is to acquire more for show or prestige, then that is a want or a grasping.  However, if your deepest motive is to seek beauty in order to live large and abundantly or to seek pleasure in love, then it is a pure desire.  A puritanical approach to abundance, in which you eschew pleasure or worldly possessions to be a good person in God’s eyes, serves no one, including God.  Again, God wants you to experience beauty, pleasure and abundance, because those are integral parts of the human experience - the human experience that God and your soul co-created for you.

And, because no life is without suffering, the experience of beauty provides a contrast to the experience of pain.  In the midst of pain, the most comforting moment can be the recognition of beauty and pleasure - a reminder that life is never all bad.

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In my last post, I made some suggestions for acting in love during the current economic crisis.  I’d like to expand the discussion and create a more comprehensive list of tips for shifting to love when you feel fear gaining hold in your mind, spirit or body.

First, the fear/love choice is like this famous optical illusion - if you look hard at the picture of your life, you see the young lady but if you soft focus your gaze you see another image, the old lady. The same can be said about fear and love.  When faced with a difficult situation, our brain will glom onto the first perspective it can grasp (usually fear), but if we consciously look for another perspective, we can find it. 

Here are some suggestions for choosing love:

• The heavenly perspective.  I’ve already blogged about it, and it is my personal favorite this month. Let me know how it works for you!
• Take time to meditate and pray each day.  My friend Mariel writes down a verse from scripture or from some other inspiring source and keeps that small piece of paper in her pocket all day to remind her of the divine love that continually surrounds her.
• Practice gratitude.  Keep a gratitude journal.  Notice and appreciate all the little things to be grateful for in your life.
• Notice synchronicities or God’s grace in your life.  They happen all the time.  For example, yesterday, I was racing out of the office for an appointment, and when I picked up my purse, a small voice immediately reminded me that my wallet was in another room.  I snatched my wallet and ran out the door, thanking the angel that prevented me from forgetting a very important item.
• Silently bless the people you encounter during the day.  Pray for people you are about to meet with or work with.  Notice how that practice affects the quality of your interaction with that person.

There are so many more ideas.  I open it up to your comments and suggestions.  How do you choose love instead of fear?

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A Course in Miracles states that there are only two emotions, love and fear. All other emotions are derivatives of those basic feelings. Of the two, which emotion have we primarily seen at work in our economy over the past several months? Of course, the answer is fear.

When I worked in the securities industry years ago, we said that markets are driven by fear and greed. Greed is the operative that fuels run-ups in the markets as investors try to make a buck (or a euro, in this global economy). Fear causes sell-offs like the stunning one we’ve seen in the markets over the past month.

Recently, I’ve heard people speak fearfully about their diminished investment accounts and 401k’s. I’ve heard people express fear about the security of their jobs. I even heard one friend express concern about the balance in her child’s school PTA bank account, which was approaching the $100,000 limit of the FDIC insurance.

Fear is a normal reaction to what’s happening to us. Fear has its good side – it can make us more vigilant and more careful about our money, which is not a bad thing. But fear can paralyze us and cloud our thinking. I can’t tell you how many people have told me they are about to cash out all their holdings. I admit to thinking about it now and again – wouldn’t cash be safe! This is a normal, fear-based reaction, but is not a wise or prudent action. Selling now would be counter to the market’s basic rule of buy low, sell high. Selling now is selling low.

So, how can we choose love at this time?

First, we need to remember several spiritual laws. The first is “As within, so without”, which means what you think about, comes about. The Bible expresses this as “So a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” In other words, if you believe that this is a disaster, it will be so. The second is “Within chaos comes opportunity.” We know this to be true in our own spiritual development - a crisis such as a divorce, serious illness or death of a loved one causes short-term chaos but can initiate tremendous inner growth in the long term.

If you are fearful about being laid off at work or about business in general, here’s what you can do to replace fear with love:

• You valiantly choose a positive outlook as you walk in the door, refraining from gossiping or speculating at the water cooler (or via IM) about who’s going to get the ax and how bad it is at the office.
• You look for more ways to make your boss look good.
• You immediately revive your professional network both within and external to the company, taking time to go to lunch with others, catching up with people who you haven’t seen in months and listening for opportunities.
• You apply for jobs, perhaps even ones that are beneath your current abilities, but that could parlay into a better one in the future.
• You check your internal thoughts several times a day to make sure that you are clear within so that you send “good vibes” out to others, knowing that the energy will be returned to you.
• You look for the good in every situation, and express love in the form of appreciation, respect and integrity at work.

Choosing love also means to look for the opportunity in the downturn. Sandra Yancey, CEO of eWomenNetwork, says that recessions are great times to buy whatever you need, “because everything is on sale!” Warren Buffet said the same thing about stocks last week in an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled, “Buy American. I am.” Buffet related that in his personal investment account, he is buying up solid American stocks because he believes that they are cheap now and will appreciate in the long term. My colleague, Jean Keener, of Keener Financial Planning, has this sound advice: “Recessions have historically been fantastic buying opportunities. If you’ve got cash in hand that you won’t need for at least 5-10 years, this could be a rare opportunity to be brave and benefit financially in the long-term.”

In what other ways can you choose love by looking for the opportunity in the downturn? Think like a contrarian! Think about starting a business or going back to school. Look for side businesses that are recession-proof. At the grocery store last week, I stopped by a wine-tasting display where the woman behind the table proclaimed wine a recession-proof business. I guess we  need to drink more now than in good times! How can you find a recession-proof business like wine?

As for me, I’m doing some major contrarian thinking. I’m starting a new business, based on spiritual intelligence, in a recession! Crazy! So here is my vision: In this tough time, I picture myself planting seeds that need watering, weeding and fertilizing before I can harvest the fruits of my labor. Most of the seeds will bear fruit when the economy revives, but I leave room in that vision for some seeds to germinate and mature overnight like Jack’s beanstalk in the fairy tale.

Even if you know that keeping a positive frame of mind is good for you, it’s easy to fall into fear during these uncertain times. Click here for a quick visualization exercise that you can do to gain perspective and loosen fear’s grip.

For your own happiness, choose love. For the betterment of your career, choose love. Because life is short, choose love.

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