I was talking to a friend who was put in a difficult situation and she was trying to figure out what to do. It seemed that no matter what option she considered, there wasn’t an easy resolution. I suggested she take the path of least resistance. I explained that it means to do what makes her FEEL the best, to do that which most resonates with her.  That by using her intuition, she would be guided by her feelings.
 
Bob Proctor says, “Intuition is that marvelous mental muscle that is telling us the direction we should be going.” It is an inner knowing. When you are not on the right track, you will feel bad or uncomfortable about the situation or what you’re doing.
 
Taking the path of least resistance will always be the best choice you can make in any situation and the best solution to any difficulty. You can discover your path of least resistance by paying attention to your emotions. The better you feel, the more aligned you are with your source energy and the path of least resistance will become clear.
 
The key is paying attention to your feelings. Learn to recognize and listen to the small inner voice, the gut feelings or intuition, that guides you to the path that is in resonance with who you truly are and the path that is in harmony with your core purpose. Listen and respond to these messages. When you hone in on your inner voice, these nudges will be more easily recognized.
 
How do you hone in? You get into the feeling of gratitude, you activate appreciation really feeling it, and meditate. These are simple ways to get into alignment with your inner self where you become ready to receive the answers you need.
 
Feeling is your compass. Always choose what feels good. The better you feel, the more aligned you are. The actions you should take will become obvious when you stay in alignment with your inner-being and pay attention to your intuition. When you no longer have that good feeling, you are out of alignment.
 
Finding your joy is possible when you seek the path of least resistance. For my friend, when she focused on what felt good, the immediate difficult situation simply faded away. This has happened to me before too. Other times it felt like a release of what seemed constricting.
 
The path of least resistance is where you can find a sense of freedom. Whether the difficulty fades away or you find a resolution that FEELS easy and good, the path of least resistance will always be the best option for you.

This is beautifully written and set to music by Kate Nowak.
You can watch it on YouTube at https://youtu.be/fvR_Iq2pcYM. 
These are the words written out.

May you be blessed
With all things good.
May your joys, Like the stars at night, be too numerous to count.
May your victories be more abundant than all the grains of sand
on all the beaches, on all the oceans, in all the world.
May lack and struggle only serve to make you stronger.
And may beauty, order and abundance be your constant companions.
May every pathway you choose lead to that which is pure and good and lovely.
May every doubt and fear be replaced by a deep abiding trust
as you behold evidence of a Higher Power all around you.
And when there is only darkness
And the storms of life are closing in
May the light at the core of your being
Illuminate the world.
May you always be aware you are loved beyond measure
and may you be willing to love unconditionally in return.
May you always feel protected and cradled in the arms of God like the cherished child you are.
And when you are tempted to judge may you be reminded that we are ALL ONE.
And that every thought you think reverberates across the universe touching everyone and everything.
And when you are tempted to hold back may you remember that love flows best when it flows freely.
And it is in giving that we receive the greatest gift.
May you always have music and laughter.
And may a rainbow follow every storm.
May gladness wash away every disappointment.
May joy dissolve every sorrow.
And may love ease every pain.
May every wound bring wisdom and may every trial bring triumph.
And with each passing day
May you live more abundantly than the day before.
May you be blessed.
And may others be blessed by you.
This is my heartfelt wish for you.
May you be blessed.

Regret for what you didn't do, for what you didn't try, for what you didn't pursue, or for what you wish you had done is more painful than any perceived failure.

Failure only happens when you quit. Everything else that you attempt and don't succeed at can be seen as a learning experience. "This didn't work, let's try that." "I know not to do that again." Seek the lesson and never see it as a failure. It's not a failure. It's a valuable experience that you can learn from. Learn the lesson and move on.

Regret is sorrow, it can be painful, it may be for something you don't get another chance at. If you go for it and don't succeed, that's ok. But if you don't go for it, you'll never know what could have been. Lost moments, lost time, don't live life with regrets. Cherish every moment, embrace every moment. Live life to the fullest. Always do your best and never have regrets.

Go after what you want. Stretch yourself. Don't let fear, anyone or anything get in the way of you going after what you really want. Then you can live with no regret.

​When I learned that I could decide not to do something, it was very freeing and brought order to my life.

It's good to learn that we don't have to do it all.  We don't have to say "Yes" to everything. We absolutely have a choice! We can choose what gets done today, what to never do, and what to put off to a later date. This applies to work, business, and home life.

When the decision is made, move forward and don't feel bad about it. You've make a decision, period. For me, it relieved me of undue pressure I was putting on myself.

Get into the practice of making a decision for you, and feel good about it. I found that whatever I decided to not do, was just fine NOT getting done when I first thought it should be done. And often when I put it off until later, it was a better time to do it and it got done quicker.

Before your to-do list seems overwhelming, remember, you can decide what to NOT do!

You can do all you want to do when you bring order to your mind. Releasing the clutter of an overfull to-do list is a giant step toward bringing order to your mind. With a new sense of clarity and order, you will then get everything done that you need to get done, when it needs to be done.

​I confess...I tend to be a bit conservative. I think it was passed down to me from my parents. They were born in the depression so it's understandable why they were conservative. That's the way they were raised.
 
I am sitting at my desk, doing some writing, working on changing some paradigms, creating new beliefs and habits. This morning, my pen ran out of ink, so I got another. Both of these pens are just some freebies I got from somewhere. But I'm just using up extra things laying around, rather than using my "good" pen that I save for more important things. As I type this, I realize how silly that is! Changing my paradigm is really important! I'm switching pens right now! (This is a great example of how writing creates thinking.)

But what got me started with this train of thought was when I used up my notebook (it was so old the spiral was rusted – true confessions today - LOL) and got another notebook out of my box of half used spiral notebooks that I've saved. This is where the conservative awareness comes in (beside the pen). At first, I chose one, sat down and opened it. It had a nice stiff cardboard front and back and I thought, “I should save this for when I'm writing and not sitting at a desk.” So, I went back to the box and selected this pink notebook that my daughter used in high school, the pink one in the photo here with the miscellaneous pen. 

As I started writing in this pink notebook, I realized how nice the paper is. It took me back to buying school supplies and how normally I would begrudgingly buy her the supplies she liked even though they cost more than the 25 cent spirals that were on sale. She always has had a taste for the nicer things. It was an inner struggle for me, spending more money on these school supplies when we could buy some that didn’t cost as much. I thought, it’s just paper!
 
As I started writing in the pink notebook, I realized how nice the paper is. It is smooth, and soft, and the ink flows nicely. I thought of how nice it feels to write on this paper. That may seem insignificant, but I thought of her in school and maybe it made her feel good about herself. It's making me feel good about myself using it now. Doing something for ourselves that makes us feel good is really important. From now on, I am going to strive to be less conservative in that way and realize the "feeling" value in buying certain things.

Being conservative is a belief in lack. It’s holding on to something for fear the money won't be there to buy it later when it’s needed. For me, it often seems to be more of not wanting to waste, which is a big part of who I am. I'm big on recycling, repurposing and giving away for someone else to use rather than throwing away. With my increased awareness around my conservative nature, I will work on distinguishing the difference between being negatively conservative and not wanting to waste, and ask myself "why" when holding on to something.
 
I received two important messages today from my writing. First, sometimes the “feeling” value is more important than the dollar value. Second, to ask myself “why” when holding on to something and ask myself if I’m being too conservative in this situation. Both lessons give me a sense of freedom, knowing I can let go of beliefs that don’t serve me. I’m grateful for the awareness I've gained from my writing today.
 
This would also be a good time to say to my daughter, in the Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono, "I'm sorry. Please forgive. Thank you. I love you." She was ranked 4th in her High School Class, so she apparently knew the better notebook was important to her success.

​We’ve lived in our current home for three years, but up until this year, we rarely saw any squirrels. This year I have counted up to seven. I think it’s a family because some of them look young.
 
They love to feast on the bird seed, I use sunflower seeds. The bird feeders hang from the trees and we’ve positioned them where we thought the squirrels and the cat wouldn’t be able to reach them. But the squirrels seem to be acrobats. There is one feeder that they can still reach and will jump a good distance from the trunk of the tree to the feeder. He’ll feast on the seed until something scares him, then he’ll jump down to the ground and run off.
 
As I was watching these squirrels one day, I thought about the qualities they have, persistence being a big one. They come back time and time again. Then I wondered how many times did that squirrel look at the feeder before deciding to jump. I also thought, that for him to take the leap from the tree to the hanging bird feeder, he must really want what he is going after.  
 
I asked myself, do I have the same drive and persistence as I go for my goals? Have I really taken the big leap to go after what I want? Or am I still playing it safe, just getting the seeds that fall to the ground and going after what I think I can get?
 
The purpose of a goal is to make you grow. To have the kind of goal that will make you grow, will require you to stretch…out of what’s comfortable or within reach. It’s beyond what you think you can do. It should be something that will excite you and scare you at the same time. There’s no growth in going after something that you know how to do, or that you could do with a plan or under certain circumstances.
 
The goal that will require growth is not something that you know how to do. It’s something that you don’t have any idea how it will happen. You just want it so much that you will do whatever it takes. You want it so bad that you’ll take that leap to get there. You will stretch, jumping with faith, not fearing what could happen, but fearing what will happen if you don’t jump.
 
Not jumping should be scarier than taking the leap. If you don’t take the leap, aren’t you just staying stuck where you are? How long do you want to continue to feel unfulfilled? Do you feel like there’s more for you or that you’re capable of more but you’re letting fear keep you from moving ahead? Do you have limiting beliefs holding you back? You’re not alone.
 
We all have challenges to overcome in order to get to where we really want to be. That’s where the growth comes in. We have to grow into the person we want to be, into the person that is living the life you’re capable of and deserve. Everyone is living with unlimited potential that has not been tapped into. Don’t wait for the perfect time, it never comes. Don’t wait until “this” or “that” happens and then do it. You’ll wait forever.
 
If you have a dream, a heart’s desire, a big goal, that you really, really want to do, start now. Make a decision that you’re going to jump and go for what you want. Take action to move toward it. When you start moving toward what you want, it starts moving towards you. Resources and avenues will open up when you need them. No need to have it figured out first. All that is required is your desire, willingness to do what it takes, a decision and then action. Start with what you know to do, and you’ll figure out the rest as you go.
 
Be like the squirrel, persistent, determined and push past the fear to jump for what you want. It’s there for the taking, it’s waiting for you. As for me, I choose to go for the big goal and take the leap. I’m not going to play it safe anymore. It’s time to step out and really grow. Will you join me?
 
Helping people reach their goals is what I love to do. Contact me for a complimentary clarity session to discover how you can achieve your goals and live the life you really want. I’d love to hear what your goals are and support you on your journey. If you need someone to believe in you, to hold you accountable and you want proven strategies to maximize your potential, I can help you. Take the first step, let’s talk and discover what your next step is.

​My watermelon harvest hasn’t been what I hoped this year. It was my first attempt to grow watermelon and by no means do I consider it a failure.
 
I have learned so much from this year’s crop. I’ve learned what to do differently next year. I’ve learned what nutrients it needs, how much water it needs, what soil conditions it needs, how much space it needs. All good information I will use when I plant them again next year.
 
Continuing with harvesting the good, I’ve had very little waste because there has been enough good on most melons that I just cut off the bad part and give the remaining good to the chickens. And they really love it.
 
Instead of looking at some bad fruit as a crop failure, I am harvesting the good from it. I am grateful for what it has given me. I’m grateful for what I’ve learned. I am persisting and I still have hopes that we will have some good fruit to enjoy this year.
 
Don’t look at difficulties and let them stop you. Don’t get discouraged. Things are only failures when you give up. There will always be good to harvest. You can find the good if you look for it.
 
To help you through difficult situations, do these four things:
 
1.              Always find the lessons and learn from them
2.              Harvest the good, it’s there!
3.              Be grateful…for all that comes out of it
4.              Persist…never give up.
 
When you do this, you can turn any negative situation into a positive one.

​Remember to find the joy in everything you do.

Animals, pets or wild, live more purely than we as humans do. They are completely true to who they are supposed to be, and they are living their purpose. Granted, they are not as intelligent as humans, but we can certainly take a lesson from their genuine nature.
 
They don’t try to impress. They don’t pretend to be something other than what they are. They don’t hide their feelings. And they even follow social norms within their group. They are who they are, and they don’t even think about being anything else. A bear doesn’t think, “I’ll be a deer today.” A fish doesn’t say, “I think today I shall be a whale.”  That only happens in stories. I recently read a children’s book to my granddaughter where the bunny thought he would try to be another animal, but in the end, found he liked it best just being a bunny.
 
Our best life can be lived when we too discover that it’s best when we are just being ourself, being who we are meant to be. We are all individuals. We all have things that make us different, that make us special. If we were all the same that would be rather boring. Our differences complement each other. That’s what make for an efficiently run company, the different talents each employee brings to the table. If everyone was good at the same thing the company, or the world, wouldn’t thrive. We can and should value the differences of each other.
 
No one can be you better than you! Embrace it. Own it. Be courageous. Don’t live your life feeling like you need to be a certain way because that’s what someone else expects of you. It’s not fair to put those types of expectations on anyone. One shouldn’t try to impose their will or pass judgement on someone else because they don’t fit into their mold or into their expectations.
 
True love is unconditional. If someone doesn’t like you because you’re different in some way, find new friends. A true friend loves you because you are genuine and true to yourself. Phonies often live lives of quiet desperation, thinking they have to be a certain way to have friends, or so someone will like them. I dare say, you will find friends that will like you for who you really are when you are true to yourself, and not being fake or putting on airs.
 
We can only find true freedom and happiness when we live life being ourself, our true genuine self and being honest about who we are on the inside. We CAN be like the animals who live free, happy lives, being true to themselves and being who God created them to be.
 
As humans, we can even do better. We can be kind, respectful, loving, caring, accepting and appreciating each person, each individual, knowing they too, just like you and me, are created by God and that they are living the life they are meant to live, even when it looks different.
 
For those that have not been living completely yourself, give yourself permission to be you, the real you. Find your freedom and the happiness that you so deserve.
 
To those who have been placing expectations on others, love them unconditionally. You too will find a new sense of freedom when you let that go and rejoice with them in love and freedom. We can all strive to love more because LOVE WILL overcome!

Photo by Sam Carter on Unsplash