Soulshine

   On this Valentine's Day, I offer you a prayer for self-love and self-nurturing:     Love is God’s gift to me. It is a gift I choose to accept today. I will walk into the sunshine of God’s love and allow each love-ray to enliven my soul. As I bask in this great warmth, I will share it with myself— allowing myself to feel my own inner-love for simply being me.    I will nurture that love by kissing my shoulders, by wrapping my arms around myself and giving myself a heart-warming hug. Then I will take time to do something else nurturing for me, like taking a long, gentle walk. It will give me time to talk to my Higher Power and to strengthen my body. Next, I will eat a meal filled with fruits and vegetables. And finally, I will do something I love: Read a book, take a nap, or watch a movie.    Later I will make time for friends. I will call a friend or family member and connect on an emotional and spiritual level. In these and...

“Look Inside yourself; Everything you want, you already are.” Rumi When people attend my retreats, I always tell them “all of your answers are inside of you.” I’ve learned through personal experience that this is absolutely true. No one has my answers to my inner-questions except me. I can ask someone for guidance and I can become more aware of the ways in which my Higher Power is speaking to me through other people. But NO ONE-- no other person-- can give me my answers. I have to do the work. I have to go inside of myself and discover the treasure that I have long been ignoring. This is why I believe Rumi’s statement above is so true: Everything we think we are lacking, we actually have already. We just don’t realize it. And we need to be willing to go inside ourselves and find the answers we need to make our lives whole and complete. It may take us years, but that’s OK. It’s worth it. Every answer we discover, every feeling of self-worth and value we reconnect with ma...