Why do Athiests pray?

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
 

God

“Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.”
― Albert Einstein, The World as I See It

“God has no religion.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: "Go down again - I dwell among the people.”
― John Henry Newman

Praise God

For years, I've felt funny saying this. I'd always prayed to deities, even thanked them, but "Praise God!" seems like a phrase for Christians and the like. It belongs to a club that I'm not part of, so I've only said it jokingly. Now that I see God in such a different light, it doesn't feel weird to say it at all. You'd think it would feel even weirder. God is not a deity and thus doesn't need, want or require praise. Praise isn't for god's benefit, though. It's for yours--for your soul's. Knowing your blessings, counting them, feeling truly thankful for them, the little things and the big things--gratitude--this is good for you. Praise God, in the abstract, when an unexpected twist of fate blesses you; praise the God at the heart of you when you have done well, whether it's accomplishing a long-held goal or simply showing strength in a moment of strife. It's good for you.

It's easy to blame God or yourself for the things that go wrong, but if you have faith that in the long-term everything is being set up to go right, and you don't lose your sense of gratitude for that, it's a lot easier to get through the tough moments without becoming bitter. I don't know if I'll be able to put this into practice through everything I endure, but it seems to be worth a shot. So far, so good. I got a lot of "wrongs" and no idea how they're going to turn into "rights," but I think if I just keep following my heart, it'll lead me where I'm supposed to be. Every morning when I wake up I'm being given another day to work towards getting there. Glory be to God for that. The universe loves me, and you, and God is Love. I resolve to praise God whenever I damn well please!

Every soul is a peice of God.

Together, we are God, but individually, we are our own Gods.

There is no deity, but there is a higher power--in the universe and in every soul.

Fate & Alchemy

"Everything happens for a reason."
"God works in mysterious ways."

More old adages that people love to say to those who are suffering or dealing with loss. We nod our heads and smile at the offered comfort, but they sound like empty words. Everything happens for a reason--what reason? God works in mysterious ways--what good could come from this?

I think the universe has an inherent goodwill towards all men. It is constantly looking out for you, moving you towards your destiny or where you should be, giving you chances to shape your destiny with your choices, granting you little blessings that you don't even see. You can call this force God, the Universe, Fate, Chance, Lady Luck, Destiny, whatever you like, but it's really just a finely woven pattern of events, a never-ending chain reaction that is in action at all times for all people. Worship it if you want, but it's not a deity and could care a less. Far better to be grateful to it and for it and to simply have faith in it, I'd say.

Karma works through this force (as well as the free will of others); what you're sending out the universe will eventually bring back to you, and you will reap as you sow. The universe will give you what you deserve, in the end, and it's up to you what you deserve. The universe is not god, though; it is a machine whose purpose is to maintain balance. It doesn't think or make choices or hand down decrees; people do. The energy, and life force, and goodwill of the universe, which is in every living thing, all of this is God, but only men can consciously manifest it. Only you can make the choices that lead to your destiny and take control of it. The natural goodwill of the world will do little for you if you haven't uncovered the deity within you.

Everything does happen for a reason. There are no coincidences. Every little thing that happens to you was meant to happen. When you take a moment to light a cigarette, and a parent swipes a toddler from behind your car that would have been hit if you hadn't paused, that's a shining example--one small, insignificant action averts a major catastrophe. Even the bad things that happen are setting you up for good things. Sometimes, the Force is a bit of a trickster that way. Sometimes it works through alchemy, forcing you to sacrifice something, so that it can give you something else.

I was sobbing in my car over my dog when I realized I needed to go home, and as soon as I got on the road, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace--like I was right where I needed to be, and the dog was right there with me. I got into town on a day when my spirit sister desperately needed to see me, in time to spend Mother's Day with my kids and save their dad from having to quit school, and came home with three extra passengers that are already having a positive benefit on this household. I was expecting to return with a dog, and the universe gave me a cat and one of my sons as well. If I were a Christian, I'd be praising Jesus. God does indeed work in mysterious ways--or should I say, the universe does.

When one door closes, three more are standing open for you. And there are signs everywhere to help you find your way. Every song you hear that sets the wheels in your mind spinning, every coincidence you notice that stops you in your tracks, every dejavu moment and chance encounter--they're all little signs. Tarot works like this, too; you draw the cards you were meant to draw, at that time on that day. Tomorrow's cards may be completely different, but this is what you need to see today, right now. It may not mean anything tomorrow, may not make sense right now, but in the long run, it will.

Grief

My dog died today. It was an accident. She was gone so fast. I guess that's the way of it. It can be over in a heart beat for any of us. Maybe this just happened to remind me of that, again. I'm so shocked and sad and angry. I keep going over the what if's and nevers and should haves in my mind. I keep realizing the truth again and reliving it over and over. I think it's different when a dog dies than a person. Dogs become our friends in a way people never can be, especially over ten years of spending more time with the dog than anyone else.

She picked a good day to die, though. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, nature was alive and well all around us. It was peaceful. It didn't take very long for her to die so she didn't suffer too long. I got to bury her somewhere special, instead of a random house I'd have moved from in a year. She was old and deaf and tumor-ridden, and she could have gotten cancer or suffered through her end of days. I'm planning to adopt another dog, whom she never met, so I never had to worry if she felt replaced.

She died with my arm around her. I was with her right to the end, and that's how I always wanted her to die. She didn't die while I was out of town. I didn't wake up to find she had slipped away in the night. I was right by her as she fought for her life and comforting her as she drew her last breath. Besides more time I don't know what else I could ask for.

Everything happens for a reason. Everything happens when it's meant to. It hurts, but I will heal from this and at least, for the first time in a long time, I'm handling my grief from a more positive viewpoint. I have to drive down the road she died on, in the car she died in, walk past her grave, lie alone in the bed we used to sleep in, and live in a house where she no longer follows me room to room. And that's going to take strength I know I have. I just wish I didn't have to do it.

Hakuna Matata

It means no worries!

"Don't worry; be happy."

It means acceptance, not apathy.

Shooting stars and wishes

I saw a shooting star last night, one of the brightest I've ever seen--lit up the sky directly in front of me as I was driving! The usual wishes started running through my mind, and suddenly they seemed invalid--because they are things that I've either accepted will never happen, or things that are entirely within my control and that I know will happen anyways.

For example: "I wish to be a novelist." What a waste of a wish! I don't need to wish for that; I can just do it! So maybe, "I wish to be a famous/successful novelist"? Nah. Who cares? I just want to write the shit; I don't care how many people see it! It'd be nice, but it's not my dearest wish--and my dearest wish is an impossibility, so what else is left? Something for someone else, maybe?

Then it just occurred to me: Nothing. I wish for nothing! And I actually laughed! It was so liberating, not because I already have everything I could ever desire, but because I realized I don't need or really want much more. Anything negative in my life is also positive; there are pros and cons to every circumstance I'm living in, and it's all temporary. I have a few permanent sources of grief, but there's no point wishing those away!

That's called feeling satisfied, my friends. It's not happiness, but it's good enough for now.

unGod

God is not an omniscient sky-being.

God is not a person or even an entity.

 

Storm Clouds and Silver Lining

If you found out you had six months to live, forget what you'd do--how would you feel? Crushed, beaten, hopeless? Or content and at peace? It depends on the weight of your regrets vs. the amount of success you've had, right? Wrong. It's your perspective that decides.

You can focus on everything you didn't get to do, or you can focus on everything you did get to do. You can sit and pine over all those closed doors, all those broken intentions, all those dreams going up in smoke, or you can look back on your life and count your blessings, your joys, the things you did accomplish. "I never got to" or "At least I got to." The latter will make you happier, and that kind of thinking makes it easier to accept any kind of disappointment. It's not so much glass half-empty vs glass half-full, but more about feeling grateful rather than stressing over what you can't control.

You're going to be happiest focussing on what is still there and forgetting about what can never be. You're going to be the most miserable if you look at only what is lost and forget what you did have.
Realists would say to look at the big picture, all of it together, but that gives control to the circumstances, the lists, rather than to you. What if the bad list is longer? If the two lists are the same, you wind up somewhere between happy and sad. But if you burn the bad list, you're left with nothing but happy.

I never got to go to India.
I never got to go to India, but I got to go to France.
I got to go to France!

Which one would make you feel happiest to say? What would you be happiest to hear from a friend?
 

my ego is melting

Everything is different now. I'm different. I don't seem different, but I feel it. I try to act the same for the people who know me, but I don't know how much longer I can pretend. I hear the same old words coming out of my mouth in the same old style, but I'm more acutely aware than ever that it's not me, just my own personal masquerade for the world. I never realized until recently just how much I do and say for appearance's sake--so I seem nonchalant, or happy, or adventerous. I've always quite actively put on a poker face when depressed, but this is different.

This is me realizing that who was is not who is or who will be. This is me outgrowing my ego. This is my ego slowly crumbling away. I turned my nose up at the idea of abandoning ego, when I started this quest. Why would you want to give up yourself, your individuality? I figured, maybe you didn't have to do it; maybe you could just shrink your ego, let it take a backseat. Now it's happening anyway, because I realize that's not me. It's a colorful shell I've painted for everyone. It's what I've learned about myself from interactions with the people around me. It's me giving people what they expect, being who I have come to see myself as. And it's false.

I don't know much about the real me. I know she loves music and literature. I know she was born to write and would heal the pain of everyone she could lay her hands on, if she could. I know she finds peace in nature and moonlight. She can sense what others are feeling and make sense of what's in their cards. She'd die for her children. She loves her family, a handful of friends, and a man who may never feel the same. She's not new; she's been in there all along, but she's older than me, wiser in ways I don't understand yet. It's like she's waking up, testing her limbs.

All of the big things are the same, really, but this new person is more aware of herself. She understands who she is and wants to be, and she isn't going to let the actions of others deter her. She understands something about ... life, the universe, and everything... that I don't fully get yet. It comes out in little ways, here and there. I catch myself worrying about the same old things, only to hear a voice say, "What is meant to be will happen. Tomorrow could bring anything." and let it fall flat on the floor. I catch myself feeling sad, shedding a few tears, and I hear "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

I sound like a regular schizophrenic, I bet, but it's just that I'm thinking differently. I'm more aware of my moods, of mistakes I've made and their consequences, of what I want in the future. I used to doubt destiny, because so many times, I'd thought I had a certain destiny only to be wrong. Your intuition can't tell you what your destiny is; it can only lead you towards it. I hold my tongue and wait, where I once would have acted on impulse--although not with money yet, it seems. I toss aside venomous thoughts, confide them in someone, or write them down once and discard them. I don't dwell as much.

What takes so much effort is keeping my behavior the same. No one probably imagined the hyper girl who loved to talk would suddenly clam up and have little to say. This person isn't chatty and cheery and energetic; she is quiet and reserved, watchful and introspective. She wants to listen, but the ego girl doesn't like silence and pipes up to get rid of it by babbling--which suddenly takes a lot of effort, whereas being an annoying chatterbox once came so easily. She isn't random or rash; she doesn't seek frivolous pursuits. She no longer wants to be entertained; she wants to create. She doesn't want to chase thoughts away with vices; she's happier meditating.

Me? Not wanting to drink? Me, in a group, hardly speaking? What?! Losing my taste for cigarettes? Well, that's not so surprising. I never cared for them much til I picked up the habit. I hope I don't wind up giving up weed. That'd be really weird. I wouldn't know that chick at all. Who is this girl that doesn't care anymore where her home is, or if she ever has one, when creating a home was once so important? The whole world is home; she wants to be in it, all over it. Who is this girl that doesn't care anymore if she ever finds true love, when it was once so heartily desired? There is so much in the world; how could the abscense of this one thing affect happiness? It's not that I don't want these things; if they come, I'll happily accept them. I just don't need them.

Facebook is terrible. It's not like MySpace, where you could be yourself, where it was about your friends and sharing your thoughts, good or bad. Now it's friends, family, in-laws, coworkers, ex-friends, frenemies. People don't speak the truth. When they're unhappy they log off until they have something happier to say. They pretend they're happy and their lives are great, when really they're average and dissatisfied. They fake confidence--something I've always faked and now suddenly feel building up inside.And my ego is still keeping up the Facebook game, because I'm still learning how to act in accordance with a new perspective, because ego is holding on tight, because I don't want people to see me changing. It feels private, like changing clothes--which also seems more private now, too, which is also weird for me! So, naturally, here I am blogging about it. Ha.

Maybe it has nothing to do with spirituality or waking up; maybe it's just the result of isolation, but I don't think that's it. I'm around people almost everyday; I'm just not close to them. I feel seperate from them, different. I've always felt that way, but it's more pronounced now--like I was a square peg in a round hole, only now I'm a HUGE square peg trying for a tiny round hole. It's a weird feeling but it doesn't bother me like it used to, and the insecurities I used to hold on to are starting to melt away, too. I don't look any different; I try to keep smiling and being that silly girl that's always been so animated. But I'm not really her anymore.

I have a lot of shit in my past I thought I'd come to terms with, thought was settled. Now I'm seeing places where amends still need to be made, confessions, apologies. I need to find a way to restore some semblance of a relationship with my mother, but with strong boundaries. I think I know a way. I think I almost forgive her--not because she deserves it, but because it doesn't hurt anymore and all I can think of is what if my kids grew up to hate me? I know that would never happen, because I don't--do to them the things she does to me. But there's got to be a way I can minimize the hurt I make her feel, while also minimizing her capacity to harm me.

I closed a lot of doors last year. I have one big one left to close--in the form of changing my last name back to what it should be. There's another I might need to close. It might be harder, but if it's truly outlived its time, it might not be afterall. Examining the pain I feel, there's only one major source causing pain; if I close the door, maybe it will go away in time. It is humbling to be so wrong and so dumb for so long; maybe it will turn out to have been a healthy experience after all. There's another source that I choose to block, and I know eventually I am going to have to open up the wound again and bleed the gunk out. It's the most recent scar that's still hurting, so it will probably be last.

I can't imagine anyone reading this and actually understanding what I'm talking about. I can't imagine my friends reading this and believing a word of it, thinking I'm all talk and full of shit. Maybe I am. But I know what I am, and I know what I'm not--well, moreso than I did. I'm in sort of a mixed phase right now, where ego and Whoever-She-Is are taking turns driving. My truth is almost ready to take the wheel, and soon I am going to step out of this outfit entirely and turn my back on it. If that means I have to leave a few more people behind, too, it's okay now. I don't need people anymore; I want them, but I do not need anyone, except my children--and maybe the dog.

We but mirror the world...

Ghandi is often attributed to the quote, "Be the change you wish to see," but that's paraphrasing. Here's what he actually said:

"We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do."

We use the paraphrased version because society likes empty, cheer-you-up slogans, but that's not what it is. When you change how you think, you change how others think; when you change how you act, you change how others act. When one person changes, others change; when people change, the world changes. When you change how you see and treat people, you also change how others do you. You may not notice it happening, but in time when you look back, you'll see.

As Above, So Below - Part Two

This phrase has religious meaning as well. It is from The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, part of the Hermetica, and originated in the Vedas, the sacred writings of Hinduism and Buddhism.

To quote Wikipedia, "In accordance with the various levels of reality (physical, emotional, and mental), this relates that what happens on any level happens on every other. This is, however, more often used in the sense of the microcosm and the macrocosm. The microcosm is oneself, and the macrocosm is the universe. The macrocosm is as the microcosm, and vice versa; within each lies the other, and through understanding one (usually the microcosm) you can understand the other."

As it is on Heaven, so it is on Earth. This means that man's actions on Earth reflect God's in Heaven and vice-versa for better or worse. God is the macrocosm; man is the microcosm. The two are the same and are both inside and outside each other. Through understanding yourself, you understand God and vice-versa. The astral plane is connected to the physical plane; the two are intertwined seamlessly. In the physical plane you are man; in the astral, you are God.

This is a base theory for witchcraft, magic, and alchemy. Mind and body are bound; the body is bound to the world; so the mind is bound to the world, too. What you imagine and desire in your mind, in the astral plane, manifests in the physical world through your actions and energies. As a human you can use your divinity in magic, but when you unite microcosm with macrocosm, human with divine, yourself with God, that's when your power will be greatest.

Learn as much about yourself as you can until you understand yourself better. Acknowledge what parts of you need changing. Analyze your past and revisit experiences you may still need to heal from. This can be painful, leading to tears and depression. You're emptying yourself of old structures--old beliefs, old fears, old pain, outdated ways of thinking, darkness. You're letting ego slip away, and it's a kind of death that is going to bring mourning. It's a necessary change of perspective; it's how you gain the beginnings of the insight you will need to embrace divinity.

Try to start wrapping your mind around universal concepts like karma, destiny, morality, the Wheel of Time/Fortune; learn to see yourself as both seperate and the same as God, the Universe, other people. Listen to your tuition. Get control of your mind and get your thoughts in the right place. As you do this, and then turn to taking control of your world, your feelings will slowly follow suit. Fix your habits; repair what's broken in your life. Right the wrongs of the past. Apologize to others, to yourself; forgive others, and yourself. Once your world is under control, start changing the world.

No amount of research can lead you to God; it's an understanding, a light, an inner peace that just sort of dawns upon you as you realize what's true and learn to be the you that you were meant to be and to see things as they really are in the grand scheme of things. That's what I hear, at least. I'm certainly not saying I'm there yet or ever will be. I think I'm in that emptying out, getting control, Dark Night of the Soul place. I'm learning theory, but it hasn't fully sank in into any kind of divine awareness. But I think it will. I think everything will just snap into place eventually, all at once--not in my life, but in my head, my heart, and my soul.

As Above, So Below - Part One

Your physical reality is a direct result of your mental reality.  What goes on up in your brain affects what goes on in your life. Your mindset has a tremendous impact on the world around you.

If you think you can't, you can't. If you think you can, maybe you can, and maybe you can't--but at least there's the possibility that you can.

If you expect negativity and look for it, you will find a lot of it. If you give the world the benefit of the doubt, you'll notice a lot more positive things.

This goes hand in hand with karma. It's not a perfect concept. Good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. Of course. However, if you smile at someone, usually they will smile back, and if you flip someone the bird, they'll probably return the gesture.

If you're a nasty person, you are going to find yourself surrounded by nasty people or alone. If you're kind, there will always be those wanting to take advantage, but kind people will be more likely to stick around after meeting you, too. It's your choice who you let in.

Your feelings and thoughts affect your words and actions, which affect your world more than anything. If you are thinking and feeling negative things, you are going to wind up saying and doing negative things that hurt your chances at happiness.

Even if you feel sad, you can focus on doing things that make you happy; you can catch yourself dwelling on negative thoughts and find something else to think about. You can ignore sadness until you've forced it to become too small to control you.

It's healthy to vent, but if you complain all the time, you're not making any progress. If all you ever have to say is how sad you feel, no one is going to want to be around you. Act happy. Fake it until it's through. It's not about hiding your emotions; it's about showing other ones, too. They're still there. Even in the darkest depression, a funny joke can make you laugh.

Some of this is a little empty coming from me, a person who gets into depressions so deep that no amount of friendly support or weed or even change can help. I have to drag myself out of it, slowly, and hope I haven't alienated myself too much from my friends in the process. I have to just wake up one day and say "I like the beach. Today I'm going to go to the beach." I might wind up just feeling sad on the beach, but at least I'm somewhere I like.

Maybe sadness is just our body's way of telling us it's time to be selfish. That doesn't mean be a bitch; it just means, do whatever you have to do to make yourself happy. Distract yourself. Spoil yourself. Do what you like. Think of something about yourself you're proud of in the morning and use it to metaphorically puff out your chest for the day. Indulge in something. Take a day off. Say "no" to people and things that make you unhappy.

We live in a society that preaches against selfishness, and it's created a completely selfish society. Selflessness is putting someone else first, doing things for the benefit of others. People seem to mistakingly think it means "Fuck your needs. Put me before you." It doesn't. You can make yourself depressed by being too selfish--by being a bitch. But the best cure for depression is selfishness.

What's up there controls what's down here. Control what's up there, and you have more control over what's down here. It seems like an impossible task, but it's not as hard as it seems. Maybe you don't want to or you think you shouldn't have to. That's laughable. It's your brain; who else should control it? The nature of life makes it imperative for you to control it.

The Wheel of Fortune is always turning. Life is a ferris wheel. You go from the top to the bottom and back on up again. There's only one Wheel, and it's spinning in every single area of your life. You can't control that Wheel or what height you'll be at when it stops. You can only count on the fact that it will keep turning and try to trust Destiny. If you're not attached to a certain outcome, to stopping in a certain position, you can't be disappointed with wherever you end up.

This is also true about your physical health. Your body is only as healthy as your mind. Stress, depression, addiction, anxiety can all cause physical symptoms to manifest, elevating your risks for health problems. Likewise, your mind is affected by your physical health, which can cause stress, depression, and anxiety, too.

You are responsible for your happiness, not the world. A little positive thinking goes a long way, and positive acting does even more. You can't choose everything that goes on in your brain, but you have enough choice to reprogram your thoughts so that you won't have to try to put on a good face, it'll just happen. If you're down, look at the big picture of life, rather than a snapshot of where you are now. When you're worried about the future, try to live more for the moment. Whatever you're looking at mentally that's bringing you down, flip it the bird, and look at something else.

Be the change you wish to see.

We hear this all the time, don't we? I used to scoff at it. When you're trying so hard for so long, and still there is no change, it seems like a pointless suggestion. It takes more than one person to create real change in the world; it takes a lot of people. Every person who does do it is one more person making that effort and possibly inspiring others to do the same. You have to start somewhere. You can make the world a kinder place by being kinder to the world. It doesn't seem like much, but imagine if everyone did it.

People say this to those who are unhappy in a relationship. A lot of "experts" will tell you that one person's behavior can turn a relationship around, because if you're singing a sweeter tune, it might influence your partner to do the same, either automatically or through making the choice to actively try. This may be true for a relationship that's going through rocky terrain or one of those flat phases, but when one person just doesn't really care, nothing you do is going to change that. Still, you don't know until you try.

It can be especially annoying to hear this when it's your life you're wanting to change. That's because what we're wanting to change are things we don't have complete control over. We don't want to change ourselves; we want to change things, objects, circumstances. We want to move, to travel, to find love, to live in a nicer home or drive a nicer car, to conquer health conditions, to lose weight or quit smoking, to get away from annoying neighbors or jerk bosses. You can't be those kind of changes.

You can, however, be the change you want to see in yourself, and in doing so make it more likely to achieve those goals--by working hard, by saving money, by trying and fighting and not giving up, by creating solutions, accepting help, keeping your eyes open for opportunity. Those are behaviors though, and you can't be a behavior. Your chances for making those changes are influenced by external factors outside of your control, too, which makes it unhealthy to want them too much.

You know what's not outside of your control? You. Your mind. Your heart. Take a closer look at what you want. Reevaluate that. Change what you want. Don't target an object, a thing, a circumstance. Focus on the abstract: your thoughts and your feelings. I'm not preaching the law of attraction here: that through positive thinking, you can attract positive experiences. The goal isn't to use positive thinking to get things you want; it's to want to think positively, to want only happiness above all.

If things in your life are making you unhappy, you are too attached to them. If change that isn't coming is making you unhappy, you want the changes too much. If you want something, and you just cannot be happy until you have it, you are giving it too much power! Be grateful for what you have. It sounds kind of patronizing, but try thinking about what you have that does make you happy, instead of what doesn't. What everyone really wants deep down is to be happy, so be happy. You're always going to want unhappy things to change; you just can't let those desires rule your thoughts and emotions.

If you want to feel happy, then think happy. Smile; it releases endorphins, which make you happier. Hug someone you love, really hug them, and take five minutes to feel thankful that they exist. Maybe your relationship isn't perfect; think about how your life would be without it. If it wouldn't be better, maybe you're more dissatisfied than you should be. Choose to be grateful--for the beauty in the world, for what (little) bounty you may have, for another day to create change and all the time left in life. Hope.

Try making what you want less specific. Don't focus on a specific outcome, on having specific needs met, on having your partner do or not do certain things. Being too focussed on specifics is a recipe for disaster, and when you free your mind from them, sometimes you realize the big picture is close enough to perfect already. Oh, you may want more; you'll always will, and ambition is healthy. But want happiness above all, and give it to yourself. No one can be happy all the time, but changing your perspective works wonders.

Your brain responds to external stimuli, but you control your thoughts and feelings. When you start thinking about unhappy things, it's your choice whether to mentally change the subject. When you start feeling sad, it's your choice whether to wallow or turn the radio up and sing until you feel better. When you think, don't focus on how bad it is but on what you can do to change it. Remember that sorrow is an unavoidable part of life that will always pass. It's okay to cry, because crying is a healthy release that is sometimes needed for healing.

Everything moves in cycles. What goes up comes down; what falls will fly again. Winter, spring, summer, fall, winter. Wealthy, poor, well-off again. Happy, sad, happy, sad. Look back at your life. You've had green pastures and rough terrain. Sometimes, it's crappy all around; sometimes, it's wonderful; sometimes, there's a lot of both. But no phase, good or bad, lasts forever. Change will come; that's the big picture of life. Stop rushing it.

You are God. Wanna be happy? Then be happy.