I am the first born of a family that became 6 children, two parents, and an assortment of dogs over the years.

My brother Jack was born 13 months after me, so we were kinda like Irish twins, in that we were closest in age for a while and hung out together a lot as kids. We actually liked each other and didn’t fight or compete too much, as I recall. He was also my partner in crime for a few capers when we were quite small, and again later on as teenagers.

Should you stay, or should you go?

Is what you are committing your energy to, still working for you? I am the last person to tell you what you should do. You may have a few well-meaning folks who are only trying to … ahem - help, by making sure you know what you should do.

Today is a great day to begin a new practice: say yes.

Especially if you have an automatic habit of saying no, start to say yes instead.

Your ‘yes’ welcomes new experiences and opportunities into your life. New people come along with those new experiences. Fresh points of view help you to break out of old tired routines.

It isn’t happening yesterday, and it’s not tomorrow yet.

What is happening is doing so now, in this moment, in this present time.

Some event may have happened yesterday that is affecting this moment now. As a matter of fact, every event that happened yesterday does affect now. Every choice made, every word said, every thought, is having its effect on you in this moment.

Whatever you chose: from the food you ate to the quality of sleep you had last night, to whether you’ve been able to let go of stress and worries, and so on. You are reading this article now.

Everything is happening right now in this present moment.

All of the excitement that is available, can be felt right now. Because feeling is a present time activity, right now is the only time you can feel anything. The senses of the body work in present time, because your body is always in present time. The phrases ‘I saw something yesterday’ and ‘I will hear something tomorrow’ describe the past or the future, and neither is happening right now.

When it’s happening now, you have some influence over it, a choice.

I come from a long line of busy people. It’s possible that you do too.

‘Idle hands are the devil’s playthings’ or however that phrase goes, could have been stamped on the wall of the house I grew up in.

Except it would have gone more along the lines of ‘mom’s coming, look busy’. Being engaged in the act of listening to myself didn't count. Maybe this is why meditation became so important to me as an adult.

At a young age, I learned that adults do not like to see a kid sitting around, doing nothing.

One of the most important aspects of you as a being, is how you see yourself.

Your self image becomes your way of being in the world. How you see yourself matters to your life, and to your enjoyment of being you. Nobody else can convince you that you are worthy, or that it’s okay for you to have your life for yourself, if you don’t believe it too.

If you see yourself as capable, you’re more likely to reach out for something you want, and you’re more willing to take risks. When you have a present time positive self image, it’s easier to step out and be seen, and to shine.

Clairvoyance is the ability to see energy clearly.

You are made of energy, as is everyone and everything that exists. When you use your clairvoyance to see your world, you see beneath the surface. This helps you to become aware of and understand things others might miss because they are only seeing the surface of things.

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is true for everyone you know, including you.

If you want to enjoy the celebration of life, you must show up in person.

It’s hard to enjoy yourself at a party when you don’t feel well, or are grappling with major issues in your life.

You don't feel like being the life of any party when you don't feel good. You don't want to be around people at all, much less a lot of them in a social situation. Your first inclination is to go home, crawl into your bed, and stay there until the storm passes.

One of the best ways to get your relationships with others into the present time, is to bring your relationship with yourself there first.

If you've been working with out of date pictures about who you are and what you are capable of becoming, having, and creating, it's time to clean those out.

Everything possible unfolds right now. This moment is when it's all happening.

Some folks live in the past, in what they choose to remember as a happier, simpler time. Other people are caught up in trying to solve old problems, wounds, and invalidation.

The things that drag us back to the past include regrets, disappointments, dreams that died, old friendships and relationships, the way one looked when younger, the life unlived, the approval never given, the opportunities missed, the ‘if onlys’, and other things that are long gone.

Miss Havisham is a character in Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’, famous for being jilted by her groom-to-be on their wedding day.

Havisham receives a telegram at 8:40am on the day in question, letting her know that her betrothed will not marry her. What does Havisham do after this rude rejection? She decides to stop time in that precise moment, 8:40am.

She chooses to continue to experience the humiliation of being left on her wedding day.