eeds to feel satisfying and enjoyable. Whatever work or service we do needs to bring to us a feeling of satisfaction, a feeling of being in the right place for the self. Even if the road seems a 50/50 split between great effort and challenge and the enjoyment of a job well done that we love, that is enough. When viewing the total, our view should be very positive in nature.

At the same time, the portion of our lives that would be called work cannot be the only facet. The diamond will not shine and carry magnificent fiery rainbows and sparkle with only one facet. And so, we require more to find the balance. Our bodies require more than simple maintenance. Clean, feed, and ignore is simply insufficient. Our bodies are the houses we live within and are a wonder of life. They serve us by intelligent management all by themselves from the development of two cells to self-healing, and they serve our demands incessantly, mostly without complaint. Of course, with mal-treatment, they do become more vocal. Our bodies require movement, care for the excellent service they give, and our total appreciation. How often do you praise your body and its cellular intelligence for its perfection? The body deserves as much joy as the soul.

Mental activity beyond the work that we do is another facet. Our minds are meant for creativity. It has not always been my practice to set aside time for my mind to wander and wonder and create in a relaxed atmosphere. Just letting my mind have creation time for fantasies, facts, fiction or whatever it wishes to conjure is new to me, and I find it immensely satisfying. In conjunction with my eyes, the mind watches and collects information, considers, analyzes and discovers truths. I wonder how often I have missed or overlooked great gifts because I did not allow my mind the time to contemplate in total freedom.

It follows that we can also be aware of that with which we are feeding our emotions. When considering balance, the emotional body, our emotional lives, are significant because they alone can throw everything out of balance with singular ease. What do I feed my emotions? I am aware that I have made many choices over this lifetime. More recently I have chosen to feed my emotions the things I truly want in my life. And I have learned to give them free reign, then to pay attention to what I am feeling so that I can choose what I wish to nourish, and remove that which does not contribute to my well-being. I choose not to watch the news or most programming on television. I choose not to feed my emotions war and political infighting in the same way I would not feed my body garbage. Not that I don't believe my body could somehow digest the garbage, but rather that I don't want it having to work overtime to do that with the possibility of becoming more susceptible to disease. I would rather feed my emotions on the power and beauty of a great storm with wild wind, lightening, rain and the majesty of nature, or the sweet and gentle efforts of the spring-blooming morning glory. This keeps me in touch with all life and brings the comfort of unity of all life into my emotions.

The facet of spirituality adds immeasurably to the balance and brilliance of the diamond. For me, this is the facet that holds and magnifies all the rest. Although it contains my beliefs, truths, sacred spaces and practices, I believe that spirituality is nourished with dedicated time. By dedicated time, I speak of setting aside a few seconds in each moment of my life to think, consider, be aware, or practice my spiritual life. Of course, as you do this, all of your life becomes an expression of your soul. The soul that you are permeates all that you do. This does not come to pass without the dedicated time for the nourishment and growth of spirituality.

With this all in total balance, we live paradise on Mother Earth now. We need not wait for some unknown miracle to occur. The miracle is us. The time is now. The joy is everlasting. And I will leave it to Daisy to discuss what a joy that can be.

In love unconditional, Mikala

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