I’m sure, like me, your heart was breaking last week when you learned of the Parkland, Florida shooting. So much suffering, loss, and pain in a matter of minutes. People’s entire dreams, hopes, and aspirations… vanished. The lives of everyone involved will never be the same again and my heart wept for the families who lost loved ones and for the survivors of this traumatic event. It’s hard to imagine the magnitude of their suffering. Compassion and wishes of eventual peace were all I could seem to offer.

     I also had feelings of compassion for the shooter, so saddened that his life had so much turmoil and pain that this was the action he chose. What could possibly be behind that?! From what I’ve read, his life was filled with immense loss and tragedy.
     I realize that might seem radical, to have compassion for the perpetrator of so much devastation. It's not to excuse or justify his deadly and horrific actions or to move from the pain of the victims - not at all! -  but it had me connecting to the deeper wounds of our humanity that are behind this event. There’s so much pain and suffering in this world and at times it feels like it'll never end.

                                                            What can we do about?

     At the root, we need to reverse the level of hate and fear and replace it with love; loving ourselves, loving one another, taking care to care, not shunning the weak and lonely but seeing that they are a representation of our bigger society. Sure, this sounds pollyanna and I don't really care that it does. I feel very strongly about it and know it to be true. Nothing survives in an environment of hate, fear, loneliness, or isolation. Love, kindness, compassion, empathy, understanding, and all the prosocial emotions are what makes our lives and societies work well.
 
                                                           How do we access that?
 
     The first thing is to get clear and bring this into our heart… to feel love inside, to cultivate peace in ourselves, to be at ease in our own personal lives… all so that we might be better able to participate in and facilitate change.
      A meditation practice that cultivates this energetic peacefulness and compassion is loving-kindness. With loving-kindness meditation, we offer wishes of happiness, non-suffering, peace, and ease to groups of people: from those that we love dearly to those that we feel have caused us great suffering. We open our hearts and allow compassionate energy to flow, extending this gift that can only come from a feeling sense.
     To activate this energy in this meditation, you repeat specific phrases several time, slowly and with intention, allowing yourself to sink into what they express. As your heart opens with the feeling sense of compassion and care, you can then send it out to others.
      While you can change the phrases of this meditation, common ones that repeated are:

                             May I / you know happiness and the roots of happiness.
                         May I / you be free from suffering and the roots of suffering.
                                          May I / you be safe and free from harm.
                                          May I / you live in peace and be at ease.
 
     Spend some time and try this on yourself. Get quiet and calm, send the above wishes to yourself then slowly extend these wishes to others. It’ll add a lot of heart to your presence in the world... which will impact many. And if you’d like to listen to a guided loving-kindness meditation, click HERE .
     Thank you, thank you, for your Heart! I deeply appreciate your presence.
 
Peace and Love,
Shanti

Even though I’m writing this days ahead of the game, yes, of course the Patriots won. I have full faith (even though it nearly escaped me during the division playoffs against the Jaguars 2 weeks ago - what a game!). The Patriots are superiorly dedicated, driven, committed, and relentless in the pursuit of their passion. They take each play on its own, do what needs to be done in the moment, but also keep their sights on the overall game and how what they do now will impact that future win.. 
 
Whether you’re a football fan or not, the Patriots are an amazing inspiration to keep doing what you love and put your energy where it’s needed. Don’t mess around with shiny objects that have you flittering here and there and are certain to block your flow and collective synchronicity. They perfectly represent the acronym

                                              WIN - What’s Important Now?

Just like the Patriots, how are you WINning through your day? How are you keeping focused and attentive to that which is most important? How are you incorporating your awesomeness into the things you do, fueling your passion for that win outcome?

For me, I’ve been writing a book, every day for at least three hours. I’m creating structure in my calendar for this, lessening my distractions with focused attention, and warding off any silly “this isn’t good enough” jabber. Plus the content is super important for me to share - how to create greater ease in your busy day and make it a lifestyle shift - so my passion remains alive and well.
 
As you look at how you’re WINning your day, don’t let shiny objects grab you like a misplaced tackle or the competition throwing hissy-fits on the side-line. The game isn’t off-field. It’s right here, right now. Have mindfulness be your mascot and stick to What’s Important Now.
 
Peace,
Shanti

Never Trying = Always Failing
Always Trying = Never Failing
A Fail with a Try is a Lesson Learned. It’s never a fail.

What worked? What didn’t work? How did you get off track? What factors didn’t you account for? What resources were needed that weren’t available at the time?

As we’re at the end of the first month of the new year, perhaps you’ve been looking back to see how far you’ve come on those new goals. There’s lots of questions you can ask to lay the groundwork for and encourage success. Make whatever adjustments are necessary and keep on trying, 10,000 times if it’s something that’s really important to you. Don’t give up on yourself by giving up after the first few tries. It took Edison 1,000 tries to create the lightbulb... success isn’t necessarily swift.

What brilliant things can you bring into your life with even more tries than Edison?

Sending lots of Encouragement and Peaceful Energy,
Shanti