A spiritual journey does require discipline but also a measure of gentleness. When one meets brick walls of resistance, harsh fighting or abruptly turning away rarely work to get one beyond them. Those brick walls do not budge or simply disappear! Often the only recourse is to gently and calmly dismantle that which appears, taking the time to learn what they mean and why they are there, learning what it means to be kind and compassionate one brick at a time. For how can one become a compassionate being, a universal goal of the spiritual life, if one cannot be compassionate with the self? All lessons begin and end with the self. Practice gentle compassion today, both within and without.

There are no excuses. If you have done something wrong, own up to it. If you have lied, fix it. If you have pretended to be other than you truly are, come clean. If you have been in denial, face the truth. If you have been steeped in blame, regret, or resentment stop it. Life has a funny way of making you responsible if you do not become responsible on your own.

Learn from your mistakes. Become fully responsible for yourself and life will give you perfect responsibility in return, responsibilities that will aid you on your journey of change. Taking responsibility for all that you consider wrong in your life is the first step in a new direction. But keep in mind that to take full responsibility means there are no excuses.

Turn the ordinary into the extraordinary today. Perceive every moment of ordinary life as an extraordinary moment. In so doing, one day will add up to a lot of extraordinary! Keep that in mind as you ponder who you are, as you figure out your path of heart and the direction to go in. You ARE an extraordinary being living an extraordinary life in each extraordinary moment. And there is nothing ordinary about that!

To decide that life is to be a spiritual quest, a search for deeper meaning, is an uncommon decision. To find the right spiritual path may take many explorations in many directions or it may come suddenly and unexpectedly. Either way, a spiritually centered life opens many doors. The seen and unseen become available in new ways as the heart and spirit grow stronger and more aligned. What once was a bold and unusual decision turns familiar and the outer world becomes the unusual as perceptions change and all of life takes on new and different meaning.

Once embarked upon, the spiritual path rises to meet you. You soon discover fulfillment in the sights and sounds of every day as the ordinary meets the extraordinary in everyday reality. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary as you walk your path today.

Each day offers a new opportunity. Without judgment take that opportunity. Without judgment move on. Without judgment recommit to a path with heart no matter how far you have strayed, for no straying will take you too far. Heart lies closer than you think. Reconnect with a simple breath and a reminder of the important goals in life and take the next step forward. Without judgment take the opportunity to walk onward.

No true path of heart is without the occasional byway, but only you can make it truly have heart again. Only you can bring the heart back into every day. And so, make that your challenge today. Without judgment breathe into your heart and bring it back into every action, every thought, every deed, every step you take. Then you will be back on your true path, the only one that matters, a path with heart.