Strive to be gracious and kind even when met by anger, fear, or strict adherence to beliefs. Know that others struggle to find their way just as you do, though their path may be quite different, their chosen route seemingly incomprehensible to you. All beings must contend with the journey they are on. Your own journey requires focus and intent and yet your humanness requires a measure of grace. If you are to make your way with love and understanding a measure of kindness with a dash of humility will go a long way.

Taking a broader perspective on life—and on this current life in particular as part of a larger whole—offers the opportunity to shift away from self pity and into a different overall outlook on the personal journey. A warrior knows that self pity has no value except to point out where one is caught. A warrior knows that karma, the work to be done in a lifetime, based on previous lives and the work done in them, may involve facing a lot of ugly truths about the self, but a warrior does so without feeling sorry for the self.

A warrior pushes through self pity to arrive at a place of contentment with all that is, no matter life’s circumstances, for a warrior is aware that everything is meaningful. Even if meaning is not readily apparent, a warrior does not give up or give in because a warrior knows that meaning comes eventually and all will be clear. And so, a warrior finds value in everything, even self pity.

In the meantime, a warrior takes on the challenges of life with gusto and energy, seeking awareness and resolution of the mysteries of life so that evolution into new life may naturally occur.

Attitude is everything! A warrior knows that expectations will be reciprocally met, that if one wishes for something one must give equally, that if one is happy happiness will reflect back, if one is angry anger will reflect back, if one is morose moroseness will reflect back. And so, a warrior constantly adjusts. A warrior’s attitude and mood are always appropriate, and yet a warrior allows for life to flow smoothly, joyously, and without regret, no matter what the circumstances. A good attitude and good experience of life go hand in hand.

Worry, as it comes in the dark of night, is all-consuming, silently entering and overtaking the awakened mind. And yet the mind has no power. Only the intent of the human being is powerful. And so don’t blame the mind for its worrisome thoughts, blame the thoughts themselves. And then shoo them away. Use intent and blow them away with the force of breath, the most powerful and natural cleanser available to humankind. Breathe into the thought-packed mind and create empty mind. With no thoughts, with clean, unoccupied mind, truths will ring clear and you will be more than worry free!

During this time of change some people are experiencing great shifts, moves, displacements, forced change and elected change alike. If you are feeling no change, there is nothing wrong with you. Remember change comes when it is appropriate. But also remember that the energy of this change is significant and so you ARE feeling it in some way.

Though your own big shifts may have come at another time, or are yet to come, you are still affected. People you know are affected, or fully participating, and so your own energy, sensitive as it is, naturally is affected too.

Find your balance, your equilibrium, no matter what your situation is. Stay upon your intended path and without swings of mood, desire or need, allow yourself to use this time of retrograde energy to build a strong tower within the self, a tower of love, kindness and compassion. And, without attachment, reside there knowing that your life is just as it should be in this moment. And then make the most of it, for your own evolutionary karmic journey.