Time is one of the most precious commodities we have. Love is the most precious and we should love enough to give our time. This is an investment with an abundant return. After we have passed, it will live on in those in whom we have invested, and in whom they love and so on.

Today is the day for reflection on the time you give to others, especially your children, partners and parents.

Is it really so important that you have a fancy expensive car and large television in every room if it means you have to work so hard you rarely see your children while they’re awake? If you have a hobby or sport that takes you away from your family in the only spare time you have, you need to find a balance between giving to yourself and giving to those who love you.

Parents who are elderly and living alone need special attention. We think they are just fine and we call infrequently—and yes, they have their own lives, but many are older and more fragile than we realize. They need more loving care than we currently give them.

One of the hardest things I had to deal with after Mum died was the quality of the time I gave her when I was with her. I spoke to her every day; would visit her in Australia twice a year, and tried to do things she would like to do. But I would also fix up everything that I thought needed to be fixed up and bought and sorted out.

I was very busy doing stuff for my Mum but I didn’t spend nearly enough time just being with her. It might have been just sitting and saying nothing sometimes; or having a drink with her and chatting, or telling her about what I was thinking and feeling and what was going on in my life. It might have been just listening to her talk about whatever she wanted to.

I know in my heart that my Mum wanted this more than anything, but I could not see it with my eyes because I had all these things to do for her. Wrong! Don’t make the same mistake I made. Balance the stuff you have to do around your loved ones with just being with them and loving them—and letting them love you.

Even if you can’t be with your parents physically, call them at least once a week and do nothing else while you are on the phone. Hear them with your heart and they will feel loved. This may be your last conversation with them so always make it a good one.

People debate the merits of quality versus quantity of time we spend with people, but I reckon we need both. We need to give lots of good quality time. Try to spend more time with your parents. Even if you only have five minutes, it’s still a wonderful gift when you are there in body, heart, mind and spirit.

We so often feel aggravated about the time we have to spend with people when we are rushed or busy, and it usually shows when we are with them. If this is the way you find yourself, it’s better you spend less time with them but have the right spirit. To be really present while we are with someone else means we have to give them our undivided attention and listen. Stop the judging and self-talk that says, “I don’t have time for this” or “Hurry up, will you?” or even, “Here we go again, the same old story.”

Most of our parents made a lot of sacrifices for us. It’s a small price to pay to return some of the love they gave us in the past. It’s all about flow, remember?

Make time today to be fully present with the most important people in your life, and then make some time for yourself. See if you can establish a rhythm where you can continue to be there for them, and yourself, in some way. You will see great joy in the eyes of the people for whom you do this.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Altruism is the quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others. Today is your day to be creative and see how you can joyfully be generous and allow your spirit to shine its incredible glow on others.

It would be wonderful if we could realize how bright our light is and help others recognize their own astonishing light! We are all designed to be the candle that lights a thousand others. It’s our choice whether to do it or not.

Will you do that today? Go out and consciously “light as many candles” as you can. Feel light and be light-filled, feel great and joyful, then spread that joy. Laugh, be happy, have fun, and create joyful moments for you and for others.

If you are not feeling joyful, remember Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Notice it’s a conscious decision—we will rejoice and be glad!

Create ways to feel good, be joyful and give joy. Skip, dance, play, laugh, sing, admire nature, admire others and tell them they are wonderful and that you love them. In France, it’s called “joie de vie”—the joy of living! Use your joy today to bring joy and color to others.

Perhaps today you will just sit quietly, hold someone’s hand and be with them. Whatever they need, generously give it to them.

Whatever it takes—commit yourself today to lighting up others and the world with your astonishing generous spirit.

Decide that from today on, you will only put the best quality fuel in to power your body. No more sodas, ever! No more diet drinks. No trans fats. Read all the labels on your food. Minimize the amount of processed and prepackaged foods you buy. Make more of your own meals and prepare them with love and gratitude. At least for today!

Buy as much organic food—or at least hormone- and antibiotic-free food—as you can afford to. (Especially potatoes and other root vegetables as ground vegetables absorb more pesticides and chemicals.) Eat chickens and eggs that are truly free-range—the rest can be loaded with hormones, and may affect our body systems and the environment.

Buy the book “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon (or find it at your library) and decide to cook meals at home as much as possible from now on. Stop eating out every night, or having take-out, or eating prepackaged foods. The nutritional value of most processed foods is minimal. And they are not generally prepared and cooked with love and care.

Have as much vegetable variety as you can and use what is in season. Try to eat local products as much as possible, as they are fresher and may still have some of their nutritional substances available to you! Make the effort to find food that has been allowed to mature on the vine, tree or plant. If you can’t buy food that is fresh from the vine, often manufacturers pick organic food fresh and freeze it right in the field. It’s worth looking into.

Having chosen your food with great consciousness and prepared it with love, care and thought, say grace over every thing you eat or drink and thank God for it. Thank the plants and animals that contributed to this meal, and ask God to bless it and make it nutritious and healthy for your body in all ways.

Then eat it slowly and thoughtfully, with appreciation and reverence. And chew each mouthful 30 times! YES, you can do it!

Doing everything with reverence is a great sign that God is in everything you do.

“He who loses his reverence for any part of his life, will lose his reverence for all of his life.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

This is a big day! Hopefully it is the start of a new way of treating your body—the temple that houses your spirit.

I don’t want to hear any laughter about your body being a ruined or crumbling temple! If, however, it is not a temple in great shape, today is the day to change that.

Without your body, you have no life on earth. It really is a temple and it does house your soul and spirit so it’s pretty important in the big scheme of things. If it functions well and is healthy, then you have more energy to do your spiritual work. There may seem to be a lot to do here—but just choose aspects that resonate with you and it won’t seem so daunting!

First, acknowledge and thank your body for keeping you going as well as it has to date, and humbly apologize for the stresses to which you have exposed it. And then promise to take better care of it, starting today.

Our body needs to be in harmony with the world and nature’s rhythms. We need about seven hours of sleep most nights; we need to balance sedentary activity with exercise, which is critical for a healthy body; we need rhythmic patterns of eating healthy foods and drinking plenty of pure water; we need sunlight on our skin; we need to balance stress and stimulation with relaxation, and much more;

How much rhythm and balance do you have in your life?

Examine your life and identify your patterns today—and then pick one that is not so nourishing for your body and change it.

Perhaps you can set a sleep rhythm, where you go to sleep, or at least are in bed, by 10 p.m. and wake up at 6 a.m. This gives you a great length of time to sleep—and it may seem artificial, but try it before you scoff! Many people are sleep-deprived these days, yet good sleep is one of the most essential requirements for treating your body with reverence. It revives, restores and renews every cell and life process.

Choose to regularly exercise. (After checking with a medical professional, of course.) At the very least, buy a pedometer and make sure you walk the ideal number of steps for you a day—it’s not as bad as it sounds! (If you are exercising too much, do less!)

Hugs and massage are not just relaxing—they are critical. The skin is the largest organ in the body and it performs many important functions such as de-toxing and needs a good scrubbing periodically! And humans need touch—babies born prematurely who are massaged and touched frequently are out of their neonatal units faster than those who are not touched and they have fewer developmental problems. That’s how life-giving touch is to humans. Book a massage for yourself today.

Find ways to bust stress. Stop any illegal drugs and/or stop smoking. Balance your alcohol intake—moderation in everything might be a boring statement, but there is truth in it.

Create an “unwind” ritual for your journey home each night. You can have a notebook in the glove box and before you start the car, write down your to-do list for the next day and then replace the notebook, drive home and be present when you arrive instead of worrying about work. Or hang your troubles on a “trouble tree” outside your front door so that you walk into your family free of those burdens. If necessary, you can collect them again the next morning when you leave home!

Meditate at the same time every day. Pick a time that works for you and then just do it. For 5 to10 minutes, sit and focus on your breathing, a color, silence, or the sound ohmm. Do this several times a day for shorter periods if you are really under pressure. Do something that de-stresses you every day.

Doing these things will be treating your ‘temple’ with reverence and the respect it deserves. Give your body a chance to help you like it wants to. Today, stop the things you are doing to harm it.

“There is a beautiful creature

Living in a hole you have dug”

From “I Heard God Laughing, Poems of Hope and Joy,” translated by Daniel Ladinsky; 1996; 2006, Penguin. Reprinted with permission.

This is your day! The day for you to discover for yourself what a spectacular and awesome being you are. Try not to let judgments and critical thoughts come pouring in as you read that last line—they are the “hole” we have dug for ourselves. The more negative self-talk we have running in continuous loops in our minds, the deeper the hole.

Look at yourself through your heart today—feel who you really are. When we ask someone, “Who are you?”, they mostly reply with what they do. “My name is Amanda and I am a motivational speaker” or a banker, a manager, a nurse or mechanic, and so on.

That’s not who we are! We are souls and spirits constantly creating our lives, merging with, and connecting to God and others. It’s the layers of personality and ego that block our vision of who we really are.

People like the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa can see through all that ego and personality stuff because they know who we are in our hearts, and they wear the glasses of compassion, which, like X-ray vision, cut through.

Pretend for today that you are the loving parent of you- the child! That this is the day God is going to help you see your real self—remember He is your loving parent! When you see yourself as He does you will automatically treat yourself with reverence. There is something for your soul to do in this world—some special purpose that only you can do.

You may be a little flawed – we all are—but that is because we are human. You are not a loser, victim, failure, hopeless, difficult, troubled or any other label you, or someone else, has attached to you.

We are responsible, special spiritual beings, we need to acknowledge our limitless nature and capacity, and be actively doing what we were meant to be doing here on this journey. We treat our purpose and spiritual work with reverential awe. We do what we must to do to discover what that purpose and work is, to learn about it, and do it the best we can.

So today find out who you really are and what your spiritual purpose is and begin to fulfill it! Have a chat with God and ask Him who you are and what His will is for you.

Just for today, watch only uplifting TV programs; read spiritual books; listen to or attend a spiritual class; spend time on your own; reflect on your limitless nature; and see yourself as important, special and valuable.

Surround yourself with beauty—flowers or photos or scenery; have wonder-ful aromatherapy oils burning so your sense of smell is pampered. (Pure aromatherapy oils and their scents can lift our spirits tremendously.)

Hang out with people and friends you love and go away for relaxing weekends or days. This may not sound like you are treating yourself with reverence, but you are when you do activities that help you relax and reconnect with yourself, God, your family and friends. You are doing something spiritual and acknowledging your true nature, coming into harmony with it.

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You need only a heart full of grace.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Namaste. That is your meditation for today. Silently greet every person you meet and every animal and plant you encounter with this word. In your imagination, feel yourself performing the gesture that goes with it, as you bow with reverence to the life force, to the “I AM” in front of you.

It’s not weird to be greeting all life forms in this way. Plants are precious—they give us oxygen, herbs, food and a gazillion other things. They have their own life force—some see that life force as a spiritual being. Are you not amazed at how a seed can fall on the ground and, despite all the obstacles it has to overcome, emerge as a gorgeous flower or some nutrition-filled substance for you or animals to eat? When you see a bunch of flowers or a single bloom—try to grasp the amazing powers that went into the bloom being there.

Animals are equally complex. Think of how they live, and survive, despite what humankind is doing to them and their environment. When you see a squirrel or birds downtown, imagine what they have had to do to adapt to concrete jungles, not to mention how they can now eat junk food! (They are not healthy, mind you, but they are eating it to survive for as long as they can.)

Remember, God is in every person you see. The beggar on the street, the janitor, the cab driver, your colleagues, the person who collects your trash, the corporate executive, the gardener or cleaning person or council worker, bus drivers, sales people, cash register clerks—everyone! And most importantly, God is in your family.

Today is a special day for your family! You are going to treat them all as the precious spiritual teachers they are. They give us more opportunities to grow and develop than anyone else ever could.

You may not be the easiest person on the planet to live with, in truth! Be in awe and wonder that they chose you! Be filled with reverence for them and gratitude that they are with you, and willing to stick with you. If they choose not to stick with you, be full of reverence anyway, because their departure may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you—no matter how bleak it looks at the moment.

Look for what is inside other people’s hearts—this is their true nature and who they really are. Everyone is an astonishing being of light inside his or her heart. You are blessed to have these people as part of your life. The blessing may not be obvious at this moment but live in joyful, hopeful expectation that you will one day soon see that blessing.

You will be filled with awe and wonder at the magic that happens when you live with, and actively feel and show, reverence and respect for all.

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”

John Milton (1608-1674)

It’s almost impossible to talk about reverence without mentioning awe and wonder.

PROJECT 1: TO BRING A CONSCIOUSNESS OF AWE, WONDER AND REVERENCE IN NATURE

Go out today and find some aspect of nature to bring that consciousness to you—plan a weekend trip to immerse yourself in it. If that is impossible, find some spectacular photos and lose yourself in them. Put those photos up on walls around you so you can be aware of, and feel, the majesty of nature with awe, wonder and reverence.

On a trip to Nashville’s Opryland to speak, I was in one of many long corridors on the way to my room. For those of you who have not been to this famous, amazing hotel and conference center in Nashville, it is enormous! It covers 5 acres and you have to walk miles (it seems) to reach to rooms and it is very easy to find yourself lost in all those corridors.

I was irritated and lost, and a family emerged from another corridor. They were obviously lost as well! The father was angrily pushing a luggage cart that was very overloaded and the mother was frustrated, looking at a map trying to work out where they were. They had two small children aged about four and six who were having the best time! They were dancing and jumping with excitement even though they were in a windowless corridor!

This to me was a blinding-flash-of-the-obvious moment. Suddenly I saw awe and wonder contrasted directly against how we have come to live our lives as adults. The adults were frustrated, angry and upset. The children were finding the joy in the situation—they were full of awe, wonder, laughter and made the experience fun by playing.

As adults, we are so engrossed with being on a mission (like finding the room), doing stuff, and having stuff, that we forget to look around and feel awe and wonder for where we are! It’s easy to be filled with awe when we look at a magnificent view, as I am doing now, experiencing the amazing beauty of nature and the incredible silence of our little farmhouse in Vermont.

Consider the ocean and its unfathomable power, or look at the night sky and all its vastness. Think about the Grand Canyon, or being in ancient forests, rain forests, beside rivers and isolated streams. Each of these can fill us with awe, wonder, reverence and feed our souls. There is something in the silence, vastness and wisdom of nature that makes us become conscious of reverence.

Go out today and become conscious of the amazing power of the natural world surrounding you.

PROJECT 2. EVERYDAY REVERENCE

Find a way to look at everyday life situations with awe and wonder—like those children in the halls of Opryland did! We all did just that as children, so we all have the capacity to do it—just as we have the innate capacity for joy. It sits patiently inside us waiting for the day, like today, when we will awaken to it.

No matter what happens today—find a reason to be in awe and wonder.

Look at your colleagues and family with a sense of awe for the incredible spiritual beings they are. They may be covered with a pretty ordinary personality, but they are really “astonishing beings of light!”

Be amazed at the technology of your car—that it can take you places and you never need to think about it—unless it doesn’t work!

Find yourself in awe of how the universe or God or Source arranges everything so perfectly—no matter how messy it looks to us!

I am always fascinated and in awe of people who can create machinery, or make art or carve wood into glorious shapes. I’m also fascinated and awed by people who manage very difficult lives and still smile, or by people with severe handicaps who are so grateful for what they have. I stand in awe of doctors and healers who can work magic, and on and on. I look at everyone with curiosity, fascination and wonder—how can they do what they do?

Everyone—no matter who they are or what they do—has something amazing to give to life—and to us. We just need to be curious and look beyond ourselves to see it.

I see the world as an alive, swirling mass of awesome, amazing, wonderful, mysterious stuff just waiting for me to learn about it, and it’s very exciting!

Remember the children in that corridor—your mission today is to experience everything with a sense of awe and wonder. You will be surprised at how much gratitude and joy you feel at the end of the day.

“By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life, we become good, deep and alive.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Life is a precious gift, which we largely ignore until it is about to be taken away or changed dramatically. A life-threatening illness or event usually transforms a person’s perspective. Have you met anyone who has survived cancer; fought off another terrible illness, or had a near-death experience? Almost everyone will tell you that they have a new-found reverence for life, and for everyone and everything in their world; they now enjoy every moment.

Why do most of us wait for a crisis to make us appreciate what we have? Because most of us are asleep and take our life forces for granted! We are unconscious of the beauty, joy and wonder of being alive. We are living life at half-mast.

Imagine you were told you had a month to live. That’s all. One month. How would you live in that last month—not what would you do, but HOW would you live? This may be the most important question in this whole book. It is at critical times like this that many people discover their true spiritual nature. Many people who have never prayed before or believed in prayer or a God or anything spiritual, start to pray with fervor at times of crisis. They develop faith, which Ghandi says, “is nothing but a living, wide-awake consciousness of God within.”

I hope you would suddenly start treating life with great reverence—and that you would recognize how precious it is. That you would see everything in your life as a gift—your family, your friends, your colleagues, difficulties, challenges, even your enemies would look pretty good at that time!

I hope you would look longingly at nature’s magnificence and the tiniest things would bring joy, wonder and awe. I hope that you would suddenly see the bigger picture and not be caught in petty squabbles. I hope that you would not waste time watching mindless television, instead of communicating with your family and friends. I hope that you would explore and share your feelings. I hope that you would be honest and truthful.

Art Buchwald, the famous American journalist, was told in 2006 that he was going to die. His kidneys had failed in June, and he was given three weeks to live and went into a hospice. He was cared for and nurtured, spent time with his family and friends, and relished every moment of life. As he told the story later, he was full of joy and had a great time, and developed a deep sense of reverence for life.

Five months later, he had to check out of the home because his kidneys were now functioning! Joy, reverence, gratitude and relishing every moment of his life, restored his life! He died in January 2007 after he had written another book called, “Too Soon to Say Goodbye!” (published by Random House).

Today is the day to look at how you respect and revere your life. Start being conscious of every wonderful moment you are given—whether it is disguised as a challenge, or is an obvious blessing. Become full of reverence for it and for everything that happens and for all those who are in your life. Be glad, joyful, grateful, kind, and relish every little thing that happens—all the pain, challenge, difficulty and the fun. Treat your life as the precious and wonderful gift it is.

“Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.”

John Milton in “Paradise Lost”

No matter what your spiritual belief system, we need to treat God, or your equivalent of God, with awe, wonder and reverence. And we need to do the same with angels, guides, the nature spirits and all living things.

Too often we forget about all the angels that help us out—on earth and from “above.” I believe we have guardian angels and that there are many “angels” in human guise who help us through our lives. They come in all shapes and sizes and appear magically at times we need them, and it is only afterwards that we do realize we were “touched by an angel.” That is awesome.

This is the realm of miracles and things way beyond our understanding, so just be grateful that we are living in a world where miracles can and do happen all the time. Be very reverent towards this whole amazing, awe-inspiring spiritual world of which we are members!

Look around you today and try to feel God in all you do and be aware of all the beings that are with us as well, like loved ones who have passed and angels who want to help us. We just don’t know how to look, sense, feel, and listen for them. It’s easy-ish! Be quiet, look with your heart and listen.

At the wake after Mum’s funeral, I was standing on the balcony talking with one of her oldest and dearest friends, my surrogate Mum, Billee, when a turquoise butterfly flew right by me—two stories up. I saw it and instantly knew it was Mum! It was the strangest thing. I just knew it.

Several days later when I was really missing her, I was with some friends on their farm. For three hours I was surrounded by all manner of turquoise bugs—butterflies, dragonflies and others I could not even recognize. Turquoise was one of Mum’s favorite colors. Since then, she has sent me many butterflies—they appear on billboards, in airports, magazines and cards. It’s that inner knowing that makes it true for me.

I have told this story many times now, and almost everyone has a similar one. Those who have crossed the threshold are always with us—we just need to wake up and recognize their presence! How could you not be filled with wonder and reverence at the amazing ways they can connect with us?

Thank God for all he has done for you, for all the help he has sent you, the blessings, gifts and grace he has bestowed on you, and for his ongoing forgiveness. We have a lot to revere! Treat him with respect; do not ignore him; listen carefully for what he has to say to us; take time with him every day and sit in awe and wonder and gratitude for everything we have been given.

Listen for his will and align yours with his. It works out better in the end. Much better! I love what C.S. Lewis wrote: “There are two kinds of people; those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done; ’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way!’” The price is much greater if we do it our way!

Author Barbara Kingsolver

There is a difference between wishing and hoping. Hope without faith is empty—it is simply wishing. Hope filled with faith is active. It spurs us on to do something.

We can wish all we like that things will change or be different, but wishing does nothing. It places all the power externally. We wish someone would come along and fix things so everything would be fine, but we do nothing to contribute! We do not take an active role.

I think many people say, “I’m hoping this situation is going to improve” without actually engaging in the whole process. It’s just a word they use to describe the feeling of, “I have given up and am resigned to what will happen.” (This is often accompanied by a sigh!) These people may still be living in fear, but just saying they are hopeful! They are really wishing things were different without being willing to be involved actively or consciously.

Our work is to hold hope and faith. To be in hope, to step into hope, to put hope into our hearts for the alchemical process, requires us to take action. We must hold onto faith, move, do something to see the world differently or change the way we react. We must be conscious of what sort of expectation we have—one of hope or one of dread?

When we really are full of hope, we are filled with light and actually feel lighter. We vibrate at a different rate and are actually different beings. Our hearts are different; we are conscious of the decision to operate from hope; we have done something to make that possible.

My husband, Ken, had an interesting experience with hope and our friend Mary. She assessed him and told me the things she had found, which I was to share with Ken. They were not necessarily easy things to hear, and I was being led by fear when I worried about his reaction. But when I did tell him, using hope and courage as my companions, he said he was filled with hope and light deep inside.

When Ken heard what Mary had found, he felt, at last, that someone had really identified what had been core issues for him. I believe Mary is inspired in her work, and Ken sensed her spiritual connection to God and to us, and he felt that what she spoke was truth for him. That gave him hope.

Ken has since been able to find that same sensation and fill himself with it, rather than disappointment or another fear-based emotion. And he can choose a very different way of approaching the world now, especially when he catches himself having negative thoughts. Both of us still fall back into our old fear-based habits at times—but now we can recognize them, breathe, and choose to become hopeful and expect good things to come.

See if you can feel the difference between actively making your heart full of hope as opposed to just passively hope-ing or wishing for things to be transformed.

“Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit.”

Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993)

Hope comes with knowing, and choosing to remember, that the spiritual worlds will help when you need it. Go on—you can do it!