A birthday wish

 I would like for everyone I know to take a few moments for themselves.  Dismantling fear of judgment from others and from yourself, find stillness.  Setting aside political views and religious beliefs, settle into a few moments of silence.  There is no right way, there is no code of conduct or contract. No prerequisites or rules.  Forgive and forget your own assumptions and expectations and close your eyes.  Perhaps this is the first moment of stillness and silence you've afforded yourself all day; your mind is noisy and distracted, your body may be uncomfortable and restless.  Embrace that. Embrace every single thing about you and what may be coming up for you: feelings, emotions, itches. Breathe.  Breathe deep. Breath loudly.  No one is listening, no one is watching.  These moments are yours and yours alone. And you're beautiful.  Everything about you is radiant. You are giving yourself the most wonderfully rewarding gift you could. Your heart thanks yous, your back thanks yous, your lungs and feet and neck thank you. 

I thank you. 

I am in deep gratitude to everyone who carves out time to do this. You've chosen to practice patience, and begin to develop a stronger sense self-compassion. You've chosen to take a step in the direction of Truth.  In a world of violence, hatred and greed, you absolutely cannot go wrong with patience, compassion and truth. Imagine if everyone took time to do this? For just a moment imagine a person you find yourself frustrated with, or angry with. Be it a sibling or a world leader, imagine how different it would be if that person were just a little more patient, compassionate and honest.  

We've done enough damage to ourselves, our planet and each other. We owe  it to our children, our grandparents, our neighbors and our pets. We owe it to the trees, the ocean and the sun. We owe it to ourselves to become a more patient and compassionate person.

Now that you've filled your own self with radiant love, deep compassion and infinite gratitude share this with your friends.  If everyone I know passes this on to everyone they know, maybe one day we really will have a whole world of more patient, compassionate people.  And that would truly be the BEST birthday present in the whole world.

There is Truth within you.