A Manifesto For Personal Responsibility: I empower myself.

I know what is best for me. I empower myself.

It is only when I temporarily allow the energy of my expectations from the outside world to steer me away, that I lose my center and begin to second guess my decisions. When I second guess my decisions, I take myself away from the moment and become enmeshed with the past. When I am enmeshed with the energy of the past, I am powerless because I cannot take action to change anything that has already transpired. When I feel the powerlessness of inaction, I become a victim of my perceived circumstances in my own mind. Instead, I redirect by focusing my energy on the present, where my sovereignty exists, and my power is preserved.

Being in the moment and connecting to the flow of life is how I empower myself. For here and now I can act in a way that moves me towards or away from my truest self. It is never too late and never too early. I am always right on time. I recognize conditioned thoughts as I am able to recognize them. As I live more life, I gain new perspectives and insights that allow me to consciously separate fact from fiction. All I need to do is slow down enough to examine the thought, ask for help from a higher power and summon the courage to face the truth, even if it means a small piece of my old story is proven wrong.

Once I am able to prove these false narratives wrong with the power of intentional thinking, I can let it go and allow it to transform into the truth. I am not afraid to examine my beliefs. I am not afraid of being proven wrong, for living with a lie that was planted without my consent is much harder, and perpetuates pain for myself and by extension, the pain of those I will inevitably project the pain of these lies upon. I take full responsibility for the truth that lives inside of me—mind body and spirit—and summon courage, assistance and support from friends, family, society, nature, and the immense power of grace, forgiveness, mercy, compassion and wisdom that come from an unconditional force of love from All That Is and The Wholeness as I have come to know it.

I hereby resolve to welcome my own discomfort as an indicator of where I need to focus more love and awareness in order to heal from the illusion of separation and the wounds projected onto me from a wounded society.

I allow my strength to guide me into challenges, compassion to soothe me from fatigue, and hope and enthusiasm to fuel me on these pursuits.

I am the spark of life that when guarded, protected, and tended to becomes a glimmer of light and then a flame and eventually a fire that burns within, reminding myself and others what it truly means to be alive and what a gift it is to love and to be loved. And that all things will pass.

The time is now and only now just as these words have been inked, always evolving one more step into the future where my true power lies. I empower myself. I know what's best for me.