What we mean by this is to include your whole self in your regard. Include others’ whole selves as well, the parts you agree with and the parts you do not. The parts that annoy you and the parts that attract. The parts you find acceptable and the parts that repel. Include it all.

You are more than the sum of your parts, but without the entirety of your self, you will never be all of yourself. Making particular demands on yourself in order to include aspects in your regard is called conditional love, and believe us – It Does Not Work.

Nobody responds well to rejection, which is exactly what exclusion is. When you decide to only love your body at a certain weight or fitness level or functionality or behavior on command, that is excluding entire huge swaths of your own very human condition. It is unreasonable and unnecessary and it does not get positive results.

Have some curiosity about aspects of yourself you have rejected. What if it is included, in the package of you, to have warts? What if it is included to sometimes belch? Are you allowed to get older and wrinkled? Are you allowed to have folds in your skin at all? There is no stretching and growing and becoming without those folds, so you might want to include them in your inventory of things you cannot live without.

To include the whole kit and kaboodle, of yourself and of others, is to accept a cosmic invitation to a mysterious and intriguing joy ride. You can be prickly and sweet. You can be intelligent and also not bright. You might mean well and do poorly by someone.

Each human is a walking box of paradox, and the sooner you can accept all your bits and pieces, the sooner they will seem to fit together. And that makes you whole. And that makes you greater than the sum of all your parts. Even the ones you dislike. They have something to offer as well, you know.

Some people feel that anger is a distasteful thing. Now to be angry all the time for no reason and to take it out on others, that is an annoying habit that will not get you anywhere. But mostly this kind of thing happens when a person rejects their own anger, vowing that it has no home, it is bad, it is wrong.

When anyone is excluded like that, they are liable to bang on the door. Anger does have a place in the world, and in the human experience. There are plenty of times it is called for and it brings, ultimately, protection. So it requires inclusion for any human to be whole

Bring your whole self with you, wherever you go. ❀

To rest is to draw into yourself all the resources and energy you have been expressing out into the world. It is to take a period of time out of time, and space out of place, and withdraw what is generally given out.

When the body or the mind or the spirit fatigues, some people try to push on. Which is an interesting thing if you think about it. Like trying to drive a car without power or fuel. Even getting out to push the beast to the final destination, instead of crawling into the back seat for a nap, or waiting for the day to break so you can see what you’re doing, or waiting for help to arrive.

It is not necessary at every moment of every day to be moving forward. It is not a requirement that all the action you take be under your own steam. Sometimes it’s the better part of valor to ask for help, and then accept it when it arrives.

If you don’t know where to seek help, that is a useful meditation to have with yourself. Maybe write a list of ten places and people from whom you could seek assistance. If you don’t know how to receive help, this is as good a time as any to begin to learn. It is a skill, after all. It is a skill everyone needs. Nothing gets done in pure solitude, not really. So, resting in your efforts is mandatory.

Confront your fear of being lazy. There is a false equivalency between resting and lazing. Also, there is nothing wrong with lazing. But resting is purposeful in the accomplishment of your life. (OK, lazing is, too. Everything has a place.) You will not get as far as you think without resting. It is the reconstitution of the dried-out tissues of your soul. It is the rejuvenation of the skin of your being and the organs deep within, which keep you going. Is your fear of laziness and judgment greater than your longing for health and well-being?

Nobody ever exhausted themselves into better health. May we say, while we’re at it, that of course effort is called for in living your life, doing your work, loving yourself and others? May we say that at times great effort is required, to meet a deadline or launch a task, or even just to get through a day? Effort is not an objective measure; therefore, neither is rest. Both are required for function. Ask yourself, perhaps, why would you skimp on or sacrifice half of this equation? ❀

Path is what lies before you, even as what lies before you may be out of view. Path is what brought you to this place in time, all of your past steps and errors and disbeliefs. Path is where you stand or sit or rest right in this moment, always moving, yet also always still. Path is the arc of energy you walk throughout your life, half in faith, half in confidence, never really knowing where it leads.

There is a continually unfolding quality to Path, the mystery that abides even when you think the way is clear. There is always a fuzzy spot on the horizon, which cannot be seen distinctly, but which inexorably draws you on. It is the nature of a lifetime to unfold; the center is not revealed until completion. But the center is within you and continually guides you, whether or not you feel conscious of this truth.

There is an idea some have about Path, that it should make sense, that the outcomes are preordained, that one thing will lead to another, that consequences can be understood and weighed before they are activated. But if you look back, you will notice how much of your life could not have been anticipated, no matter how much information you gathered, mulled over, and analyzed. You may also notice that however much you believed you knew what you were doing, you surely did not. Conversely, times when you were less confident, unsure what steps to take, you were guided, absolutely. That deep inner wisdom which resides in your very center has never, ever left you.

Your path has only one purpose, and that is to lead you more deeply into yourself. No matter where you are, which branches you explore, how often you go one way or another, or feel lost, you are always on your path. This is it. This life, this arc of time and space, this meaning you ascribe. Wherever you place yourself – each moment, resting, moving forward – is you and Life living your Path. Trust this. ❀