So many weaknesses in me
So many flaws
So little strength
So little virtue
So many fears
So many lies
So little truth
So little insight
All I’ve got
is that I know;
I know of you.
All I’ve got
is this heart 
of yours.

I want to remind you how loved you are. I want to remind you that you are precious and adored beyond belief. I want to remind you that there is nothing you need to achieve, that you are good just the way you are. I want to remind you that you are protected and taken care of. I want to remind you that everything you love is protected and taken care of.

You are free. You are off duty, so to speak, off the hook. There is nothing that you are required to fix. If you are, you will be given the means and the knowledge how. There is nothing you need to despair about. You are in good hands. Remember to trust, no matter what. Remember that you don’t know, you simply don’t know. Which is a good thing. Be grateful for that.

I want to remind you that what you think is a fault in you isn’t a big deal at all. You are already forgiven. Now it’s time to forgive yourself.

I want to remind you that it’s not your job to judge and condemn yourself. It’s also not your job to judge and condemn others. You don’t know what others are about. You don’t even know what you yourself are about. Which is a good thing. Be grateful for that.

I want to remind you that what you think you need to be happy is not what will make you happy. I want to remind you that happiness is within your reach, every moment of the day. You are happiness itself, joy itself, love itself. No matter what.

I want to remind you that others are just like you. They want love, they want happiness, they want freedom, joy. Sometimes it gets a little distorted. It’s no big deal. We are humans. Humans fail. We try again, there are endless chances in a lifetime.

Just remember, every time, how loved you are and how tenderly observed.

You are never, ever alone. You are constantly adored.

Sometimes when I feel alienated from the world (never from God) I call my friend.

When I feel like I don’t understand people’s behavior, when I just can’t fathom how it is that not everyone is acutely aware of how short life is, and what a blessing it is to be born on Earth.

When I see complaining, commiserating, resentment, jealousy, hatred, rudeness, rejection, abandonment; the list is long. (Not to mention the global scale.)

I wonder: Don’t you get it? Don’t you know how unlikely it is that you were born at all. And yet here you are. You have one chance on Earth and this is it. This is it! 

Not that people have to accomplish big things, change the world or carry out an important mission. Not at all. It’s enough to just know that you were awarded life, that you won the lottery.

Not only were you not born as a cockroach (well, who knows maybe they are actually great creatures) but you were born as a human being. Doesn’t that make you want to ONLY spend time on what is good for yourself, others and the planet? Or at least to immediately stop any kind of hatred floating around in your system?

Doesn’t that make you want to be kind and patient? Doesn’t that make you want to listen to others and at least try to understand? Doesn’t that make you want to spend as much time as possible with loved ones, with people that really matter to you? Doesn’t that make you want to adore them?

Doesn’t that make you want to accept and appreciate others’ love for you? Doesn’t that make you want to go out and adore nature? Even if you can't accomplish much of this, don't you want to make it your only aim?

Whenever I start thinking and feeling along those lines and having the sense that I am the only one feeling that way, I call my friend.

What a blessing to have a friend like her! She understands exactly what I mean. She knows that life is short. She knows that love is all that matters and immediately I know that all is not lost. She reminds me, again and again, that there are others who feel like I do. We both know that our friendship is rare and precious. We both acknowledge it to ourselves, each other and to the universe. I wish everyone a friend like that. 

Yes, life gives a mixed bag. The content of this bag is rarely one dimensional, black or white. So how do you sort it all out? How do you live in a world that is so vast and so contradictory as ours? How to live when your understanding just can’t cover it all? 

Even if you have a much smaller perspective life is still quite confusing. Why do I behave the way I do, why do others behave the way they do? Why did this happen? Etc etc.

How to deal with life? The eternal question.

Do you try to determine what is right and wrong from your limited perspective? Do you guess how things are when you don’t really know? Or do you simply make decision how it is? Do you judge, condemn, try to change others to think like you?

You’re in for some big fights.

Or do you live with constant confusion and uncertainty? One day feeling one way and another way the next? Do you live with fear because you can’t control life? Do you feel powerless?

You’re in for a roller coaster ride.

Both ways will leave you exhausted.

What to do then?

Try to give it over! Give it all over and if you take it back give it over again.

How?

This is practical.

It’s easier if you have something you can relate to,something that is bigger than you but still feels personal. Why? Because you can then have a little conversation where you lay out your difficulties. (You can replace the word God below with anything that is a power greater than you and that you can relate to.)

I talk to God every day. I ask God to carry my burdens because they are simply too heavy for me alone and I have no way of knowing how to solve my problems. I ask God to help others solve their problems because I can’t solve it for them.

I tell God: “You know my heart, you know where it’s hardened, you know where it’s soft, you know where it’s murky, you know its joy. I give my heart to you, all of it. Here, take it. I give it over.”

I tell God I’m clueless. I tell God what my dreams are.

I give everything over to God. Even love and joy. My heart is not my property! I just happen to carry it. I just happen to fill it, with useless things sometimes.

It’s hard to give things over because we are often attached to our problems, for various reasons. One reason being that it gives us great satisfaction if we can solve our problems ourselves. And that IS a great satisfaction.

But sometimes. It’s just good to give it over. To admit our confusion and our inability to fix things.

It’s hard to really give things over because the problem often comes jumping right back at you. Let’s say you worry about something that you can’t control. You talk to God and you tell God that you can’t solve this. You ask God to help you give it over, to manage it for you. If you succeeded in giving it over, you feel instant relief. But the worry often starts seeping in again.

Then give it over again. Over and over again. Until there is relief.

This doesn’t mean that you then sit back and do nothing about your or the world’s problems. No. This means more focus, more clarity and inspiration for action. It usually means that you have opened yourself up to see things differently and that you have opened yourself up to be led – by a power greater than yourself. 

And sometimes, quite often actually, it means that at least your personal problems are instantly solved. Don't ask me how. I've just noticed that it happens. 

God never forsakes one who has surrendered – Ramana Maharshi