Each month, this column features a “Message from Love” with an action step and meditation. Each message gives examples of what Love might say and do in various circumstances. So, whenever you find yourself feeling scared, angry or uncomfortable, instead of letting fear have its way, practice asking yourself:

What would Love Say?
“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” — Eckhart Tolle

What would Love do?
Go within and find out who you are.

Meditation for Love:
Sit in a quiet space and light a candle. Close your eyes and place your hand against your diaphragm or solar plexus and breathe in and out for several minutes. Feel the Spirit breathing through you. Feel the essence of what you really are. Sit with yourself every day and become familiar with the deeper you.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.” – from Walden, by Henry David Thoreau

There are four words in Thoreau’s quote that I want to highlight: encouraging, unquestionable, elevate and conscious.

• Excuses Begone! is encouraging you to challenge patterns and feel inspired by a newfound awareness of the life hidden beneath your excuses. Invite yourself to move out of established thought patterns, and realize that there is nothing standing in your way of living at your highest levels.
• You have an unquestionable ability to eliminate excuses – they’ll get up and go when they’re revealed as the false beliefs that they are. There’s simply no question about this!
• You elevate your life by taking responsibility for who you are and what you’re choosing to become. You can transcend the ordinary, mundane and average with thoughts of greater joy and meaning; you can decide to elevate your life, rather than have it stagnate or deteriorate with excuses. Go beyond where you presently are.
• You can bring your desires to consciousness by disconnecting the power from your subconscious so that it can’t continue to run your life. Your subconscious (habitual) mind is accessible, so unearth the excuses buried deep within you. Become conscious! In my role as a counselor, teacher, and parent, I’ve heard many reasons that people use to explain an unhappy existence…and almost all of them inevitably fall into one huge category, which I call “excuses.”

For example, consider this excuse, “I can’t afford it.” It’s a rare day when I don’t hear some variation of this excuse, including: “I didn’t go to college because it was too expensive,” “I haven’t been able to travel because I never had the funds,” and “I couldn’t go into the business I wanted because I had to stay where I was and earn money to pay the bills.” I call this belief lame and a cop-out, yet there seems to be almost universal agreement for its existence.

You originated in a world of abundance, which you unquestionably have the ability to access.

Whenever you discourage yourself with thoughts that your financial situation is preventing anything from appearing, that’s an excuse. If you instead decide to bring abundance awareness into your consciousness, you’ll shift your thoughts from “I can’t afford it” to “Whatever I need in the form of assistance to guide me in the direction of my life is not only available, but is on its way.” You’ll then consciously watch for the necessary funding to show up, but you’ll also be reminding yourself to believe that you have the ability to use abundance to elevate your life.

Encourage yourself by realizing that you have the capacity to create a space within you that’s filled with peace and joy, an inner island of contentment that has nothing to do with money. Practice gratitude for the essentials of life, which are yours to enjoy virtually free of charge. These include air, water, fire, the sun and the moon; the very ground you walk on; the continuous beating of your heart; the inhaling and exhaling of your lungs; your food digesting; your eyes and ears; and so on. Be utterly grateful for all that you have naturally, which is beyond the scope of what’s “affordable.” As that endeavor strengthens, assess what you’d truly like to do, where you’d like to live, and what creature comforts you desire.

When I made the decision to attend college after spending four years in the military, for instance, I knew in my heart that money wasn’t going to be the thing that prevented me from reaching my goals. I understood the costs involved, and I didn’t act on my fear of shortage or what I couldn’t afford – I acted on my internal knowing that I, indeed, was going to attend the university. This knowing prompted me to investigate financial assistance from the government as a veteran, open a savings account designated for tuition and books, talk with the financial-aid people at the university, and make alternative plans to attend community college, if plan A were not to materialize. I had a certainty inside of me that the “I can’t afford it” reasoning is an excuse that many people who aren’t considered wealthy employ as a means for exonerating themselves when they need a rationalization for why they’re stuck where they are in life.

Oscar Wilde made this wry observation in 1891: “There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think of nothing else.” I’d add that such thinking includes lamenting the fact that they’ll never have money. I advise tossing out this meme, and instead rewiring thoughts to connect with what’s intended to manifest, regardless of your current financial status.

Whatever you feel is your dharma, and no matter how hard that calling seems to be pulling you, if you maintain the belief that you can’t manage to pull it off, I can assure you that you’re right. To paraphrase Henry Ford, whether you believe you can afford to do a thing or not, you’re right.

Excuses Begone! by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. is published by Hay House is available at all bookstores or online at www.hayhouse.com.

I’ve always been a believer in visualization. Most days, I make the time to sit in silence and envision what I’d like to create for myself. The list usually goes something like: a successful writing career, perfect health, hairball-free cats, and kids that adore household chores. I absolutely see steps in a positive direction for the first two, and if you have any special manifestation techniques on the last two, I’d pay good money to hear them.

I’ve started affirming the good as it appears to me throughout the day. I know that this is a sure-fire method for creating gratitude and thus allowing space for more delicious goodness to rush into my life. A friend of mine suggested that I even celebrate the “closeness of the match.” For example, if I visualize monetary prosperity and find a penny on the sidewalk, I don’t dare disregard our 16th president! I enjoy the gift of the copper coin that wasn’t previously in my pocket.

Sometimes, however, I wonder about the whole “closeness of the match” concept. The other day I’d been thinking about my desire to incorporate more exercise in my daily routine. Later that afternoon, my hobby farm friend’s chickens chased me down her driveway. Should I be celebrating the match of the chicken-led cardio workout? I suppose I should. Forget Tony Little’s Gazelle! Bring on the Chicken Run!

Another technique my friend recommended is using the phrase, “I’m in the process of….” This is helpful when you just can’t be in that happy place right at that exact moment, but want to stay positive and assure yourself that you’ll be there soon. It’s like hanging a “Back at 2:00″ sign on the door to your Creation Castle. I recently used this one when I felt impatient with a friend. I affirmed, “I am in the process of feeling patient.” I did feel better and soon I did feel patient. Creation Castle back in business!

I was thinking about my bounty of daily opportunities for using this phrase:

• I am in the process of…cleaning my van so it looks more like a comfy carpool carrier and less like the inside of a full vacuum cleaner bag.
• I am in the process of…embracing the neighbor dog’s personal contribution of organic fertilizer my front lawn.
• I am in the process of…jubilating in my son’s quirky habit of liking a certain food one day, shunning it the next day, and then devouring it the following day.

The power of our thoughts is magical. We think and we create – sometimes more quickly than we had imagined! So, amid the daily flurry of life, somewhere between the kids, cats and housework, I will continue to positively visualize. I will fling open the door of my Creation Castle, celebrate the “closeness of the match,” even when it involves sprinting poultry. And one day my van will be clean, but for now I am in the process of embracing hairballs.

Stress often is categorized as either positive or negative. Positive stress allows us to evolve and change naturally, whereas negative stress removes or depletes our ability to effectively cope with life. One natural remedy for reducing the negative stress is the new Meditative Movements™ exercise program.

Research has shown that exercise is effective in managing stress. Affirmations are positive, simple statements a person repeats out loud or to one’s self; repeating affirmation mantras are a conscious way to direct your mind to focus on who you are becoming. Combining both exercise/care for self and affirmations/care for the soul is the foundation of this revolutionary new approach that can remove the effects of the negative stress from your mind, body, and being while preventing additional negative stress.

It is the combination of movement and affirmation that makes the difference. Feeling energized and excited about life are some of the results of this new approach.

The program begins with centering affirmation mantras that are repeated during the warm up. Centering affirmations focus your attention on your own uniqueness and being-ness. The breath of life flows through you, and centering affirmations reaffirm a conscious connection to your innate spiritual being. I like to think of centering affirmations as the heart of the matter.

At the heightened level activity, energizing affirmations are spoken. Energizing affirmations spark your being’s innate goodness and humanness and align your thoughts to the force of nature that supplies our energy. Your energy and enthusiasm for life enables you to embrace life more fully.

As your being is filled with the centering and energizing powers, it is natural that negative thoughts and feelings that no longer support your higher good are released. Releasing affirmations are paired with the cool down and offer a way to let go of past struggles, disappointments, and stress.

Below is a sample of a warm up, heightened level and cool down exercise:

Slowly lower your chin towards your chest, inhaling through your nose. Feel your stomach expand as it fills with air. Exhale (release the air through your mouth) as you move your arms from your sides up and over your head, returning your head back to its original position. Feel your stomach return to its original position. As you bring your arms down and in front of your body, lower your chin again to your chest, inhaling
through your nose. Now as you move your arms up say, "I AM." Inhale as your arms are returned to your sides. Repeat as needed.

Lie on your back with both of your feet on the floor. Slowly lift your right foot off the floor (foot flexed), bringing your knee towards your chest. Grab your knee with both hands and gently bring your knee closer to your chest. Hold the position. Slowly return your right foot to the floor. Now lift your left foot off the floor, bringing your knee towards your chest. Grab your knee with both hands and gently bring your left knee closer to your chest. Next time you raise your right foot and bring your knee to your chest, say the affirmation, "I am good enough" or choose your own affirmation. Hold the stretch; then inhale, lowering your foot. Repeat as needed.

Your right hand is clenched in a fist. Slowly lift your right arm up the ri ght side of your body and bring your arm over your head. Hold the position as you slowly open your hand. Say the affirmation "I release all stress" or choose your own affirmation. Continue to hold the stretch while saying "I release all stress" three more times. Return your right arm to your side. Perform the same movement on the left side. Repeat the movements on both sides as needed.