Four Simple Keys to Transform Your Life 
    
    
  What’s Best for All
The Power of Choice. Every one of us
      makes countless choices every day. Every choice we make has an impact on 
      our lives. Even  insignificant choices can affect what we experience 
      and  how we feel. When hunger strikes, 
      we can reach for a healthy, nutritious snack, or we can choose the sugar 
    high of junk food. The more important the decision, 
      the more profound its effect. For instance, how do I act towards that person 
      who treated me badly? Do 
      I generally choose to be passive, or do I actively set clear intentions and create what I want in my life? Every choice we make, however big or small, affects us in some 
      way.
How Do You Make Choices? If you are interested in living a richer, fuller life, there is a 
      foundation upon which you can base all of your decisions which can make 
      life better not only for you, but also for those around you. This foundation 
    is to choose based on what’s best for all. Imagine a world where every parent, 
      spouse, friend, teacher, businessperson, and politician truly did their 
      best to choose what’s best for all involved in every decision they made. 
    We would certainly live in a  more caring, supportive world.
It’s the Intention. “But 
      how do I know what is really best?” you might ask. The answer is simple. 
      It doesn’t matter. What matters is not the choice you make, but rather the 
      intention behind your choice. What matters is 
      that whatever decision you make, you are clear in your intention of choosing 
      based on what’s best for all. If it later turns out that 
      you made what appears to have been a bad choice, there’s no need for guilt. 
      Knowing that you did your best to choose with a sincere desire 
      for what’s best for all, your conscience stays clear and open. This then 
      allows you to more easily learn from your mistakes, and to live with a clear 
      heart and mind.  
What’s Best for Me, Too! Choosing what’s best does not mean you have to always sacrifice yourself 
      for others. An overly exhausted mother can lose her temper easily. Some 
      time off for this mother might seem selfish, yet in the long run, it can 
    help her to be a better mother to her children. So   
    as we move through each day of our lives, let us remember to include ourselves as we do our best to choose what’s 
    best for all. 
 Divine Guidance
Many Meanings for Divine.
 Guidance can come from many sources. Yet by opening to guidance from 
the divine, we open to the support of 
      powerful forces greater than ourselves. The divine  has different 
meanings for different people, whether it be God, Creator, Jehovah, 
Allah, or Great Spirit. Yet even if you don’t believe 
      in any of these, consider the possibility that there is a very 
      wise part of yourself—a higher self or a deeper self—which 
      can provide you with guidance. What is important is that we open 
to this presence, however we choose to define the divine, and that we 
consciously invite 
      this powerful guidance into our daily lives.
All Requests Only if it’s 
      Best. When seeking divine guidance with a specific result, be sure to end with “only 
      if this is what’s best for all.” There are times when what’s best is not what’s easiest 
      or most enjoyable. Sometimes unwanted or unexpected challenges, difficult situations, 
      and even pain can teach us important lessons that in the long run help us 
      to enjoy life more fully.    When we choose to see all experiences 
      as gifts from the divine and opportunities for growth and understanding, 
      we open to a deeper level of divine guidance.
 Acceptance and Understanding
Our Core 
    Essence. Deep down we are all beautiful beings worthy of love and support. 
    The sweet innocence of babies and young children is a clear example of this. 
    Yet for most of us, the shining essence with which we came into this life became obscured 
    over the years as our family and others were unable to give us the kind of 
    unconditional love and support we so craved. As children, 
    when we were repeatedly told that we were not good enough or were punished 
    just for being who we are, thick layers of confusion and doubt developed, 
    clouding our divine essence. Layers of fear and insecurity were woven into 
    our personalities.
The Mask. By the time we are grown, most of us have developed a protective mask 
    or persona to hide these layers of fear and insecurity from others, and at 
    times even from ourselves. Outwardly we might appear happy or content, 
    yet on the inside most of us to varying degrees feel unhappy with who we are. Yet beneath it all, that shining essence is still there. No matter how much we may have forgotten, no matter 
    how thick those overshadowing layers may be, our beautiful core essence is and has always been there. 
Accepting and Understanding 
      Myself.  By choosing to accept and understand all of who you are—both your deep 
      shining essence and the layers of dark clouds within—you can  invite that beautiful inner essence 
      to shine through the clouds and to shine again in your life. When fears, 
    dark thoughts, or difficult emotions arise, first choose 
    to accept  that they are there. Then work towards understanding these dark clouds and where 
    they came from. Ask for divine guidance  as you  explore and transform these dark places.
Courage. It
 takes 
      courage to accept and work to understand our fears and weaknesses.
 Yet by doing our best 
      to be fully ourselves in all our strengths and weaknesses, our 
relationships 
      can grow richer, deeper, and more meaningful. This may be 
challenging, as some people are unable or unwilling to accept certain 
    parts of us.  Yet as  those around us see us becoming more real and 
honest with 
    them, many will also be inspired to be more real and honest with us.
 Thus, 
    instead of continually avoiding or denying those clouds or dark 
layers in 
    both ourselves and others, we open to a deeper, more authentic way 
of living 
    and of relating  to others.
Accepting 
      and Understanding Others. As 
    you develop greater acceptance and understanding of yourself, you
 will notice that others, too, have lost touch with  their shining core 
essence. As you work to accept and understand yourself, 
      it is most important that you choose also to give this gift to those around 
      you. Acceptance of what is, coupled 
      with understanding of what we can change and what we cannot, allows us to find the courage to 
      be all that we can be, and to empower others in doing the same. 
 Love and Empowerment
Let me start with myself. I will do my best to love  and empower myself to be the best I can be every day of my life. By 
      making this commitment to yourself, it becomes 
      easier to love and empower those around you. But do you really want to give this gift 
      to all other people?  
      What if you really don’t like someone? In this case, you can remind yourself that it is usually a person's
    personality that you don’t like—the mask or dark clouds blocking their deeper 
    essence. Remember that beneath the mask is a shining 
    divine essence. While acknowledging those parts you don’t like, 
    do your best to empower the shining being 
    hidden  beneath the mask or personality that you don’t like. You can choose 
    to love and empower the divine spark within all. 
Negative 
    Judgment. Judging someone to be bad as a person does not empower or inspire anyone to 
    be a better person. When you 
    find yourself feeling negative judgment, first acknowledge the part of you 
    that wants to judge—the part that wants to be right or better than 
    others. Then do your 
    best to  learn from your judgment and let 
    it go. Open to finding first acceptance, and then understanding and love both 
    for you and for the person you judged. Choose 
    to let your last thought always be that of love. 
Stopping harm. What if  someone does something that 
      is clearly wrong or causes harm? In this case,  be firm and 
      take whatever action you feel is best to stop harm. Enforcing a serious 
      consequence with someone who has acted  out of extreme self-interest  may 
      be the most loving, empowering action you can take. Yet even as you take  
      action,  open 
      to seeing the  inner turmoil that causes people to do harm. You can act 
      from a place of love and support, even while firmly 
      stopping someone from doing wrong or causing harm. Through choosing to see 
      beneath all of the pain, suffering, and hatred, and to recognize and connect with the divine essence within even those who would do us harm, not only 
      do we heal the world, we heal ourselves.
Imagine…
 Imagine for 
      a moment a world where all people truly did their best to love and
 empower 
      each other. Imagine if a significant number of the people on this 
planet 
      truly did their best to live by these simple keys. You 
      can choose to become one of those people right now. You can choose
 to make 
    your life and our world a better place. It is fully 
    possible. There are people of all races, religions, and beliefs 
around the 
    globe already committed to living by these or similar ideals. Let us
 then 
    choose with an open mind and  heart to add to their numbers. Let us 
    choose every day of our lives to do what's best for all, to open to 
divine guidance, to accept and understand, and to love and empower 
ourselves and all around us to be the best that we can be.

