Where ever you find yourself, take a moment to enjoy the scenery.

Day 68: Hummingbirds

One of the qualities that I admire most in myself is the ability to allow other peoples style to shine through in a design project. Many years of my life were spent helping clients, friends, and family find the decor' that fit them personally and their lifestyle the best. I love that I have always been able to adapt to what the client, friend, or family member needed. This is perfect timing that I did some visioning for two of our friends yesterday and I am super excited about the life that they are calling forward. One of these said friends sent a picture of the amazing decor' item they had found yesterday. It was shiny and full of reflective surfaces. With in moments I could see their home filled with brilliant decor' that suits them perfectly. It was such a joy to know the truth for them, and also understand that my beloved and I desire something totally different.

I love this understanding more today because of this amazing reading. It is so easy in life to be lured into thinking that we all have to like the same things. We all have to eat the same food, and heaven forbid we show up with the wrong colored socks to match our outfits. Ok that last one was for me. I love my sense of style when it comes to putting clothes together. It is another one of the traits that I picked up from my mom. When I was a little boy my mom would take me with her everywhere. She loved to look at fabrics as she was one of the most talented seamstresses that I have ever seen. As a child she would invent a game where I would go and find the thread to match the fabric she had picked out. (I was brilliant at this game) When I share that story with my friends many of them state she should have known then.

Thought out my life as a designer I have known many folks who were not homosexual, and who had exquisite taste in design. We have a society that is very uncomfortable with folks who step outside the preconceived roles we have defined as appropriate. One of my favorite stories of my childhood is my sister and I. I loved cleaning house and putting everything in order, and she would be happy if she never had to be indoors again. I loved to cook and she can cook but it doesn't bring the same joy that it does for me. For years that was a source of frustration for my dad. I prayed that this would work itself out and indeed it did. When my sister married and moved away from home, I got to do both.

Once we discover our brilliance rather than fear it, let's jump squarely in the middle of it and show off what we have. My beloved and I loves the life that we have created for ourselves. We love our home and sharing it with others. We don't ask anyone else to like it or approve of it. It is our home and we thrive here. Why wouldn't I want that for all of our friends? I have relaxed so much over the years with my perfectionism. Oh, don't get me wrong I still have moments. Yet I can say I have had a great deal of growth. I think a great deal of that is the man my husband is. My beloved lives his life in such a way that he is thrilled with who he is and seeks only the approval of himself. Living with that example everyday has been such an amazing example of self love, and self appreciation.

Personally I can't wait to see our friends tricked out homes and enjoy the lives that are calling in. Today I understand that having hummingbirds in my life means I get to sit back and look at the magic of their flight pattern. Not to mention that the red sugar water is well worth the investment. My favorite color, my favorite folks and we get to be entertained all at the same time. What is there not to love? Loving folks where they are is one of my greatest joys, and gifts. Regardless of how I got here, I am just super glad to be here. Where ever you find yourself, take a moment to enjoy the scenery from where you are. Trust me it's amazing, just like you.

I love you,

Thank you,

Rev Allen 

What would happen if you substitute love where fear once lived?

Day 67: Crows

Look at something that you are currently afraid of. What would happen if you substitute love where fear once lived?

I have spoken many times throughout the year of my love for Crows/Ravens. I love them so deeply that I purchased one to sit on the window sill to remind me of their many gifts and powers. One of many things I recall about my childhood is my mothers love for birds. If you wanted a sure-fire gift for my mom it would be a figurine of birds. Having the figurine of the Raven sitting on the window sill is a reminder that my mom is with me always and we are forever connected. Most of my life my mother was my super hero. She was the first person I would call to talk with about a life situation. I knew that regardless of her feelings that I had within her a safe space to discover what I needed and that I could count on her honesty, and openness to speak her truth. We had some wonderful heated discussions, and yet I knew that her love was constant. My mother and I have always shared a connection that is deep and meaningful to me. There was never a time in my adult life that my mother didn't call me when I wasn't feeling well. It was this magical connection that began my quest into the unknown. It made perfect sense that if I have this connection with my mother that I can have this connection with others.

For 45 years of my life my mother and I would talk everyday. When my mom and dad found out that I was moving to Seattle they reminded me that they would not be about to visit me as much. My teenage years with my birth family was filled with life lessons and growth opportunity. When I was 15 my mom and sister found out that I was homosexual and it was the first time I remember making my mom cry. For most of my life, I felt that I broke her heart. One of the reasons that I love the Native American tradition is the amazing way they tell stories. One of my favorite stories shared by our wonderful friend Kenny is that when a vessel is cracked, it is through the crack that is allowed to flow into the vessel. Kenny shared that his tribe views that as a sacred part of any treasured item. I believe that the day my mother discovered that I was homosexual was indeed the day that created and opening for Spirit to enter and assist us on our journey.

My parents have been amazing parents. They are deeply religious and I know them to be Jesus's number one fans. The discovery about my sexual preference (as my mother would say) was kept hidden from my dad for well over a year. When my dad discovered through a cycle of events, my life was changed forever. It was this moment that transformed life as I would know it and though I didn't know it at the time was the moment in which I was given my wings. For years, I used this portion of my life as my greatest victim story. When in fact as I look at it today it was the day that I discovered my strength. It was at this moment that I knew at my core that it was of the utmost importance that I follow my heart. The mind is amazing but can at times leave out the feeling nature of the heart. One of the things that I share with people who follow the "Seasons of Change" journey is the importance of Mind/Body/Soul. When I operate from a central truth it allows me to thrive in any given situation. I believe this to be life experience that helped me transform from adolescent into adulthood. It was through this experience that I chose to leave the nest and find the meaning of life for myself.

It took me many years to understand this gift from my parents and to let go of the victim status that I had taken around like a badge of honor. This transformation in my life as you can imagine also had a dramatic impact of my parents as well. It took a couple years to heal the hurt for my dad and me to speak. Today I do not hold him responsible for anything other and following his heart and doing the best he knew how to in that moment. I also credit this time as the moment of self discovery where knowing who you are, and who you have in your circle to be of the utmost importance. From the age of 20, until I was 45 I choose to call my parents on a daily basis. Thought I would not visit our family home for over 15 years I wanted them to understand that did not affect my love for them. Another life altering moment was when my parents discovered that I have HIV, and years later that I had two forms of cancer. It was these moments that allowed me to connect my mind/body/soul experience. I had lived most of my life from a mind/body awareness. Through these experiences, I found myself living on the West Coast which allowed me the luxury to understand that there is so much more to life than I had ever visioned possible. There was an undeveloped potential that I had yet to tap into and once I did my life would be forever transformed. During this stage of my life, I discovered that my mother had the early stages of alzheimer and dementia. My beloved super hero was disappearing before my very eyes. The woman that I loved with all my soul was embarking on a journey that I was not allowed to go. What had once been a place of solace was now barely a 30 second vigil with the woman I knew as my mother/best friend/mentor for all of my life. Here I was once again left with the feeling of being released from the nest.

After a few years, it becomes apparent that the visit my parents would make to the west coast was the last time my parents would visit my home. To find and meet my beloved Tony long after my mother could not remember who I am caused me a great deal of suffering. My beloved would never have the chance to meet this dynamic force in my life. Today what I know to be true is my beloved Tony meets my mother everyday we journey together. Anyone who has ever spent more than 10 minutes with my parents would tell me that I look just like your dad and I act just like your mom. Today this brings me great comfort, regardless of time I am forever connected to them in ways that are not visible to the naked eye. For a majority of my life, I was frightened of the unknown and what it held for me. It was thought the mind/body/soul experience that I discover my true beliefs. I discover that as I grow and evolved what I had known to be the truth about God/Spirit/Creation was evolving as well. I was now willing to journey into the unknown knowing that there I would discover the truth for myself in any given moment. This also meant that I had to be willing to let go of what I had, so that I could live present in the NOW moment. It was at this level of consciousness that I discover I no longer needed to call my mother by phone. I now could visit her from this interconnectedness that was operating in the background of everyday life. It was this understanding that allowed me to move from sadness to joy. I am not sure how I will feel when my mother's body is no longer here, but today I am no longer afraid of the event called death.

In learning to embrace the unknown and choosing to lean into it for the answers in life have been one of the most life affirming journeys of my life. Like Depak Chopra quotes as my image and understanding of God grow, so does my willingness to allow God to grow. Each day of this journey with nature I discover things that connect us to the greater whole more than ever before. I choose to know that it only gets better, and that few people will choose to see this truth. It means daily choosing to let go of what I held to be true yesterday so that I can live fully present NOW. Just like my learned friends the Crows and Ravens once I embrace who I am it matters little what others think of my journey.

Thank you,

I love you,

Rev Allen 

Simply it was fear

Day 66: Waterfalls

I am loving reading "Seasons of Change" again and doing my daily work. I have been experiencing what I felt was a block in the process. I am working on my third book which will take an individual through a full cycle of seasons and the transformation process. My mentor Dr. Maxine Mimms suggested this to me right after I had written Seasons of Change and I was very resistant to this process. You want me to live a year of this? A great deal of the profound changes in my life has happened in much this way. An idea or desire with come into my consciousness and it will meet with the ego and fear which I allow to then close the door. Some time later I find myself in this process where I begin to soften and ask the question what if? What if I give it a try? What if I take the journey and learn more about myself than I thought possible? What if I succeed and love what I have created? What if it is just what I need at this moment to open my heart more deeply to love?

This process came about due to many workshops and classes I had taken that were to transform my life, or make everything better. I would take the workshop and I would give it my all only to find myself in a few weeks alone with no one from the class to process with and the teacher had moved on. I have loved every workshop, breakout session, and self study that I have completed throughout my lifetime, yet I have found that the process has something missing for me. Though many of the groups offered an extended program it has come at an additional cost. Once again I would pay the fees and do the work. I still found myself wanted something different so I created "Seasons of Change" workshop. I asked myself what I would like from someone who was teaching the class? Being a person who works best one on one I would like an experience that would grant me access to that person on a daily basis. So I created a daily gratitude group for the Sesaond of Change community that allowed them to do their gratitude work online. It was intended to be a 90 day follow up to the course and allows them to ask questions and share in their personal journey with the greater community.

The more I wrote the more I realized that regardless of who participated I wanted to do this for myself. I entered into a contract with myself just like I requested from each of the workshop attendees which is located on page 144 in the back of the book. I began to do my daily work and to keep my calorie intake at or below 2200 calories per day. In the first few weeks I found the weight releasing from my body like water over the edge of a cliff. I was learning more about the growth process that I was seeing in nature everyday. I was amazed at how I was noticing at a deeper level the subtle changes that were happening in nature all around me. I loved that I was honoring my word to the folks who took the class and that I was available and open to the work regardless of anyone else journey. I become aware more deeply how nature works and how it heals. I become aware of how it works together with the greater whole to create a life of thriving for everyone. I learned more about interconnectedness. I learned that my life was transforming before my eyes. This process was really working and I was loving who I was seeing in the mirror.

Season one passed and I had reduced my weight by 50 pounds and I was eager to go into season two. I created another contact with myself and in addition to 2200 calories per day I would exercise 3 times per week. It was my goal to reduce the blood pressure medicine and the blood sugar medicine that I was on. Somewhere in the mist of season two it began to be about opening up more to the process and sharing from my deeper self. What had started as an extension of "Season of Change" workshop was in fact turning into my personally journey with this book at a deeper level. I had intended that this book would help others transform their lives while in fact it was helping me to transform mine. By the end of season two, it becomes clear to me that I was indeed writing a third book and I was in the mist of it. After a follow up with my doctor I reported that as a result of doing this work daily I had reduced my blood pressure medicine by half and that I no longer had the need to take blood sugar medicine I had been on.

Seasons three was about going even deeper than the past two seasons and looking at how I related to the great whole. My daily writing began to grow longer and deeper with each post. I found myself thriving and excelling at everything I was doing in life. I was speaking more, doing more workshops, and selling more books than I had believed possible. People were writing me to tell me what a change had happened in their lives by doing this work daily. Here I was less than 3 seasons into this work and my life was totally transformed. Had it been an over night leap of consciousness? No, it had been through the daily process and opening up to myself that I begin to see, love, and adore who I was. I had the honor of sharing my book with my Dad who began to read it instantly. He later pulled me aside to say son, keep doing this work, you are gifted and people need to hear what you have to offer. I was flying! By the end of season three, our Amor community had been vandalized and I was able to greet that with love, understanding, and openness.

Some where in this process I crossed a boundary that I had placed for myself. I set out to rescue someone else and I allowed that to spiral me into a deep dark space. I know at my core that no one needs to be recused we are all on a divine path. My ego would love to put the blame outside myself but in truth it was my choices that brought me here. How was I going to get out of this place of stickiness?

So I stayed stuck until I was ready to let it go. Just like with a waterfall that is dammed up the flow over the edge is limited and can become stagnate. The damming process had me once again living in fear rather than freedom. Hiding all my feelings in places and the cells of my body once again. I was playing the games that I had played before and yet not getting the same feelings. I had all but abandoned my work. I had stopped doing my daily reading and opening of my soul. I had once again dammed up my life in order to protect myself from the outside world. When in fact it was the inside world where I was building a prison for myself one block at a time. Rather than freedom I was feeling limited, trapped, and isolated. I was once again doing the things that I had found over the past three seasons that no longer served me. Why was I here again?

FEAR!

Simply it was fear. Fear of being who I knew I was all along. The wonderful expression of love. What if I failed? What if folks hated me? I was allowing fear to keep me hostage in my own life. I knew I had the key and yet I stayed stuck here until I was ready to grow again. In Winter, we think that nature rest and restores itself. What I know to be the truth is we are growing within. A tree that doesn't deepen it roots system in the winter with surely fall over in the spring or summer. I was learning more about myself and my process. I was naked, raw, and vulnerable. I stopped beating myself up and I realized I was releasing all those things that I had kept hidden deep within myself. It was all about of this amazing growth process and I needed this so I could move forward and thrive. So here I am once again reading my book on a daily basis. It is both easy to do, and easy not to do. Monitoring what I eat and keeping it under 2200 calories per day as I had entered into a contract with myself again. Taking each moment to live fully in this now moment, knowing that the best is yet to come. I feel the damn beginning to losen up and the water is beginning to flow. All of this I have learned while living life one season at a time. "Seasons of Change. "

Thank you,

I love you

Rev Allen

How do I get use to living that way and continue living it over time?

Day 65: Salt

This reading has been timely for me in my life right now. I can only begin to tell you how much doing this reading daily and journaling about it has made a profound change in my life. I transformed my body, my health, and my wellbeing. One of the things I talk about a great deal in doing this transformation work is how easy it is to do and how easy it is not to do it as well. We often think we wake up one morning and our lives have been derailed when in fact it is small changes over time that add up to the derailment.

Just as easy as I released 75 pounds from my life I picked up 50 of them again. This is not about shame, or anger. This is about real time day to day stuff that I allowed to pull me from my center and my truth. Once again, the real life lesson under all of this is am I good enough and the what happens if someone doesn't like what I am saying? How many times in life do we sabotage our success because we have become so used to what we label as failure? One of my favorite lines from the movie "pretty woman" is "The bad things are easier to believe."

What I know to be true today is that this is a learned belief and it would serve us best if we let it go. What I know to be true is that I developed a process that I witness in nature working everyday and applied it to my life and it worked. Not once but twice! It worked as I applied it everyday finding gratitude along the way. It also worked when I allowed life to serve up what it would and chose to build a new path to "what was I thinking that I was good enough to have a life like that?"

All of my life I have made my weight about value, how good looking I am and my ability to entrap a person of my choosing. This time has been so different as I learned that loving myself in the process was of the utmost importance. I learned that the person that I really "needed" in my corner was not some handsome knight on a make believe stallion was in fact really the man in the mirror. The greatest lesson I have learned in this experiment is that when I love myself and care for myself in a way that matters my mind, body, and soul respond in a way that is amazing. How do I get use to living that way and continue living it over time? One moment at a time! That is one of the byproducts of blogging over the past year. It is allowed me to see how I grow, how I evolve, and how I transform my life. We are so busy looking for the fast track to success that we miss it running around chasing our tails.

Join me today in being committed to your highest self and allow the ego to have the day off. Demand it actually. We have this and most of all we are built to thrive not merely survive.

Remember that you are loved, and lovable,

Thank you,

Rev Allen 

I didn't understand why everyone was so upset?

Day 64 Hail;

It is so funny to me the difference a perception can make in any giving situation. When I read this reading that talks about the softball size hail I am instantly transported back to being a child of 6 or 7. As children we seem to be more inquisitive about life and how it is unfolding. I have had many of my clients say to me that is because as children we do not have any worries and concerns. My response is perhaps we should give that a try. Who was it after all that convinces us that life was serious, and we had to be so afraid? I remembered very well when I was a child that if I didn't understand something I would ask questions. I may have been a bit fearful but I was still willing to try it out. Do you remember the first time you met someone who looked differently than you? Different hair color, eye color, or their accent was different from yours?

I remember I was in the third grade and there was this talk of desegregation at school, home, church. At home and church all I heard was fear and hatred and the question, why did this need to happen any way. Things were just fine like they were. I remember the first day of integrated school as a day of adventure for me. Here were all these amazing kids that I had never met before coming to the same school as me. Being the official greeter of the universe and willing to talk to a sign post my mama would say. I couldn't wait until recess. I ran up to the new kids and asked their names and introduced myself as Allen. It was one of the best days of my childhood having new friends to play with. Sure we had questions of each other what kids don't. Just like any other child we asked our questions, received an answer of some sort and proceeded to play. I didn't understand why everyone was so upset? Don't they like meeting new people? Don't they like to play?

I remember as a child that I did not understanding the anger, hate, and ugliness I would hear at home from my brother, and dad. Fear is an amazing thing that we allow to control our lives and we don't even know most of the time what we are afraid of. Growing up in the rural south was differently an experience and to be a product of integrating the school system provided plenty of fuel for the fire of hatred. One of the things I learned early in life was to allow my family to find their own path and to enjoy the friends, you have along the way. For a child that lived from a place of love I didn't understand then and I don't today why hair color, eye color and skin color make such a difference. After all when nature paints it uses color. When I think about a rainbow, I don't see the wide array of colors fighting over who is the best and how the rest are somehow diminished because of their color. I don't see an oak tree saying to an elm tree you can't live here because you are not like the rest of us. The only time I see this most clearly is when I look at human nature.

As a child I looked at different as new, fresh, and a chance to see something from a different perspective. Today I am very happy to say that I feel much the same way. When I need to understand something that doesn't make sense to me I just go and stand somewhere else until I get a view that I understand and that makes sense to me. Somethings take longer than others, some not so much. Today I know that if I don't like something it has noting to do with what others think and everything to do with how I perceive it.

So much of what I think today is based on something that someone else taught me to believe. The sooner I can let that go and look at something or someone for who they are, rather than what someone told me they were my life expands. I don't know about you but remembering the magic of softball sized hail and how exciting it was at show and tell sure has taught me a lot in life. Do my own investigation. Stand somewhere you haven't stood before. Stepping over your fears is a great way to find some amazing friends in the world.

I love you,

Thank you,

Rev Allen 

We are always creating!

Day 63: Ice 

This is one of my favorite reading within the "Seasons of Change" book. It is the reminder to myself that what I surround myself with is what I hold true for myself. Just like the water within the ocean must separate the salt molecules from the water molecules in order to form ice. So I must gather around me the people, books, and consciousness that allow me to create the life that I desire. 

One of the key elements in this transformation experiment is to release the hidden beliefs that I have allowed to govern and control my life. I will say that I want to change something in my life and will do it for a period of time only to return to the old way of living. Why is that? Most likely it is due to a hidden belief system that I have in place that I have yet to address, or I have stopped the new way of living and started creating something new. 

We are always creating! 

I have shared the amazing success I had with weight loss following the simple steps of nature. I had transformed my physical body in two seasons by releasing over 70 pounds. I wish to share with you today the ease with which that can change back if we do not keep up with the new consciousness. Over the last season, I have lessened my commitment to my daily practice and honoring who I am, and what I consume. As a result I started a new path to an old life. One of the amazing things about doing this work on a daily basis is that it is really easy to do it and it is just as easy not to. Once we have a new state of consciousness it is impossible to go back to an old way of thinking. We may create a path that looks like the old path and yet we can't take it with the same understanding because we have a new consciousness. Even though I have allowed some of my old eating habits back in to comfort me, I could no longer do so with the same naive thinking I had before. I now know my worth so this is a choice that I am choosing to take rather than allowing a hidden belief running my life from the sidelines. 

Fear is an amazing thing. We often fear success more than we do failure. 

Over the last two weeks, I have once again committed to loving myself and being mindful of what I am taking into my body. I am pleased to announce that within those 14 days I have released 5 pounds again. Our hidden beliefs are sometimes multifaceted. For years, I allowed my weight to show up in my life as a truth that I was unlovable and ugly. I know today that I also allowed it to create a safe space for protection. For most of my life, I thought the weight was the issue when it fact it was about self love and knowing that I am safe and the world is here to support me in all that I do. 

What are you willing to release today so that you can have the life that you have dreamed of living?

Thank you, 

I love you, 

Rev Allen

Who am I under pressure?

Day 62: Diamonds

Who am I under pressure?

This past season has really shown me many things. It is easy to do your daily work and it is easy to not do your daily work. I have learned that my living love on a daily basis is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given. I have learned that regardless of what others do to me, or say about me it is what I say to myself that matters. I have learned that holding my intention in a trying situation is a great gift and keeps me in balance with my highest self. I have learned that rest is key when a stressful situation arises. I have learned that it is the little things we do each day that creates the life we want to live. I have learned that when I do my daily work I am indeed the sparkling expression of love that is more brilliant than a diamond.

During the past season of my life experiencing being vandalized at Amor Spiritual Center was transformative. It allowed me to see where I was in my personal work. It allowed me to live in my highest consciousness and more through it with ease. It allowed me the opportunity to see how much this daily work over the last three seasons has really transformed who I am. It reminded me that self care when under pressure is key. It reminded me that living under pressure requires that I live in a state of fight or flight and that I would best serve myself and others to release that as quickly as possible.

Over the past few days finding my center and moving forward in self love has been such a gift. What I realize today is that finding my center came much easier this time than in the past. Why? It is living proof that this daily work makes a difference. I talk with clients and friends about this often. We want to do the work once and get the benefits of the accumulative effect. Setting up a daily practice is really about building the life you want one block at a time. It allows you to root and ground yourself in such a way that you are able to not only weather the storm. You begin to welcome them as living proof that you are evolving. Saying that doesn't mean that gee I hope someone will throw a rock through our window again. What it means is that when life shows up I have some options. I can take it personally and suffer. I can also see that had a tree fallen through the window I would most likely not be angry at the tree. Having that consciousness allows me to live in that consciousness with the individuals that did in fact throw the rock into the window. It allows me to see suffering in their lives and hold them in love. It is in moments like these that we see the brilliance of the investment of loving ourselves most brilliantly.

Thank you,

I love you,

Rev Allen 

Starting Over

Good morning my faithful travelers,

Day 61: Coal

I want to express to you today about how the path of love goes both ways. It was my intention when I wrote "Seasons of Change" to create a safe space for others to transform their lives. What I am finding is that it has been, and is that for me. Over the last season, I stopped investing in myself and started allowing what ever (circumstances) to guide me on a daily basis. I am telling you this so that every one of you knows that I too have those moments. Just like waking up each day and reading from this book and writing was a path that I started to help myself and others which I found to be a joyous one. Yet, I allowed things in life to pull me off the path that was working better than anything else. I allow the demands of being a leader to tell me that others were more important than loving who I am. That too, is a path. While taking that path I got up each day and didn't read, I didn't blog, and I didn't eat the things I knew were the things my body needed. Why? Old habits have a way of reappearing until they are replaced with new ones.

I am working on my latest book about living through the seasons for a year. Well, I certainly found the needed resources for writing. Just as much, as taking a new path led me to weight loss, feeling better than I had in years. I can assure you that the old path has led me to 50 of the beloved pounds that I had released back onto my body. Am I am a failure because of that? No! The last two days I have picked myself up, dusted myself off, and started a new path again. Why? Because I am worth it. I matter.

I find that the ego wants us to remain small, isolated, and alone. It is time for me to Emotionally Grow Out of that consciousness. How do I do that? One step at a time! Each day we are given a choice, follow the old road or build a new one. This week the underlining message has been starting over. How many times must I start over? The real answer lies within the statement itself. If now is all we have, and now, oh and now. We spend our entire life starting over. Each moment of our lives is new and we have to begin again. Why then do we find that it is so hard to share with others we are starting over. I didn't fall off the path that was working. I instead started a new path to an old place. Funny how things look so much better from a distance, and then we arrive, we find that it is not how we remembered it.

As we evolve, mature, and grow this amazing thing happens. With the deepening of our roots, we gain experience. Oh we can go back to where we were, however we cannot go back to the old consciousness. Why, because we are no longer that person, it is like forcing a square peg into a round hole. It doesn't work.

Life just like nature evolves and we do as well. Whether we want to or not. We lose branches, limbs, and sometimes our very essence. What we do not lose is our soul the knowingness that we are here to make a difference and that we will continue on this path as long as needed until we remember that who we are matters in the world. Coal is the perfect example. Coal was once vegetation. It stopped growing, transformed into the earth and then was once again transformed by nature into something that we used as fuel to heat our homes for many years. How many people today feel their homes with coal? Very few as we have evolved. Just like nature, we have found a new way to live.

While on the road of life it is important to remember that you are the means by which you travel. If you find your self somewhere you don't want to be, surrounded by folks who don't love and appreciate you. Pick up and move on. Set your destination for a new space, and take the time to love yourself along the way. This work though simple is not an overnight success. It is the process of evolving at your own speed. Just like with nature there are some trees that grow really fast, and others take a great deal of time. Our environment often tells us that the one who grows the fastest wins. When in fact they both do. They are learning different lessons. Grow at your own speed and know that you are perfect just as you are.

I love you,

Thank you,

Rev Allen