Your existence began in the void. You were first there, then you emerged here.

When you trace back to your true roots—beyond ethnicity or skin color—you are free from the bondage of here. You understand who you are.

Maintain daily focus on this truth and you will make inner peace your friend.

Use your inner guide to lead you back to this truth. In this way, you live what is your true reality.

LIVING THE TAO: At work, it’s easy to get caught up in frustrations about the performance of others, or deadlines and lose sight of what really matters. Focus on your evolution through the lessons that each moment brings.

In 2018 my focus was to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. Now I continue into 2019 with my fifth reading. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Original image by Arak Socha.

There is no one person higher than another, except for the one you have made so in your thinking. In making others higher, you have made yourself lower.

Help yourself to understand that cultivating compassion for yourself rises above the perceived status that possessions bring.

Consider that the commitment to boldness goes further than the desire to achieve.

And embrace that moving forward in the dark enlightens your knowledge of who you are.

With self-compassion and boldness to keep moving forward without knowing, all things for you come to you when they should.

This is you flowing with life.

LIVING THE TAO: Do you live these three? If not, what will it take for you to begin today?

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my fifth reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Original image by Brannon Naito.

Before everything, there was the Source of everything.

Accepting that there is an ultimate Source of all things validates that the finite physical self is not in complete control.

Labeling your experiences lead to suffering. When you have what you want the way you want, the label suits you emotionally and all is perceived as well. When the opposite is the case, the label is in the negative. This causes emotional distress and painful longing. If you are able to refrain from labeling, it is better for your heart and mind.

Here is boldness: being able to move through your experiences embracing uncertainty, yet trusting the Source of everything to keep your feet on solid ground.

This is certainty in the darkness.

This is being bold.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, I invite you to reflect on the first, second and third interpretations along with this fourth and ask, are there any shifts you are prepared to make today in relation to aligning with the art of living as shared in the Tao?

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my fourth reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Original image by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash.

When seeking knowledge, I learn. When seeking wisdom, I unlearn.

In my quest for wisdom, every day I see more of Life’s flow with its synchronicities. I also see how unnecessary it is to force things. I am shown the next step to take, and when I take it, I am shown the next step, and then the next, and so on.

There is an ever-increasing peace of mind and confidence in an unseen hand that are gained by surrendering to Life’s flow.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, I invite you to reflect on the first, second and third interpretations along with this fourth and ask, are there any shifts you are prepared to make today in relation to aligning with the art of living as shared in the Tao?

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my fourth reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Original image by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash.

Do you know what you are striving for or for what  you seek?

Do you strive for approval or are you seeking to demonstrate your highest principles?

Do you strive to acquire more possessions, or are you seeking the truth leading to your joy?

Strive for success and your work will be without end. Seek to understand the lessons in failure and you will grow in achievements.

Seek for what endures rather than strive for what is temporal. This is the way of fulfillment.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, I invite you to reflect on the first, second and third interpretations along with this fourth and ask, are there any shifts you are prepared to make today in relation to aligning with the art of living as shared in the Tao?

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my fourth reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Original image by Krystal Ng on Unsplash.

You have a path.

If you can stop striving to make things happen your way;
If you can move past the fear of making a wrong choice;
If you can release the worry of what others may think;
Then you can fully step into surrendering to the guidance of your path.

Once you are fully open, then with surrender, inner peace, and gratitude, you can journey your path with ease and grace.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, I invite you to reflect on the first, second and third interpretations along with this fourth and ask, are there any shifts you are prepared to make today in relation to aligning with the art of living as shared in the Tao?

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my fourth reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

You know not of a defined path that your life should go. Any definition there is, human kind has conjured it.

There is no exact action that must happen with age, other than the action you declared there must be for your life to be right.

But there is indeed a way—The way—undefined by any man.

Man’s definition is limiting, but The way is expansive and carries you through a journey that your finite thinking would not imagine.

The way is the path Life lays before you when you surrender to the experience Life wants to offer you.

The fear of not feeling in control will lie saying there is danger ahead, but was there danger when you were formed and birthed without your control?

Trust the same perfection for now.

Let Life lead.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, I invite you to reflect on the first, second and third interpretations along with this fourth and ask, are there any shifts you are prepared to make today in relation to aligning yourself with life’s flow.

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my fourth reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Image courtesy of Val Vesa on Unsplash.

Change is inevitable and fear of it stifles your progress.

Try holding on to this moment. That moment has already passed.

Try holding on to your life as you know it in this moment. You grasp instead of allow. Because of your fear, your experience is limited.

Accept these truths
-you do not control time.
-you have never controlled life’s flow.
-you will never control the future.

What you can control is your reaction to this present moment and your choice to surrender in it.

Embrace that change is happening right now. Release the fear of it. Experience life fully.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, pick a moment—maybe in the midst of a great conversation, a loving experience, or a gut-busting laugh. Really be there with who you are with, feeling gratitude for the experience, and see how much richer you feel. You aren’t controlling. You are experiencing the richness of the moment. That can be your entire life if you choose to live that way. So, choose.

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my third reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

Knowing is an obstacle to progress.

When one positions herself as the sole holder of the key to the solution, relationships and outcomes become diseased.

Uproot such arrogance. Embrace the adventure of not knowing.

Assuming this posture brings health to relationships and wholeness to outcomes.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, look at how decisions are made in your group. Are they based on your sole presumptions? If so, look at the rest of your group. Are they fully engaged? It is possible that your group dynamics need healing.

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my third reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.
Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.

When you fully let go of self-judgement, living up to the expectations of others or worry in general, then you are free.

You are free from the self-told stories that hold you back.
You are free from measuring up to familial and societal patterns.
You are free from the imaginary bonds of insecurity.
You are free from the mental anguish brought on by emotional suffering.
You are free from the mental and emotional pain of pleasing others.
You are free from the expectation of fitting in the societal mold.

You are free to create something better with your mind.
You are free to choose surrender.
You are free to live in accordance with your true nature.
You are free to give yourself to the opportunities that the flow of life offers.

When you choose to let go of the illusion that you are bound, you are free.

LIVING THE TAO: Today, ask yourself if you feel free? If not, why not? Then ask, what must I do to be free so that nothing holds me back from life? Trust that the answer will come and remain alert. The answer will come.

My 2018 focus is to intentionally live the Tao Te Ching. This is my third reading of Stephen Mitchell’s translation. I share my daily interpretations hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Embrace your journey. Experience bliss. Live the Tao.