Hello beautiful soul,

It took me 10 years of not drinking alcohol to finally realize that during my 10 years of drinking I was without a doubt a total alcoholic. I didn’t think I was. But one day it dawned on me, when alcohol touches my lips, I will drink it until I pass out. It’s the darndest thing.

For ten plus years of heavy functional drinking, I was drinking because I didn’t know how to change my thoughts. With no spiritual tools, drinking would at least obliterate me so I’d be unconscious of my thoughts and emotions. But every time I drank, I was only sabotaging any chance of being happy or healthy. My complete story on how I quit drinking with meditation here.

We can’t control our thoughts. We can’t predict our next thought. It comes completely outside of our control. BUT, we can create the conditions in our mind for positive and loving thoughts to arise. 

Once I learned to pull out the weeds in my mind’s garden — the weeds of envy, greed, worry and fear — I started to appreciate what I already had in my life. Once I planted the seeds of love and peace in my mind, and watered them with meditation and selflessness, peace and love flourished.

This week ahead, simply begin to notice the roots of stress and the symptoms of stress. By coming at it from both sides, we conquer it. The root cause stems from fear. Instead of being afraid of the fear, look at it. Say, “Ok, there is my fear. I’m noticing a fear that I’ll die soon (or be alone forever or whatever).” Now, notice the symptoms of stress in the body. It’s almost always in the breath, so take some huge belly breaths, as many and for as long as you like. (In my latest YouTube video, I share how we can see and understand life beyond death.)

Just as we wear our emotions on our face, we also hold stress in our body. An interesting fact about the mind is that if we think the word “smile,” our mind reacts as if we are smiling and it releases those happiness chemicals. Wherever your body is storing stress, mentally smile to that area, allowing for a release of tension there. 

Now that we’ve faced our fear and made some peace with it, and now that we’ve regulated our body’s nervous system, let’s go make our dreams a reality with gratitude for where we are, a vision for where we’re going, and the presence to make it happen.

Love,

Todd

PS – When we stay balanced on our middle path, we can take into account our family’s feelings, but we can also live our own life, our way and on our terms. Here’s what to do when our family doesn’t support us.