Happy New Year! I’ve heard a lot of people say, “I’m glad this year is over! So many hardships and difficulties—it was awful!”

Human nature calls to our awareness the difficult stuff. We often miss noticing the good stuff. This “negativity bias” evolved to keeps us safe from danger. Whether it was our own experiences or things we observed, we noticed the stuff that caused us (or others) harm or pain. This “negativity bias” robs us of the joy of our life experiences. This negativity robs us of the ability to think clearly, so in reality it doesn’t even keep us safe!

We desire safety and we desire joy. How can we have both? We engage our spiritual self along with our human self. The spiritual self recognizes the joy of living and initiates gratitude for the beauty in each day—in each moment. Our spiritual self evolves beyond the struggles and challenges of life and imbues us with vitality, joy, gratitude, compassion, generosity, hope, and expanded awareness. These aspects of life exist even through the difficulties and challenges that may wear us down. As a matter of fact, experiencing the spiritual self carries us through the difficulties and challenges!

So how do we engage the spiritual self? Each of us may have our own unique way to engage the spiritual self, yet here is a first step to awakens us to our spiritual self! Take a breath. Inhale and exhale. This action happens normally without our attention. When we put our attention into the breath, we recognize our own life. We exist. As we relax and allow the breath to breathe us, we then have the capacity to notice everything else.

What did you wear today? You chose that. Did you choose it out of fear? Did you choose it because it appealed to you as you looked through your closet? Did you choose it because it was the warmest thing you could find for a cold day? The choice derived it’s existence from the goal for the day. Did you choose to be warm or did you choose to look good or did you choose your clothing for some other reason?

After noticing your breath, notice your goal for the day. No goal? Then fear drives every choice and every response. Clothing will be chosen to please others or to impress others and may not fit the purpose of the day. You might end up cold, uncomfortably warm, or restricted in some way.

Activating the spiritual self begins with the physical self, the breath, and then activate the spiritual realm by choosing the purpose for the day. Self-awareness then activates spiritual awareness. You exist. You embody safety and sacredness. Breathe and awaken the goal of experiencing vitality, joy, gratitude, compassion, generosity, hope, and expanded awareness. Your purpose holds profound consequences.