Different crayons, same box

During a prayer and meditation class I once took, we all wrote down our intention or prayer at the beginning of the class. As I began to write, two conflicting intentions arose simultaneously. One was for me: I wanted to pray for support and belief in myself, for strength, for fortitude, for opening up to the knowledge that all of what I need is already there if only I can tap into it. The other was for someone I love and, surprise! It was the exact same prayer--for support and belief in himself, for strength, for fortitude, for opening up... well, you know the rest. For just a moment, I tensed between having to pick one prayer to focus on or the other.

But it is the same prayer, one prayer. And I realized that what's good for one of us is good for the other. Instantly, my conflict dissolved into a mobius strip of prayer for him to support and believe in me and for me to support and believe in him, and I knew we'd each wind up believing in ourselves, and I knew we'd both derive the grace I was seeking from this one prayer.

The notion here is this: we may all think we are separate, unique beings. It's easy to see why because, on the surface, it sure looks that way. I sit here, you sit there. My hands type, your hands change diapers. My skin's pale, yours is dark. And on and on. But step back; look at the bigger picture and you'll see we are just one. We all draw our intuition from the same informational field; we all share the same spiritual intelligence; we all live the same urgent existence. We are one entity and our collective heart beats to the one pulse. When we can connect to that awareness, our energy vibrates more coherently with others'.

When we genuinely want the same for things for our loved ones as we want for ourselves, life flows differently and great things can happen. When we want the same things for everyone as we want for ourselves, the world will change. The next time you find yourself wanting something for yourself--wanting it hard--just turn it around and want the same thing for someone close to you who needs it too. Want it for them as much as you want it for yourself. And watch love manifest.

Peace and love to you in the week ahead.