Many of us are in constant "reactive" mode rather than in proactive or visionary mode. For example, at your current job, did you just "fall in" to it? or did you actively create it?

In your current house or apartment, was it just available, or did you identify what you wanted and then find it?

In your current relationship, is it just there, or is it something that you co-actively create and maintain over time?

When we sit down, assess, take a deep, deep breath, and really think about what it is we want to create with our lives, we start to understand our priorities and what it is that we want to make manifest with the gift of our lives.

When you look at pictures of space, you get the feeling that your whole world expands.

Our actions here on our tiny planet, Spaceship Earth, while we float in a vast galaxy in a huge universe, are just one of the many experiences we offer/we are offered: we are constantly learning, sharing, growing, living and dying, and as sentient creatures, we have multiple opportunities to be aware and to be mindful of our situation.

Do you remember your life-shattering decisions from one year, five years, ten years, twenty years ago? Only a few very special decisions will stand out. The rest is just chaff separated from the wheat.

The root word of education is educare, which means "to rear." When we rear our inner child, we educate ourselves: we raise up our young, immature, selfish self and we use knowledge and experience to become stronger, more aware, and more able to share.

I encourage you to develop a Lifelong Learning Plan. These may be a series of subjects that you've always had an interest in (and always will!) and which give you great pleasure to study.

For example, for me, I'm always interested in languages, because to my mind, language ability is a great way to foster communication between different cultures. So, I've studied French, Spanish, Tagalog, and Arabic.

We are such sociable creatures, and part of us craves and even needs companionship with others.

The word "companion" is from the Latin root com- + panis (panis means bread, or food): we feel compelled to share bread with each other.
When we feel truly connected with others, we feel more zest for ourselves and for life.

Here are five steps I recommend for increasing your connection with others.

1) Join a group of some sort.

In his book "Bowling Alone," Robert Putnam comments on the decline and potential revitalization of opportunities to build social capital. One factoid from his website says that "Joining and participating in one group cuts in half your odds of dying next year."

There is a beautiful quote attributed to German philosopher Meister Eckhart:
"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “Thank You”, that would suffice."

Gratitude uplifts us and keeps us whole. Gratitude puts everything in our lives into perspective. The gift of gratitude is a neverending source of awe, wonder, and respect for everything that we experience in our lives.

What are you grateful for today?

Keeping gratitude in your heart is a sure way to bring you closer to your soul's true joy.

What are you grateful for today?