Yesterday happened. For me, it wasn’t perfect, and I struggled to enact my spiritual practices. A situation made me feel unsupported, wronged, and worst, forced to take all the blame. Taking on responsibility and therefore guilt that isn’t mine is a constant challenge for me.

Our reactions to situations point directly to our internal state. Are we angry? Anger will surface in our reaction to a life situation. Are we full of guilt? Guilt will surface in our reactions during the day. So will pride, joy, and yes, peace. There are many ways to react to the same scenario. Today is everything because it is an opportunity to observe your reactions, and therefore your inner emotional being. Today is an opportunity to choose differently and create a new internal imprint.

If not for our experiences, we are all the same. Some yoga philosophies say,"There is only one of you here."

Every interaction, circumstance, and relationship has formed an imprint. And this imprint affects our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Without any imprint, we are not us. Without any imprint, there is no perception or label attached to what we see or feel; therefore, there is no experience at all.

Human existence is based on one giant life of perception in order to bring us back to truth. That's why it's so normal for two siblings to grow up with the exact same parents, in the exact same home, yet have wildly different memories of what actually happened.

So what's the point? Why are we here?

I think I am here to experience pain, create and heal wounds, locate the scars, and uncover the truth. I think seeking is the ultimate spiritual experience - and if life didn't get uncomfortable, if there weren't horrendous parts along the path, then why would I choose to seek anything at all? As humans we are always seeking, always practicing, always trying to attain peace and love, which are internal states. Peace and love exist inside us all, but we forget. We mistakingly think they will be attained by something outside ourselves. Then we wonder when the thing we wanted, and got, didn't do the trick.

Every part of our path is necessary. Every inch of the path has created an imprint, which has dictated a thought or behavior, which has possibly led to making a change. And change is the only thing that creates expansion.

Every part of the path makes you who you are, which is uniquely and fantastically different from anyone else. I think of where I am today - of who I am today - and I know I would not be me if it had not been for every single experience in the past. Sometimes my brain wanders to how life would have been different if I chose a different spouse, if I moved to a different town, if I never left my job... But not only is this kind of imagining impossible, it's pointless. There is only the current point of view and the current reality of the path you are on right now.

If your right now is great, it's easy to appreciate it and accept the truth that every experience is necessary and in your favor. However, if your right now is horrible, painful, or challenging, if your right now is scary and unsure, if you feel lost and unheld, know that there is a preciousness to it all. Because if you're in pain, you're about to experience a shift. It may be a shift in your mindset or a shift in belief. It may be a shift in your reality. Something is churning, something is stirring, and you'll look back on where you are right now, and you'll be able to see how very necessary all of it was.

Today is Everything

Every part of our path is necessary. Every inch of the path has created an imprint, which has dictated a thought or behavior, which has possibly led to making a change. And change is the only thing that creates expansion.