by Mary O’Malley: You are an expression of the amazing creativity of your life…

This universe that you find yourself in has been unfolding for billions of years, birthing stars, exploding stars, and then creating—out of stardust—this magical and mysterious planet we call home. Absolutely everything on the planet was created from atoms that were once part of a star— and that includes you! Yet, if you are like most of us, you don’t recognize it.

I have a couple of comfortable armchairs up on the moon, and I invite you to come sit with me for the next few minutes. As we settle into our armchairs, there before us is our home—a beautiful, blue-green jewel of a planet dancing through oceans of space. Look at it a little closer so you can see the depth of her exquisite creativity. There are mountain meadows full of wildflowers, majestic icebergs, soaring eagles, raging storms, cascading waterfalls, jungles full of colorful parrots, and many baby creatures playing.

If you look even closer from our moon perspective, you will see over seven billion human beings walking, running, birthing, dying, working, cooking, driving, making love, and doing all the things that we humans do. But if you look very closely, you will see that most of us have clouds surrounding our heads, and are usually struggling with life. Rather than being here for the amazing creativity of life, we are living in our minds. Why? Because we have been conditioned to believe that everything our minds tell us is true.

The mind is an amazing tool for maneuvering through life, but it was not designed to be in control of it. Yet it strives to be in charge of everything. This mind is the cause of all the suffering on our planet, including people killing other people, children dying of starvation, and human beings doing unspeakable acts to themselves and others out of self-hatred— while others are drowning in a sea of despair. It all comes from being lost in judgment (especially self-judgment), greed, shame, hatred, entitlement, anger, and fear.

Now zoom into exactly where you are on this planet. As you look down upon yourself, see and acknowledge that sometimes you too have clouds swirling around your head. This is the “addiction to struggle” conditioning you got when you were very young. Being run by the need to always do things right, you cut yourself off from the well of creativity that lies within you. And rather than engaging with the adventure of your life, you may be sitting on the sidelines, frozen in the belief that you aren’t enough.

What would it be like if you didn’t have to live your life by prior conditioning? Imagine your clouds thinning and recognizing that you are not the struggle that fills your head all day long. You are that which can see your struggling self. See the joy begin to dance through your whole being as you open again to the creative flow of life.

Imagine the possibility that more and more people will see through their clouds of struggle  and connect with life again. This is not only possible—it is already happening on our beleaguered planet. More and more people are unhooking from the war inside themselves, and as they do, becoming part of the healing we are all ready for.

Nelson Mandela was a visionary who recognized this new stage of evolution. Even though he experienced great suffering, he lived the truth that nothing except the aware heart will heal our planet—inclusion rather than exclusion, compassion rather than judgment, connection rather than disconnection, kindness rather than indifference. What would it be like if you met yourself in your heart rather than trying to change something about your life? This means letting go of resisting, judging, hating, and fearing all the parts of yourself that you don’t like, including anxiety, meanness, shame, physical pain, insecurity, aging, greed, and compulsion.

Jeff Foster, author of The Deepest Acceptance: Radical Awakening in Ordinary , once said, “Fall in love with this perfectly divine, very human mess that you are!” Being willing to let go of being at war with your experience and instead meet it with your heart will not only bring forth the greatest healing you have ever known but will also touch your family, people at work, and even the people driving down the freeway.

This is the time of the heart, and the most important person to touch with your heart is you. You are a unique and perfect creation of life—there has never been anyone like you, and there never will be again. As you discover the healing presence of your own heart, you will become a healing force on this planet, helping others to see through their own clouds of struggle so they too can join the exquisite dance of life.