What is the one thing that everyone wants, above and beyond all else? We each want to be able to manifest the life that we truly want to live. That might involve big changes, or small changes. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we experience our power as creators to direct our consciousness into whatever manifestation we want to experience.

Why is it so difficult to manifest what we want on a conscious level? The truth is that we are manifesting all the time. But it is usually a random, unconscious affair over which we believe we have little or no control.

You can play a conscious role in determining your own experience of reality, or you can allow forces outside of yourself to decide for you. The first option takes effort and the second one will occur by default, if you do not make that effort.

We live in a peculiar world where it is easier to find ourselves in a painful situation than it is to live in a positive one. This has to do with the physics of our finite universe, which, as Telstar, we refer to as a reverse-flow of energy. Some in science may call this entropy.

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean: If you want to live in poverty, that’s easy. Simply make no effort at all, and you are likely to end up there. To be prosperous, on the other hand, takes a lot of focus and effort. If you want to be physically out of shape, that’s easy, too. Just sit around and do absolutely nothing active, and without expending any focus or energy, you will easily become weak and flabby. However, if you want to stay physically strong and vital, you will have to expend energy and make a focused effort.

We hear a lot about loving other people, but many don’t realize that this starts with loving yourself. How you feel about yourself plays a very large role in your ability to love others. It also plays a huge role in your ability to function effectively as a creator in your life.

Let’s look at a simple analogy to understand this more clearly. If you buy a plant that you love, you will likely take very good care of it. Because you enjoy its presence, you will probably be inspired to do whatever it takes to enhance that presence. You will be attentive to its needs, water it, feed it, and make sure that it has exactly the right amount of light. You will also freely open your heart to appreciating it, which will inspire you to continue caring for it.

This is not very different from what you will do if you love yourself. Granted, loving yourself as a human being is far more complex than loving a plant. But the principle is the same.

We are each made to experience a continuous flow of divine energy throughout our being. This energy supports us, sustains us, and provides us with an ongoing sense of inner peace and clarity of mind. The beauty of this divine force of energy and love is that it perfectly matches the individuality of each person’s unique, divine expression and personality.

So all would be well in our lives if this beautiful flow of energy and love were to remain uninterrupted. But with the ego around, that is not the case. The ego literally acts as an interrupter to this amazing energetic flow of divinity.

Why does it seem so difficult to make positive changes in our lives? You would think it should be the easiest thing in the world because it is obviously so desirable. Yet it can be utterly vexing to watch ourselves try over and over again, only to revert back to previous unwanted results.

The main reason that our efforts are so often futile is because we look for the signs of change on the outside, and forget to consider what is going on inside of our own consciousness. We measure our ability to affect positive change by the results we have seen so far in our lives. If we witness the same repetitive results, we simply decide that we are just not capable.

This is like forgetting to put gas and oil in your car, and then deciding that the car is inherently incapable of running. In that case, you will probably give up on the car. This is a simple metaphor for how we give up on ourselves. Maybe the only problem is that we forgot to consider a few very important things!

One of the most important faculties we possess is the ability to focus. Focus acts in our lives in a similar way that a steering wheel functions in a car. Without it, we find ourselves lacking direction and feeling confused. We also run the risk of facing unintended consequences from being unconscious about our direction in life.

Let us begin by highlighting our true nature. Our true nature is clarity of purpose and the knowledge of why we are here. We are infinite beings with an exceedingly high level of intelligence.

So, if that is the case, then why is life so difficult? Life is difficult because it is riddled with distractions, some of which exist inside of our minds, and many of which exist outside of ourselves.

It’s so much fun to make New Year’s resolutions because it fills us with hope and a fresh sense of new beginnings. We just know that this will be the year that we finally reach our goals and do what we intend!

We enter the new year filled with fresh hope and optimism, and a belief that somehow this year will be different. But then something happens. Somehow January quickly fades into being just like all of the other months in the previous year. Our resolutions are soon forgotten, and we continue on with the same status quo experience, wondering why we continue to fail at this.

Is it that New Year’s resolutions don’t work? Or is it that we don’t know the best way to go about being successful in our intentions?

New Year’s resolutions can work just fine, but only if we add all the right ingredients. It’s like baking a cake. If you try to bake a cake with only one ingredient, your cake will fail. But if you add the right mix of ingredients, and do things in the right order, your cake will be a smashing success.

A fear of failure is probably the single greatest reason why so many people do not pursue their dreams. Failure has been grossly mischaracterized as a bad thing, probably because of the way we were taught to avoid it in school.

This is not to say that one should not try to succeed. But it is important to realize that failure can serve as an irreplaceable asset on the road to success, if it is dealt with appropriately.

A fear of failure is tied to a fear of thinking creatively. Thinking creatively is always a wild card, when it comes to the status quo. Yet, creative thinking is the source of all of the greatest inventions and contributions to humankind throughout history.

To be paralyzed by a fear of failure is to avoid living up to your full potential. It is what makes life boring, routine, and dull. It is nearly impossible to expand as an individual and continue to harbor a false belief that failure should be avoided at all costs. To be ruled by the fear of failure means abandoning yourself as a creative individual.

In order to understand the importance of beauty, we must first define what beauty is. In short, beauty is the manifestation of love in form.

There are many subjective forms of beauty, but none of those definitions reach the core truth of what beauty really is and why it should matter to us. In fact, if you want to look at the subjective versions, you could say that anything is “beautiful”, even ugliness.

Let’s stick to something that exists as a universal truth about beauty. Beauty and love go hand in hand. In fact, one begets the other. Love begets beauty and true beauty inspires love. The two together have the potential to create an upward spiral of joy and consciousness. The two things together can bring forth a deep sense of peace. A sense that all is right in the world.

We are each born as totally authentic beings. Then something happens. From the time we are tiny, society starts telling us exactly how to think, what to believe, how to act, how to dress, etc.

These ideas are not offered as helpful suggestions. Rather they are introduced within a system of societal punishment and reward. You will be rewarded with society’s approval if you follow the status quo, and you might be ridiculed or ostracized if you don’t.

Some people are really good at fitting in. Others are not. But nonetheless, this is society’s stated goal: Fit in, or else.