Category: Daily Reflection

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. There are plenty of people willing to do that for you. Love yourself and be proud of everything that you do. Even mistakes mean you’re trying.” (Susan Gale) 

I am often my own harshest critic, constantly analyzing and assessing my life and looking at what I can do to be better. Unfortunately, what that usually translates into is me beating myself up over the slightest of things. Even worse, it frequently leads me to attach guilt to myself over many of my actions. This is of course by no means healthy for me and instead is working completely opposite of learning how to love myself unconditionally. The fact is I know I am doing my absolute best these days to grow spiritually, far more than I’ve ever used to and because of it, the person I am today, mind, body, and soul, is so much healthier. And while the rest of the world has been critical of me plenty of times along the way, I’ve come to understand the only solution is to be gentle with myself, even when I make a mistake. I still have some work to do in this area, but I recognize now that it’s far better for me to love myself and be proud of everything I’m doing, instead of beating myself up and thinking I need to try harder.

I pray that I may be gentle with myself in every area of my life and never attach guilt to any of my thoughts, words, or actions. Instead, may I love myself unconditionally through everything I do.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.” (Unknown)

Fear has consumed me for much of my adult life, especially in regards to my health. Whenever the slightest uncomfortable sensation arose, my first reaction was always to run in fear to a doctor for reassurance, relief, and usually a prescription. After many years of doing this, I began to feel like I was stuck in a perpetual pattern of dependency on the medical world and I truly lost faith in my own healing abilities. I made a pledge to myself a few years ago though that I would begin walking through all those fears and start trusting more in my body and soul’s innate ability to heal itself. This hasn’t been an easy task. In fact, it’s often felt like an uphill battle. Most of the health issues I once suffered from have all been resurfacing throughout this process, as uncomfortable as they were when they first appeared in my life. And along with them has come a tremendous surge of fear that has at times shaken me to my very core. Yet I haven’t been running to the doctor through any of it and instead have done my very best to trust that my body is relearning how to heal itself again. I’ve been frequently told that all these fears that have been arising surrounding my health are just an illusion and the only way I know how to prove that is to keep on doing what I’m doing, no matter how difficult it may feel. And although there are far too many days where the fear seems to suck the life out of me, I’m going to continue trusting in my Higher Power who lives within me that everything is going to be ok.

I pray that I don’t give into any of my fears. I pray I look beyond all of them and trust that in walking through each of them, that all will be ok.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” (Mother Teresa)

It’s so easy to get depressed dwelling on things in the past, just as much as it is to become anxious when thinking about things in the future. This has become all too familiar territory for me, especially as of late. I’ve often found myself thinking about how life used to be so much better with my physical health and worrying about whether that’s ever going to improve in the future. But the only thing that has ever come out of doing this is missing out on what’s happening right now. This has led me to constantly struggle pulling myself back to the present, especially when I rarely seem to feel physically well in any given moment. Yet, even with that truth, I know it’s still far better to do my best to keep my thoughts in the present because I find that’s precisely when God manifests His love for me. Whether that comes through a warm embrace from a friend, a visitation from a creature in nature, the purring of my cat, kind words from a total stranger, or something else altogether, God truly does operate in today. But if my mind is more focused on the past or future when any of God’s love is coming my way, I’m going to miss out of feeling His presence. This is why I know I must continue to do my best to remain in today, for the last thing I want is to miss out on a visit from God in however He chooses to manifest.

I pray that I focus on the present, not matter how I’m feeling about it and that I am open to receiving all of the unique ways that my Higher Power comes to me with unconditional love and light. 

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson