It’s time to live our life “like it’s golden.” I have a personal abundance challenge going and I want you aboard this happiness train. This is how it goes. We put our wildest, most wonderful goals and dreams into the universe and we simply say “Yes! And So It Is!” We talk about these dreams to whoever will listen. In order for the law of yes to work, we have to place our dreams firmly and brazenly into the ether. Say it! Write it. Dance it! Draw it. Meditate and pray on it. Sing it! Visualize it. It is there waiting to happen.

Next, we create a plan of action. No goal can be securely planted and enacted without the seeds of preparation and good old-fashioned thinking it out. Write possible ways to achieve your dreams and who can help you get there. After the planning, we must fully accept that it can, will and is happening in our lives. Right now. You have placed energy there, so the seedling of thought is growing into a wild, bountiful forest of actualization. Finally, we allow the universe to work its magic with the simple power of YES. The universe is here to support all of us. You have to release some control and let things unfold. Your job isn’t to worry about how exactly it will happen. Instead, accept that it is happening and move aside to let God, the ancestors, your angels, and the universe to rally around you and lift you towards your dreams.

It sounds frilly, but it’s real. I firmly know that all the things that have come into my life were because I’ve been bold enough to say “Yes” despite my fear and the universe supported me. I have healed past trauma, traveled to at least 10 countries (mostly alone and without wealth), become an author, learned to walk without a limp, found a beautiful love, family and friends who nurture my growth, gotten every job I have ever interviewed for, found a spiritual home of a bunch of wonderful, happy folks who think as I do (Bodhi Spiritual Center), and have been deliriously happy since I realized that I had a choice to choose happiness. Some call it dumb luck or being “favored”. I am no more special than you are. We are all special. We are one. We are all favored. The universe doesn’t play favorites. There is enough abundance for us all. There is no lack except for the lack we create.

How many things have you set your mind to doing and it got done? How many times have you thought of something or someone and they materialized before you? Surely, it has occurred often because the same principle is at work. The problem is that some of us are terrified of thinking big because it means being vulnerable and revealing our true heart’s desire. We are our only inhibitors, and it’s time to get out of our own way.

This is what we must remove for any of our dreams and grand goals to occur: Get rid of the word and thought “no” as it relates to your dreams. No is rooted in doubt, fear, and negativity. I’d say that these emotions are all big, scary monsters that defeat us, but that’s not the truth. They can never defeat us unless we allow it. The truth is these are all little punk emotions –doubt, fear and negativity – that are afraid of your greatness. Like all punks, you’ve got to push them aside, tell them to shut up and move on with the business of being the “YOU” that you were put on this earth to be.

Saying “no” is the surest and fast way to NOT get what you want. Example:

Your heart says: “I want to be a world traveler, get my MBA and climb Volcano Pacaya.”

Your fear, doubt and negativity say: “No, I can’t.” And so it is. Your wish has been fulfilled. See how easy that was?

It’s simple. The longer you tell yourself “no”, the longer you will stay disconnected from your happiness and the source of your true power. Say “Yes!” Claim your personal, God-given power. Accept only Yes. We are not here to suffer and struggle and lament about what we coulda, woulda and shoulda done. We are here to walk our beautiful journeys, be our best selves, be happy, and be successful at whatever it is that we are meant to do. So let’s synergize, believe, plan, and actualize. Now.

I’ll kick us off and then I want you to publicly and brazenly claim what is yours as well!

My Dreams Right Now:

1. I will continue to travel the world and connect with all of the other beautiful people on this earth.

2. I have my own successful, arts-based business that brings me financial abundance, allows me to continue helping others, and fills my spirit with joy.

3. I live in a neighborhood that is filled to the brim with resources and makes me feel happy, supported and safe.

4. I easily save enough money for my child to attend the college of her choice.

5. I will remain with the love of my life for the next ten lifetimes or even better.

6. I dance as much as I smile.

7. I have all the time that I need to write and act. Both bring me financial wealth as well as happiness.

8. My first young adult novel is published this year.

9. I see and revel in nature in the form of mountains, trees or large, beautiful bodies of water often.

YES. And so it is. (Breathe it in.)

Notice that I didn’t say what I want in the future. I said what I want and have RIGHT NOW because I’ve just planted that seed and I trust the universe to do its work in helping me to actualize these goals. Now, it’s your turn. You can post it here at my site, as your FB post for the day, tweet it, place it on your dream board, or write it in your journal. Where doesn’t matter. What matters is that you take the time to put it in the universe. That starts the chain reaction. I wish you nothing but abundance, fulfillment and joy. Tag. You’re it! What is it that you want? What are your dreams?