For many years of my life I thought one came down with a mood just as one comes down with a cold. But slowly I learned that moods are a product of purposeful unconsciousness and can be rectified by the very consciousness one worked so hard to evade.

Working with dreams is a complex subject about which entire volumes have been written. (For example, please see Robert A. Johnson’s earlier book, Inner Work.) However, if you watch your dreams, sincerely try to relate to them, and follow four basic steps, they will give you an accurate illustration of what is happening in your inner life. These steps are: Write down your dream and make associations to each key image. What meanings can you give the images in your dreams? Connect dream images to inner dynamics. What emotional or spiritual parts of yourself do the dream images represent? Interpret. Put together steps 1 and 2 to arrive at the dream’s meaning for you. Ritualize the dream to give it reality. Create a meaningful personal ritual to “dream the dream on” or to bring its potential into the world.

It is safe to assume that every character in your dreams is a “lost” faculty and would broaden your character if it were rightly incorporated into your consciousness.

In many spiritual traditions, it is the heart, not the head, that is the center of knowing. The voice of the heart is heard in prayer, meditation, and imagination. Find a quiet place and close your eyes. Place your hand over your heart, and draw several deep breaths. Now think of those things on which you invested energy during the past week. Consider how each of these items contributed to or detracted from your contentment. Now, still holding this list of items in your mind, consider how you feel about this assignment of resources. As you continue to breathe calmly, shift your attention to your heart, and ask it what is required for its contentment. For what does it yearn? Don’t try to answer right away for your heart, just wait and listen. If the answer seems complicated, your outer personality is interfering. For the inner Self things are simple. When you have an answer, compare this with your earlier list. Notice what feelings arise. Then consider investing some of your money, time, and energy in what your heart yearns for as opposed to what your head desires.

There is a human tendency to turn even spirituality into an attempt to get what we want. For example, we may pray to God to help us avoid suffering. This represents a fundamental confusion between serving the desires of the ego and serving the divine. We get closer to the divine by accepting that suffering cannot be escaped, but must be embraced as part of life. “Following your bliss” is not a call to narcissism and getting what you want. It is pursuing the rapture that resides at the core of your suffering.

Working with dreams is a complex subject about which entire volumes have been written. (For example, please see Robert A. Johnson’s earlier book, Inner Work.) However, if you watch your dreams, sincerely try to relate to them, and follow four basic steps, they will give you an accurate illustration of what is happening in your inner life. These steps are: Write down your dream and make associations to each key image. What meanings can you give the images in your dreams? Connect dream images to inner dynamics. What emotional or spiritual parts of yourself do the dream images represent? Interpret. Put together steps 1 and 2 to arrive at the dream’s meaning for you. Ritualize the dream to give it reality. Create a meaningful personal ritual to “dream the dream on” or to bring its potential into the world.

It has been said that, in a sense, all sickness is homesickness. Like the extraterrestrial in E. T. or Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, we all carry with us a memory and a longing for something left behind. We yearn for home. What is your image of home? Close your eyes, relax, and allow an image of home to come to your mind. What is the landscape, the season, the time of day? Who is there, what do you see, and what can you smell? Pay attention to the details, and bring your senses into play as you explore your image of home. Now ask yourself, “What is required for me to realize this gift of home?” Our nostalgia for home shows us not just where we come from, but where we are going; not just our heritage, but also our destiny. Regardless of your childhood experience, home is rightfully a place of belonging, safety, and comfort; it is the place where your most precious treasures are kept…
There is a treasure, the fulfillment of existence, that we search for everywhere. But it can be found in your own home, under the hearth, within the circumstances of your current life. When you find it, you build a house of prayer in your heart.

Self-Esteem Statements
_____1. I like and accept myself as I am right now, today, even as I grow and evolve.
_____2. I am worthy simply for who I am, not what I do. I do not have to earn my worthiness.
_____3. I get my needs met before meeting the wants of others. I balance my needs with those of my partner and family.
_____4. I easily release negative feelings from other’s judgments and focus instead on living my life with integrity and to the best of my abilities.
_____5. I always tell myself the truth about what I am feeling.
_____6. I am incomparable and stop comparing myself with other people.
_____7. I feel of equal value to other people, regardless of my performance, looks, IQ,
achievements, or possessions.
_____8. I am my own authority. I make decisions with the intention of furthering my own and others’ best interests.
_____9. I learn and grow from my mistakes rather than deny them or use them to confirm my unworthiness.
____10. I stop my critical self-talk and replace it with a nurturing, kind, encouraging voice.
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____11. I love, respect, and honor myself.
____12. I am not responsible for anyone else’s actions, needs, choices, thoughts, moods, or feelings, only for my own.
____13. I do not dominate others or allow others to dominate me.
____14. I have good physical and emotional boundaries with others.
____15. I feel my own feelings and think my own thoughts, even when those around me
think or feel differently.
____16. I stop using “shoulds” and “oughts,” which are value judgments that put me or
another down. (It is irrelevant what I should have done or should do. It is more
important to know what I am willing to do and not do.)
____17. I am responsible for changing what I do not like in my life. I face my problems,
fears, and insecurities and take appropriate steps to heal and grow.
____18. I am a person of my word and follow through on the things I commit to do.
____19. I forgive myself and others for making mistakes and being unaware.
____20. I believe my life counts. I find meaning and have purpose in my life.
____21. I deserve love and happiness even when others blame or criticize me, for I cannot
control what others think about me.
____22. I take care of myself on all levels: physical, social, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
____23. I spend quality time with myself on a regular basis.
____24. I release unreal expectations for myself and others.
____25. I choose to love and respect all human beings regardless of their beliefs and actions; some I have a personal relationship with and most I do not.

How to Love Yourself

Stop all Criticism
Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself your changes are positive.
Don’t Scare Yourself
Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It’s a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure and immediately switch your thoughts to pleasant ones.
Be Gentle, Kind and Patient
Treat yourself with patience, gentleness and kindness. Treat yourself as you would someone you love.
Be Kind to Your Mind
Self-hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Gently change your thoughts to more loving ones.
Praise Yourself
Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Tell yourself how well you are doing with everything.
Support Yourself
Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it most.
Be Loving to Your Negatives
Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new positive ways to fulfill those needs. Lovingly release the old negative patterns.
Take Care of Your Body
Learn about nutrition. What does your body need to have the optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. Cherish the temple you live in.
Mirror Work
Look into your eyes often. Express the growing sense of love you feel for yourself. Forgive yourself for all as you look into the mirror. Once a day say “I love you” at yourself in the mirror.
Do It Now
Don’t wait till you get well, lose weight or get a new job. Begin now, do the best you can.