What does success mean to you? What is your version of the “happily ever after”. If you could write down everything that meant success to you, what would be on your list? A new car, a new wardrobe, winning the lottery, accolades? Would your list comprise of the material or would it be more feelings based.

If we say we want a new car, a new wardrobe, a new home…are we really saying that is the very thing that would bring us happiness? And how long until that thrill runs out and one is left seeking something new- and sparkly to take its’ place.

That is not to say that having new things isn’t a nice feeling and that we don’t all deserve to have what makes us feel good. The question is how much emphasis are we placing on the material? The new car feeling may be about wanting to feel a greater sense of freedom, wanting to feel recognized and respected. The new wardrobe may be about wanting to feel better in our skin or revitalising our image of self. The question remains is it these things alone that will bring you what you desire.

If your life is such that going our tmrw and buying a whole new wardrobe or a new car or home is effortless, then so be it. Perhaps it will help, perhaps not, but you may feel you suffer no great loss if not. You may be doing the inner work and now want an outer expression of that inner work. What if your life is not in such a place? What if you need to be mindful of how you spend as lets face it the majority of us need to be in this current Age.

So then does that mean you do not get to have success and the Happy Ever After? Of course not! The items you crave will be about an inner yearning. Wanting to feel comfortable in one’s own skin requires nothing but one’s own skin. And the inner work to make peace with the inner stories that have disconnected you from your true I Am Presence. From knowing that this verhicle is a  Divine vehicle, chosen by you and your guides at one time, to serve you in the best way possible in this lifetime on the journey you chose to take. To learn certain lessons, to transcend the physical perhaps, to embrace the physical, to push through boundaries, to take your unique medicine out into the World.

The car that would bring you Freedom. Well yes it would! However Freedom does not lie in a car or any mode of transport. It is a state of mind, it is a way of being, it is the essence of our being. That is how we see some of the bravest survive the most awful situations with their Spirit intact- they kept a part of themselves in that state of Freedom. Nelson Mandala in his biography talks of how he kept his mind, his dreaming self alive and active throughout his incarceration. Not allowed outside except for one hour a day he used to jog around his tiny prison cell to keep his body fit- and keep his Spirit alive. It was indeed a Long Walk to Freedom for Mandela- his story showed me at a young age that that state lay in the mind and heart.

Yes we yearn for the Happy Ever After. And why not? As long as we do it with the knowledge that the fairy tale ending is not how life can be. That even when we have all that we have yearned for there will still be learnings, there will still be obstacles- as the path doesnt just stop- we keep growing and learning, and how better to do it than experientially, day to day?

When putting together your list, your vision boards, making time to ask in your prayers – do it from that still small space in the heart. If you yearn for a new home- well how do you want this new home to be and most importantly how do you want to feel there? Safe, Happy, Peaceful? If you are asking to be more in tune with your physical body then know that the best way for that may not be through new clothes. It may mean exercise, being more active, being less active…it is about what is right for you.

Ultimately our needs are very simple; we yearn for Love, Peace, Happiness, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, someone to share our lives with and a knowing of our life purpose. These things can be at times accelerated or elaborated on with material goods. More often they come from our Inner State. And when we have a healthy and happy Inner World, the outer is merely a reflection of that. So when we let go of the need for “things”, then most of the time thats when they turn up.

Today, let go of the need to have anything- other than total surrender and acceptance of all you truly are. And the courage to dream up all you wish to be. You by yourself, not attached to any goods, just You, how do YOU wish to feel and be in the future.