There is a mystery I live in every morning when I wake up. What will this day be like? I get to decide. It doesn’t mean I can control outside conditions. In other words, it doesn’t mean I can stop things from happening to me or others. However, I can decide how I will be in this day. The reason for this is because I believe that everything that is happening is happening through me. There is nothing in front of me that I didn’t invite in. If it is here, it is for me.

Before I rise from bed in the morning, I do a Spiritual Mind Treatment to set my mind straight for the day. I remember who I am, and I remember the gifts that are mine because of who I am: abundance, health, loving relationships, creativity. These are the gifts I have to share with the world.

Ernest Holmes once wrote, “Change your thinking and you change your life.” Each day, I have the opportunity to do just that — to realign my thoughts with the Infinite, to live as if I truly believe that the Power of the Universe flows through me.

In the mystery of life, we do not know what is next. For example, right now we are living in very precarious times. There is a lot going on and some of it seems dark and foreboding. However, I do not need to be dark and foreboding. I can decide to look at everything from a higher perspective and discover where I can serve. That is what I believe I am here for – to serve.

“Life is not something to be endured. It is to be lived in joy, in a fullness without limit.” — Ernest Holmes

So, in this great mystery called life, I can watch for the miracles to show up — those surprises or synchronicities that let me know I am in the right place at the right time. Perhaps it is someone I pass on my morning walks on the Kealia Path who needs a word of encouragement, or maybe it’s a phone call I receive from someone reaching out for help. Maybe it is someone showing up in my life at just the right moment to offer me encouragement or a blessing — the perfect word at the perfect time.

Life is both a mystery and a miracle. Each day is precious. As I grow older, I relish the days even more. I know that there are so many blessings in the moments that I get to spend with my husband or a friend on the phone. Who knows if that will be the last conversation? I always need to remember that, not to be morbid, but to be conscious and aware that nothing is permanent.

Where is the magic in all of this? Life becomes magical in the simple things like a sunrise or the smile on a stranger’s face that can make you aware of our entanglement as people and nature. If we really breathe it in without rushing through the day, we can feel it. Even on the days I am most busy — which is most days lately — I can take moments to appreciate myself and to appreciate life. I’m breathing. I’m moving. I’m thinking. I am creating. I am relating to everything. That is a miracle in itself.

So, what is my offer to you, my reader? In a world where perhaps everything seems uncertain, recognize the quantum principles of uncertainty, unlimited potential, and entanglement. Nothing is solid or steady except one thing — your ability to choose how to react in every moment.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl

Some of us have walked through very dramatic and traumatic experiences. I think about that and sometimes I ask myself, what would I do in that position? I’d like to say, I don’t know — but I can’t say that. I have to know. I have a friend and teacher, who has lived through some traumatic events in his life. He always taught me to decide beforehand how we will react in any given situation. Yes, there’s flexibility in that, but there are also principles and values we live by as individuals. Will we compromise them, just because we are being challenged?

One of the greatest examples of this truth comes from Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust. In the concentration camps, he lost his family and everything familiar, yet he realized that although he could not control his outer circumstances, he could still choose his inner response. He wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

Frankl’s realization did not come from comfort or privilege, but from the darkest possible conditions. His ability to find meaning and maintain compassion — to serve others even when he had nothing — reveals the mystery and miracle of our own spiritual resilience. He proved that even in despair, we can align with something higher and eternal.

I believe I can live in the mystery of the things that I do not understand, and accept that maybe I do not see the whole picture. I can get out of my five-sense self and tune into my intuition. I can know that whatever is in front of me, I am up for it.

Do you feel like you are being prepared for something lately? Are we on a hero’s journey, standing at the first threshold as adventurers who might not think they are equipped for the journey into the unknown?

I’m thinking of the film, Star Wars and Luke Skywalker when he was devastated by the loss of his home and family. He ventured into the unknown without the knowledge that he had what was needed for his journey. He went anyway, and along the way, teachers and helpers showed up to aid him and teach him all he needed to know. He accepted the call first without knowing what he would be confronting, and then step by step, moment by moment, the earth rose to meet him, and he traveled safely to his destination.

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

I think we are in such a place right now. The mystery is overwhelming. We can listen to the prophets. We can listen to the news. We can get confused by the facts. We can sit in the unknown, scared and confused — or we can know that we have within us everything needed to be the heroes that are required at this time in our evolution. We are evolving as a species through challenges that will be met by the Infinite Intelligence deep within.

With the tools of compassion, love, intuition, creativity, and infinite intelligence, we will know — and we will be in the right place at the right time. I believe that living in faith and trust right now, sharpening my intuitive skills, and remembering who I am and what I am capable of will be the tools to transmute whatever I encounter.

Mystery, Miracle, Magic — it’s all here, right where we are. It’s a journey that will unfold as we go. We cannot predict where it will take us. We can only stay centered in our own power of discernment, intuition, and the ability to put ourselves into action in perfect timing.

“I live in the faith that there is a Presence and Power greater than I am that nurtures and supports me in ways I could not even imagine.” — Ernest Holmes

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Dr. Rita, Author, Founding Spiritual Director CSL Kaua’i, Founder of the Red Dress Movement