Tian Dayton

I have two aspects: the masculine and the feminine, the animus and anima. Both male and female unite within me. I will bring both these parts of myself into balance because it is important to my mental health. I can be intuitive and nurturing simultaneously with allowing for healthy aggression and competence. I am biologically equipped for all of these characteristics to varying degrees. Today’s world requires that I be actively in touch with all these qualities-every one of them is important if I wish to be the kind of person that modern lifestyles require. When I feel myself getting out of balance, I will set about restoring the qualities within me and within my day that I am missing.

I am the masculine and the feminine.

This marriage of the masculine with the feminine has to take place in all of our hearts and minds, whether we are male or female. The mystical and practical health it brings is the goal of being human, the basis and energy of all true transformation.
Andrew Harvey

Today I recognize that spirituality is not so much a question of doing as of being. It is not where I am going to as much as where I am coming from that counts. God-centered living is a space that I live in, in my mind. There is nothing to prove by doing. There is no circumstance to manipulate that can show that I am close to or far from Higher Power.
Living in the presence of light, love and compassion is what it is all about. I can take a thousand actions that look right, but if the heart that directs my hand is coming from an empty place, then all of those actions have less spiritual impact than just one that comes from a spiritual and loving place.

I am being where I want to be.

The things we know best are those we have not learned.
Vauvenargues

Soul is not some disembodied entity-it is part of me, part of my struggle. When I bring deep conflicts housed in my unconscious to a conscious level, I am making more of soul conscious as well. Every aspect of life or thought has soul present within it. Conflict that is locked in a frozen state in my deeper mind locks soul along with it. To free my mind also frees soul and life energy. Soul is a mighty phenomenon, as big as all creation. I need to expand my mind to be able
to contain it or be with it.

I study inner conflicts to expand my soul.

To experience conflicts knowingly, though it may be distressing, can be an invaluable asset. The more we face our own conflicts and seek out our own solutions, the more inner freedom and strength we will gain. Only when we are willing to bear the brunt can we approximate the ideal of being the captain of our ship. Spurious tranquillity rooted in inner
dullness is anything but enviable. It is bound to make us weak and an easy prey to any kind of influence.
Karen Horney, M.D.

Today I accept that life is full of transitions. As a child, change came  to mean trauma. I never knew what to expect in my dysfunctional home. Would all be calm and loving or would everyone be frantic, tense and at each other’s throats? Either was possible. Both were unpredictable and frightening-the good, because if I let myself feel the wonderful love,
peace and calm, I immediately feared the terrible pain of losing it. The bad, because we tore at one another with our arguing, rage and insults. At some deep level I put my trust in the bad; it hurt too much to trust the good and lose it over and over again. Today when I get scared over a transition, I see that it’s about old pain. I needn’t get stuck in it
again. I have tools today that I didn’t have then.

I can tolerate the anxiety that change brings up.

Genius is formed in guiet, character in the stream of life.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I will lose myself in a task today. Oftentimes I seek soul by sitting and ruminating in an effort to comprehend the mystery, but the self is too full of paradox to understand in any one way. Losing myself in meaningful activity is another way to journey toward soul. I thrive on a sense of accomplishment. I get a feeling of self-worth from applying my energies toward something worthwhile. Deepening and perfecting a skill lead me toward subtle levels of awareness and sharpen my powers of observation. Mixing and remixing my abilities, combining and recombining my approach to a task refine both my talent and level of awareness in any area of my inner or outer life. My life is made richer, fuller and more meaningful when I am able to devote my energies fully to worthwhile projects. Today I will see the value for me, in devoting myself to the task at hand.

I seek soul through devoted action.

In our world the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.
Dag Hammarskjšld