Morning Friend,

I've been up since 3:00 AM this morning. Getting up that early is definitely not the norm for me, but something happened last night that threw me into a bit of chaos.

Nothing too dramatic, and ultimately - nothing to worry that much about, regardless, it has me up thinking and processing life as best I can.

I wanted to share with you an Unconventional Definition of God, that I think, accurate or not, provides a helpful framework with which to face life and it's challenges, squarely.

I picked this up from a wise soul a few weeks ago...

"God is the spirit one must emulate, in order to thrive."

If you think about the people you know, who seem to be thriving in life and business (all their hidden problems and challenges aside), odds are, there are things about them, you find admirable and worthy of emulation.

Some time ago, I was struck with idea that the words 'God' and 'Good' have only a one letter difference between them.

Is it possible that the highest good we see in others, might be providing a slight opening in the infinite window, for us to glimpse parts of God or 'The highest good.'?

The wise soul, I referenced above, went on to define 'spirit' as a pattern.

'The pattern one must emulate, in order to thrive.'

Maybe it is that as we notice the patterns (or spirit) of those we truly admire, we can pick up clues as to how we can see more of those same attributes reflecting back at us, in the mirrors of perception and transformation.

One of my old mentors used to say "The good you see in me is simply a reflection of the good you see in yourself."

And maybe it's true Friend, that we all have good (God), inside of us, and that what my friend in the gym a few weeks ago told me is also the truth...

"Paul, it's not that we emulate the God we see in those around us, it's more like we express it, because it's already in us."

To me, it seems, that reaching for God, or the highest good, or the divine, or (you fill in the blank here _____________),

Is a process of looking up, only to have your gaze gently re-directed back inside yourself, deep down into the depths of your own soul...

To discover and realize that we as individuals, have incredible capacity for good and service and problem solving...

Incredible capacity to reduce pain and alleviate suffering for ourselves and others..

To realize that far more of the answers we typically seek in prayer, may be already within us, or contained in places that we have the capacity to find within our daily living.

Gandhi said, 'Be the change you wish to see in the world.'

If we mere mortals desire more 'God' or more 'Good' here on on this old earth, maybe we should take on more responsibility to seek out and embrace...

'The spirit we must emulate in order to thrive.'

To the highest good we can imagine for ourselves and others,

Paul