Ever meditate and don’t realize you’re meditating? That’s because meditation happens when you’re in the now moment, focusing only on what’s in front of you, and this is often when the most meaningful messages manifest!

Usually when I drink my morning cup of tea, I “catch up” on the internet. You know, check email, reply if I need to, check my daily schedule, etc. But today I decided to “unplug” and sit at my dining room table and cut words out of magazines while I drank my tea. Why? Well, I like to make cards for friends and scrapbook a bit now and then. I found a bunch of fun and interesting font types in back issues of GQ over the weekend, so I stacked them on my dining room table and told myself I’d get to it later. So, here it is… later… or “right now,” actually, and I felt like it, so I dove in and began snipping words.

I found the “Ordinary people can make a difference” about midway through the magazine, and I liked it a lot, so I set it aside. Then, on the very next page, BOOM… “Take the lead” appeared, and I knew this was a message from my peeps, because they have told me this a few times, in different ways. Plus it had that “BOOM” feeling attached to it, so I just knew… and I trusted.

My favorite message from my Akash came a few months ago when I was worried I had done the wrong thing by walking away from a 10-month corporate contract and mucho money. They said: “You’re not one of them.” And then, when I argued that I needed the money (who doesn’t, right?) they said: “You need to be in a leadership role.”

So, admittedly, there are times when I want to blog about a spiritual subject and I wrestle with the idea that people are just going to argue or leave snarky comments or whatever, and I hear them say: “Lead.”

Today, however, when I cut out the “Take the lead” phrase and set it aside with the “Ordinary people can make a difference” quote, I realized that they were definitely meant to go together, and that it was definitely meant for ALL of us who question our own authority, expertise or abilities, even.

So this word-cutting session turned into more than I planned for today… a little bit of crafting, a little bit of crystal gridding, and one awesome meditative ikigai moment that I realized isn’t just a message for me, but a message for all of us.

I hope that this message resonates as strongly with you as it did with me, and I hope you realize that you DO have the power to make a difference — in your own life, someone else’s life, or many lives — and that it’s time to take the lead!