So in this paradigm, anything and everything in your environment affects you, some positively and some negatively. He talked about ways to reduce the negative energies and pull in more of the positive energies.

Immediately I was struck by how important it is to surround ourselves with the people, places, and things that make us feel good, and to try to remove as much of the people, places, and things that negatively impact our energy or cause us to feel bad.

For example, if you’re going to a job you hate, every single day, you’ll likely notice your energy is drained. You may even dread going to work. On the other hand, if you’re going to a job you love with coworkers you adore, you’re going to get a lot of joy and positive energy out of going to work every day. It will be an uplifting experience.

Or if you have a stagnant relationship or you’re having difficulties in your relationship you’ll start to notice that you dread coming home to your partner. That’s a drain. But if you have a super loving relationship with a super compatible person, you’ll derive great positive energy from interacting with them.

If you make a list of all the people, places, and things that impact you and then you make a quick evaluation about their effect on you, you’ll get a good idea of what’s bringing you down and what’s raising your vibration. Then you can take conscious action to improve a negative relationship or situation, or eliminate it if it can’t be altered.

When I looked at my connections, they were 90% positive. There are very few things bringing me down in life right now. Literally the biggest “bummers” in my life right now are a malfunctioning dishwasher, carpets I can’t seem to get clean, and a housekeeper that causes me more aggravation than I’d like. In the near future, I will take the steps necessary to correct these situations so I can move throughout my day without constant aggravation.

But the other aspect of the Love principle is more proactive. Who or what would you like to connect with more? Is there anything missing from your life that you’d like to add that would uplift you or raise your vibration even higher? At the workshop, we made a list of what else we’d like to attract into our lives that we know would make us feel more loved and loving.

For me, it was two things. I’d like to attract a loving relationship with a partner. It’s been 2 years since I separated from Steve and I’ve been really enjoying being single. It’s filled me with a sense of independence and freedom I can’t ever remember having. But now I feel ready to enter into a new relationship with a loving partner. So I wrote that down as something I’m ready to attract.

The second thing I wanted to attract was more involvement in providing emergency services during disasters. If you’ve been connecting with me on Facebook or through the forums, you’ll know I have a passion for emergency preparedness and being able to assist my community or individuals in times of disaster.

And so it was, on Day 2 of CGW I could not attend because I was signed up for the Red Cross Class: Chapter Response to Disaster, which is the prerequisite course I needed to take in order to be certified to respond to a disaster on behalf of the Red Cross. When I got to the classroom there were 12 other students there ready to take the course. The instructor had us introduce ourselves, our background, and share why we were taking the class. It was at this time I completely internalized and understood the power of the principle of Love.

Every single person in that room was there because they wanted to help their fellow man. Every person in there had a day job or was retired, and simply wanted to give back to their community. They were compassionate, caring, and selfless. I had never been in a room full of people so dedicated to helping others, for free, on their own time. It literally sent a wave of love chills up my back to be surrounded by others all committed to the same thing I was.

So that’s when I realized how much I’d been missing this vital connection in my life. While I sat there chatting with everyone, I realized they just got me. They completely understood my love and desire to help others, to provide comfort and relief to those suffering. I didn’t have to explain it or justify it. We were all on the same wavelength. It felt fantastic.

I felt something similar when I attended the I Can Do It conference put on by Hay House. It was like finding my tribe. I didn’t have to explain about being intuitive. Everyone there was completely comfortable with the concept. There was no explaining or defending or shying away from discussing things like chakras, astral projection, and the paranormal.

Do you surround yourself with people who plug into the aspects of your life that you care about the most? Do you have people around you who mirror, reflect, or share the passions you also have? What does it feel like?

Or are you surrounded by people who just don’t get you? How does THAT feel?

If you love the wilderness, do you go hiking with others who share that love? If you love cooking, do you surround yourself with others who love to cook and co-create something together? If you love skiing, do you belong to a ski club or group? Do you love a certain tv show? Do you have someone you can talk to after the show airs, someone who shares your passion and can talk about the characters and plot for days without getting bored?

When you bring loving connections into your life, it just makes your life better. You’re more fulfilled, you’re understood, and you get to share your passion with others who get it.

I hope you have a ton of these passionate connections. If you don’t, I urge you to try to bring them into your life. Make a list of your passions, hobbies, desires. Then figure out where or how you could connect with others who share your hobbies. You’ll be amazed at the joy it brings you, and how much more fun your life becomes.

I’ve done countless readings for people who are at a standstill in their relationship because each partner wants to move in a different direction, but neither partner wants to give up their path to walk their partner’s path. What should you do?

When a couple gets to a place where their life goals are incompatible, many people try to preserve the relationship above all else. “We made a commitment. Through thick and thin. Sacrifice and compromise are just part of any relationship.” Sacrifice and compromise are only part of a relationship if you decide that the commitment to the relationship is more important than your commitment to yourself to be happy.

You have a right to be happy. Loyalty and commitment are great things, but not at the sacrifice of your own happiness.

People’s paths diverge often. Let’s use a metaphor to see what’s happening here.

The Forest of Life

You’re walking through the forest of life and you’re holding a map. On this map, you’ve circled a destination that’s fairly far off. But no worries, you are enjoying the scenery and know you’ll get to your destination in time. While walking, you notice other people seem to be walking the same trail with you. You pair up and walk together, enjoying each other’s company as you walk. You casually mention your destination and your walking partner mentions his is the same. What fun to have company on the road!

So you walk together, meandering, enjoying the landscape. You stop sometimes to camp, get your strength back, and replenish supplies. So far, so good. Occasionally your partner wants to stop and you still have energy to keep going, but you like walking with this person so much that you agree to stop more often than you would if you were alone. You don’t want to leave them behind.

After a while you check in with each other to make sure you’re still heading in the same direction. Yep! So you keep walking together. Maybe you even make a commitment to each other to stick together on the trail no matter what. Feels good to know someone will always be with you, watching your back.

There comes a day, however, when you start rethinking your destination. Back when you started walking through the forest you were pretty sure about your destination, but now that you’ve been walking for a while and you’ve seen so many different paths, you start to wonder if perhaps there’s a different destination you’d like to have. You tentatively mention to your partner that you’re wondering now if the destination should be changed. Your partner is still committed to the destination and wants to keep going. You agree to keep going.

But as you continue walking you’re getting a strong feeling that you should select a new destination. You don’t want to disappoint your partner and you certainly don’t want to walk alone now that you’ve gotten used to walking together, so you try in little and subtle ways to get your partner to start thinking about other destinations. Your partner feels manipulated and worried. So you stop talking about it.

You start to slow down. You camp longer. Every day you walk is taking you closer to a destination you don’t want to go to, so you start dragging your heels a little. You need time to think. Your partner doesn’t understand why you aren’t walking energetically anymore. You start to argue and are irritated with each other more often. Something isn’t right anymore.

Finally you just tell your partner that you no longer wish to reach your original destination and you feel you must go in a new direction. You stop walking and start really discussing the situation. You try to get your partner excited about the new destination you’ve picked but your partner still wants to go to the original destination circled on your map. You are at an impasse.

Your Four Options

First, you can decide that having someone to walk with is more important than reaching your desired destination, so you give up your own destination and continue to walk with your partner to the original destination. The downside is that this can breed resentment. Why is your partner’s destination more important than yours? The upside is that you will always have a loyal partner to watch your back and take care of you if you slip and fall.

Second, you can decide to leave your partner and follow your own path even if it means you might have to walk alone. The downside is that you may feel lonely and sad, and be scared about being alone in an emergency. The upside is that you may meet someone else who is heading to your new destination that you can walk with who shares your excitement for the new destination.

Third, you can stand still on the path and argue with your partner about whose destination is the “right” one. The downside is that neither of you reaches your destination when you stop walking through the forest. The upside is that there is hope that your partner will “see reason” and is willing to try a new destination eventually. In the meantime, neither of you are wasting energy going in the “wrong” direction because neither of you is moving anymore.

Fourth, you could decide, if it’s feasible, to hit both desired destinations. First you go to the original destination together and hang there for a while, then you both agree to go to the new destination and hang there for a while, and then see where you may want to go next. The downside to this is that you have to go somewhere you don’t really want to go anymore, and there’s no guarantee your partner will decide to leave the original destination once you get there, which means you may still end up walking alone and now it’s going to take even longer to get to your new destination. The upside is that you get to continue walking with your beloved partner and are on the same path once again, both of you getting to go to your desired destinations.

Which option do you choose?

It all depends on what’s more important to you. Security or freedom? Commitment to your relationship or commitment to yourself? Loyalty or independence?

No one can make this decision for you, and there is no right or wrong answer. It’s a choice you have to make for yourself, and then you have to live with the consequences.

If you decide to give up your destination to walk to your partner’s then don’t be resentful of the choice you made. Embrace the camaraderie and companionship you’re creating, and remember that you value the companionship more than the destination.

If you decide to leave your partner and walk your own path, then don’t feel guilty about choosing the path that you believe will make you happy. Let your partner go with love. You both have a right to be happy. Be open to finding new walking partners when you’re ready.

If you decide to stand still while you figure it out, don’t stay there too long. Don’t hold your partner back from reaching their destination. That’s not fair. At some point you need to get up and get moving again, even if that means separating.

And if you decide to try to hit both destinations, don’t be surprised or resentful if your partner decides to stay at the original destination while you go on to yours alone. You need to know that if you give up your path to walk someone else’s, that they may not decide to walk yours with you later. It’s a risk you must take with your eyes wide open. No one forced you to leave your own path. Take responsibility for your choice.

In the end, you are completely responsible for your experience. When you were handed the map of the forest of life you began making choices that would lead you in certain directions. Along the way you had many opportunities and options. You are where you are now because of every choice you made. If you don’t like where you are, make different choices and go a different way.

While you are on the path you will encounter thousands of other people walking. Some may walk with you for a time. Some you may never interact with. And maybe there will be one partner with whom you can happily share your entire journey. If you find such a person, hold on to them. And if you never do, remember that you can still enjoy your journey if you’re just walking with yourself.

Answer:  I believe spirit guides do play a role in many relationship meetings, but not all of them.  If your spirit guides have determined there is a good match for you they will discuss it with that person’s guides to see if the arrangement is suitable to that person’s goals and life plan as well.  If an agreement is reached then the fun begins.  They have to find ways of getting you two together.

Before Steve and I met, I was a graduate student at California State University, Northridge.  Unbeknownst to me, Steve was also attending CSUN on his way to getting his Bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Math.  I was in the Psychology program so the odds of us meeting in a classroom were pretty slim.  Except, there was this one class: Human and Computer Interaction.  I was in the Human Factors graduate program and this was a class that taught us how to design interfaces to be user friendly and intuitive.  I signed up for the class, although my area of specialty was aeronautics, not computers.  At the same time, Steve signed up for the class, probably as an elective.  Same class, same teacher, same time.  At the last minute, though, I cancelled out of that class to take something else that had opened up.  We found out later that we would have been in the same class, probably would have met, and maybe even found ourselves on the same team to do a group assignment.  Who knows?

Were the guides thwarted in their efforts to get us together?  Yep.  So a new arrangement was made.  I was a member of an online local BBS.  An acquaintance of mine, named Adam, was also on the board.  He was a Computer Science major at CSUN too and had met Steve there.  He convinced Steve to log on and create an account.  Steve’s handle was Savage (a name he chose quickly when he looked up and saw his Savage Empire game poster on his wall).  Meanwhile, I had just finished reading a romance novel where the main character’s name was Adam Savage.  So when I saw this guy named Savage log on, I sent him a quick private message and simply said, “I just read a book about you.”  Steve was intrigued, a dialogue followed, a meeting took place, and the rest is history.

Do I believe we were destined to meet?  I absolutely do.  I believe the guides work behind the scenes to help you meet people that will be important for your life plan.  Not just intimate relationships, but business relationships too.  Can you miss out on an arranged meeting?  Yes, you absolutely can!  Free will trumps all, as I’ve said many times.  I could have decided I wanted nothing to do with a guy whose handle was so dark (Savage? Lordy, he must be like a serial rapist or something), but the romance novel predisposed me to thinking he was some knight in shining armor.

So what should you do?  Look at everyone in a room and try to see if there is a light above their head or a spark coming off their aura?  I wouldn’t spend too much time peering into everyone’s soul and thinking, “Is this who I’m supposed to meet?  Or is that who I’m supposed to meet?”  It will either click for you or it won’t.  If you feel a strong attraction to someone or a strong feeling like you’re supposed to connect with someone, give it a shot.  Approach them.  Make small talk.  See what happens.  They might feel the same connection you do.  Just don’t block your intuition on this.  I’m sure it takes a lot of effort for the guides to arrange chance meetings, so be open for synchronicities (such as the romance novel character and Steve’s handle was for me).

What happens if you miss out on meeting someone you were supposed to meet?  Your guides will find another way to help you with your life plan, so don’t worry.  Their job is to help you.  But it helps them if you can develop your intuition and be open for those synchronistic meetings.

I have found that when I feel a strong desire to interact with someone, there is usually a reason.  Something is shared, something is learned, something is passed on.  So pay attention.  The girl in front of you in line at the grocery store could be your future wife.