Open yourself and let the universe fill you. Others might say, “Let go, and let God.” Either way, it’s the same. Only misery emerges when we resist; a futile act indeed. When we whine about our circumstances, we are simply engaging in a form of resistance. Not resisting is to figure out ways to cope with or change the circumstances. Opening ourselves to what may come, new opportunities and experiences, is to accept our circumstances. From this perspective, acceptance is a form counter-resistance.

The energy we put into the universe – be it positive and hopeful or negative and resentful – dictates what we get back. It’s the law of attraction. Unlike in the realm of physics, where opposites attract, in the psychological universe like attracts like. Think negatively, and receive more negativity and frustration in our lives. Think positively, live life through a lens of hope and eagerness, and attract opportunity.

Everything happens for a reason, and while we don’t have power over all that happens to us – indeed, sometimes we feel completely powerless – we do have power over how we react, how we approach life. While thinking about this topic, I drew a card from a site with a deck of online affirmation cards. Ironically, this was my card, “I claim my own power, and I lovingly create my own opportunity.” 

So, how do we claim our power and create our own opportunity when we feel crushed by the demands of daily life? We make a choice to live our lives consciously, embracing each moment and then letting it go to free our minds and our time for other things. Once the work day is done, it’s done, let it go. There will always be more to do…tomorrow. Right now, once our daily obligations have been fulfilled, is our time. How we spend it, both internally, via our thoughts, and externally, via our actions, is up to us.

One way to claim our power is to refuse to let other’s actions or words impact us in such a way that it feels as if we’re being controlled. Maybe we can’t change a decision our boss made that we don’t agree with, but we can change how we react to it. We can dwell on it even when we’re away from work, or we can accept it and figure out how to work within the confines we’re faced with. Maybe we can’t change something a coworker, friend or family member said or did, but fuming about it leaves us only feeling angrier and drained of energy that could have been put toward other things. Replaying something over and over in our minds is giving others control. Put that circumstance over “there” in our minds, away from our center so that we may focus on other, more positive things.

If claiming our power means we refuse other’s the right to have power over us, the next step is creating our own reality. We can’t all move to our dream destination, or magically fill our bank accounts with a million dollars so we can escape the rat race of life. We all have the power, however, to create our own reality with our thoughts, our words and our actions. From the minute we awake each day, we can choose to think, “Oh no, not another day in the proverbial chains,” or we can opt for this thought, “Here’s a new day, a gift I embrace.”

Creating our own reality means being grateful for what we have and for who we are. If there are other things we want, or aspects of ourselves we want to change, we create a space for these events to occur by clearing our minds of clutter and envisioning our life as we desire it to be. This is how we shape our world and our experiences. This is how we change our lives, even if it just means changing how we think about our experiences. One of my favorite songs, Follow the Sun by Xavier Rudd, perfectly sums up this approach to life:

Follow, follow the sun
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done
Breathe, breathe in the air
Set your intentions
Dream with care
Tomorrow’s a new day for everyone
A brand new moon and brand new sun

Tomorrow is indeed a new day, one of promise and opportunities, but first we must create the space for their entry into our lives.