“You cannot transform yourself … All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen, for grace and love to enter.”  Eckhart Tolle told us this in his book, The Power Of Now.

This takes some of the pressure off anyone seeking self-improvement.  The focus necessary for real change becomes internal.  Rather than trying to fix the world or fix ourselves, we can turn our attention to what’s happening within us.  The world may have its effects, but it doesn’t have to be the cause of our internal state of being.

Let’s say you’d like more peace in your life.  You may attempt to create a more peaceful environment, but so much of what goes on out there is simply outside of your control.  The only place where you can truly create and maintain a state of peace is within your own mind and heart.  The desire for grace and love within your own being creates an opening for Grace and Love to enter.

Changes within pave the way for changes around us.  Behavior changes as our internal state of being changes.  An interesting thing happens when our internal state of being changes.  Other people notice, perhaps not consciously, but actions and reactions move in a new direction.

We change the world as we change ourself.  As above, so below.  As within, so without.