Sometimes being with the upset of others is easy for me.  When my best friend, or my lover come to me, complaining, afraid and resistant, sometimes a soft smile will grace my face.  Of course, I’m not happy that they are upset, but I am able to stand and watch their stormy emotions, be present for their experience of fear and separation, and smile at the beautifully human experience that they get to have, and that they will watch me have some day.  I choose loving them unconditionally, and so I choose to be present for their upsets too.

With other people – coworkers, acquaintances, and friends’ partners - it can be more challenging to hold the seat of unconditional love. I think part of the challenge here comes from my ego trying to insist that, “I didn’t choose these people!”  Speaking from experience, I can say that it is much harder for me to be present for someone’s upset when I feel like I didn't choose them and want them to go away.

Today, I am practicing choosing people that are a stretch for me to love.  It allows me to accept my coworkers upset when I can see that I choose them to do my life’s work with.  I can be more patient with a friend’s partner when I see that I choose them, as a human being who is trying to live  in integrity and learn about love.  As for those acquaintances that I just want to go away?  Maybe I can choose them, choose being their friend, and in doing so choose the parts of me that are afraid to be left out.

Now always seems like the place to start anything. Now my name is Ryland Engelhart, and, as a matter of fact, it always has been. My Poppa is Matthew Engelhart the "Patron" of Cafe Gratitude. Now I am writing this from Costa Rica on a double Honeymoon with my wife Sarah Engelhart and our beloved friends and co-workers Avasa and  Matty Love, who got married two weeks after we did this past October.

We have been here eight out of our ten vacation days. We are staying in a beautiful house in small artist community called Islita in the middle of the Pacific coast of the country. We are minutes from the beach and  from a Five Star Resort that we have free access to. Every day we have done activities such as horse back riding, zip lining through the Jungle, surfing and on an on.

Now, in your mind may be saying, "YUK! Good for YOU buddy" or, "What's the Point?"  I am not entirely  sure yet, but there are many ‘Points’ or ‘Miracles’ right here in front of me and you in every moment waiting for our awareness to become aware.  While this point may seem simple and obvious it may be the greatest gift I have ever been given.

Vacation is the perfect circumstance to see that Life is an inside job. Most of the time we are being steered by obligations and responsibilities that we "think" create our experience of life. Here in Costa Rica where the weather is almost always sunny this season, the emotional storms still come through. No Matter where I go, there I am, carrying my wound. My version is, "I am not good enough? I am stupid?" and how I act this out is I TRY to fill every conversation space with "Deep Thoughts" by Ryland Engelhart. So the Now Miracle is to share your Shadow.  When you allow it and speak it out-loud, all of humanity feels like one crowd. This is a remember/forget practice, as soon I remember that I am acting out of my wound. My liberation is declaring that I forgot my greatness and I am trying to get your love.

Here I am free.