Dear Friends,

Tomorrow may be a bright and sunny day with kind people who give you hugs and share warm moments. But then again, tomorrow may not be that way at all.

Either way, are you ready?

Are you ready to give hugs and put sunshine in your words no matter who you meet or who comes to meet you?

Tomorrow someone you love may be in need of a hug and they may not be able to get beyond a few cranky comments. Are you ready to be tolerant, understanding and caring?

Walk in their shoes for awhile and feel the upset and loneliness they may feel.

Love is not love without testing. As our beloved teacher Yogi Bhajan once told us, "It does not matter how much you love someone. It matters how much you can reflect back love."

Take any goodness you can bring out in them and multiply and magnify it. Don't let their darkness win out while you're around.

Be so strong, so loving, so tolerant that nothing can break you down. How do you do that? You can only live that way if you start your day with prayer and meditation. Start before the sun in up. Walk tall, lead with your heart, and the angels will bow to you. Are you ready?

Then, when tough times come knocking on your door, be of such good will that you set an example for all.

I know many who have set such an example. Let me tell you of one great pioneer.

Over the last couple of months I have visited her frequently at an extended care center upstate. She is a dear old friend who is recovering very slowly from a serious stroke. She has an iron will and a long history of winning against tough situations. Yet, just a week ago, her new therapist told her, flat out, that she'd never go home again - home to walk her beautiful rolling hills, home to independence.

It was a deep blow to this remarkable woman who has spent her life beating the odds, healthwise. More than seven decades ago, she was born with no hip sockets. Raised on an isolated farm on the cold northern plains, she had a champion in her father and a local doctor. They devised a contraption to help her walk by bracing her femur bones up against the hips, grinding indentations in the bones. And walk she did, walk and grow up into womanhood and raise a family, surviving the challenges of life in an Eastern city, the murder of her son, and an abusive marriage. She won her freedom the hard way, over and over. In her lifetime she has had hip replacements, and numerous other health calamities including cancer. She beat them all. She is no stranger to pain, gut-wrenching pain. Now it had come round again.

I will not kid you that she doesn't have down days and difficult times. The therapist's pronouncement was certainly a big one. But she is asking them for more recuperative help, a painful bending of joints to reconstruct motion. She is ready, and she values every breath. She faces each day with determination and prayer. Her path is the "red road" walked by the tribal elders of her childhood.

I consider it a privilege to know and be of some loving help to such a woman.

Most of the people who need your help may not be facing such difficulties as my friend, but everyone has their mountains to climb. If you love someone, be there for them, especially when they are not very easy to be around.

When someone barks at you are you ready to sweeten your words and curb the desire to bark back? Can you turn emotion to devotion - devotion to goodness, to spreading the warmth of your heart and touching their heart?

Many of you know folks who can use your kind words, your hugs and your healing hands, whether you are trained to give Reiki energy or simply the love from your heart.

Are you ready to give - without judgement, without hesitation?

Then give and never give up. Never withdraw. Meet all comers with compassion. You are a light. Shine.

Bless you in all ways always!

To hear Sangeet's message, click on "RealAudio" or "WMA" above. "RealAudio" and "WMA" are different types of audio files. You can click on either one, it just depends on which sound player software your computer has. "RealAudio " requires a "RealOne" or "RealAudio" player (or compatible) and "WMA" requires a "Windows Media" player (or compatible). "RealAudio" tends to be a little more reliable and better sounding, while "WMA" (built into Windows) is more wide spread.

You can't hurt anything by clicking on either one. If nothing happens or an error message pops up, then your computer doesn't have the appropriate software installed. If that is the case, you can get either one of the free players by clicking here.