Even in the deserts of the world, flowers bloom. And everywhere hearts bloom. In the most dire circumstances, hearts triumph. Even in the most auspicious circumstances, there are hearts that do not bloom. It must be that they refuse to.

Truly, all the circumstances in the world are not the key that prevent you from happiness, nor do all the circumstances give you the happiness you and I both want you to have. In the midst of plenty, there is sorrow. In the midst of little or nothing, there is great happiness. Can you argue this?

The possibilities of what you can be are endless.

You can be anything you want. You can be a simple person who goes through life adding joy to the lives around him. You can lighten the world. You can be like a smile to the world. You can be a person who sweeps the streets, and you can be magnificent. You can be a great friend. You can lay down the red carpet for everyone. You can be a hero. You can become rich and famous and still be that simple person who adds joy to the lives around him. It is your choice. You can be anything you want.

It is not your place to change other people's thinking. It is not My Will that you convince others to your way of thinking. It is not My Will that you convince anyone of anything. This should be a great relief to you! Think of all the energy you will save.

Decisions. You think that decisions are a huge undertaking, but decisions are merely choices you make. Even life and death decisions are not life and death. Decisions hang in the air, and you pull one down. You can never know all the intricacies. You cannot follow the course of the decision back to its origination, nor can you follow it to its outermost conclusion. You don't need to invest so much in decisions.

Your decisions are little things. They are not so big as you make them. Your whole life is not held in the balance of any decision you make, so-called right or so-called wrong.

How can a heart that longs for truth yet be cruel? Cruelty has lengths, but you have all touched it even if only in thought. Why does cruelty so consume your mind? Why does an ill-advised action of another consume you? Why does your belief in evil on Earth make you doubt Me? Doubt the cruelty instead. It is an aberration. It is an insult to My love. But dwell on My love and not the insult of the world. The more you dwell on My love — the more you immerse yourself in My love — the less cruelty will manifest anywhere.

So long as you approve, you are judging. Approval and disapproval are two ends of judgment.

"But wait," you say, "aren't I entitled to like something more than something else?"

But of course you are.

When someone offers you an apple or an orange, and you prefer the orange, you accept it because that is your preference. You are not sneering at the apple or considering the orange of more value. You are not thinking: "Oh, how can anyone in their right mind choose an apple over an orange?"

You are simply stating your preference.

It is good for you to know that you don't have to bend to every circumstance that comes along. But that does not mean for you to be resolute. This is not a question of will. It is a question of coming from strength. Toss out all your ideas of weakness.

You are not a piece of wood that is buffeted up and down by the ocean. You are the ocean. The ocean does not resist what sails on it, but it doesn't flounder either.

The winds that blow are not the maker of you.

I am the Maker of you.

Although time is not, there is a moment that comes when the Sun peeks its head up over the horizon. The Sun lifts up its shoulders at its inception over the crest of the earth. It is a steady motion, the Sun beginning its day on your side of the earth.

Of course, it is the earth that is rolling to the Sun.

You could say that the earth is the puppy that rolls over to be petted by the Sun.

The rolling over is surrender.

Others' expectations of you are their expectations. You can try your whole life to fill others' expectations and not fill them. You have tried. That is what you have been doing. You have made others' expectations yours, as though you were a slave to others' wishes and were obliged to obey.

You have not always been conscious of this. You thought your thoughts were your own, but many or most of your thoughts have been adopted. Better to adopt Mine.

When you were a child, you had to do what someone told you to do. You were penniless and dependent for everything.

One mode of giving is allowing. It is a great gift when you allow another freedom, when, on all levels, you let go of control. It is one thing to keep hands off, and a greater thing to keep your heart off. Your heart’s attachment can keep another back. Attachment grows tentacles.