All the time you protect yourself, and you think this is the way to go. What you are doing is likely preventing yourself. Preventing yourself from what? From life! Awake!

When you hide from life or hide yourself from yourself, you narrow yourself. You are stuck in a past image of yourself. You reduce yourself. You cut off your feet in order to fit a narrow bed you made for yourself. You are looking for comfort, and you choose tightness.

You are made to move along. You are not made to stay on the same rung of the ladder. You are meant to keep moving and keep growing. Be glad you can move up in order to see further. It is not to your benefit to stay the same. Life will get you out of your short bed one way or another. Life will give you a run for your money.

Whatever life may do, it won’t stay the same no matter how much you stamp your foot.

Why be stilted when you can be pliant and roll right along? Why be rigid when you can flex your muscles? Why close your mind when you can open your mind and discover new possibilities? Given only easy choices, you might never have ventured.

You will get through life. How you enjoy the sights you see and how you expand the world for others is up to you. Surely, you don’t want to be in a coma for the extent of your life? Why stop growing when you can blossom and do somersaults?

Good grief, did you make a four-foot long coffin for yourself years ago? How your life on Earth this visit is going to end, you don’t know. You might as well take off into the far blue horizons while you are dancing, discovering, and delighting in the new. Beloveds, do you really want to cash in your chips way in advance?

There is no advantage to compressing yourself. You are in life to express yourself and go higher and higher. So what if life makes you stretch yourself? Stretch yourself. You may go to the gym to stretch your muscles. Go to life and stretch yourself to expand yourself and the world you live in. You are for more than to take up space in a world that believes in time and space.

Expand your heart. Expand your mind. You never were restricted. You restrict yourself. It is your voice that says, “No.” It is your voice that says: "It is better to huddle where I am." It is your voice that says: "It's better to be a fly on the wall than to expand my horizons."

You may have been telling yourself that you must hide from life as best you can, that it is better for your to park on your way to life, as if adventure is the last thing you are to take on. At the same time, you argue with life and others for all you are worth. What are you doing here, beloveds, if not to take off? Be light of foot and light of mind. No more debating.

You have gone to great lengths to avert making yourself responsible for the life you lead. You lead your life. Where does it say that you are to be only a downcast follower, to trudge along and complain the whole way away? You are not to be a dud that never goes off!

Awaken yourself. Perhaps it is time you wake up to the reduction you perpetuate upon yourself. Whatever fix you are in, you got yourself there. Now get yourself out, but not by habitual arguing and making someone else your fall guy. Enough being adversarial. Stop proving to yourself the same old disputes.

What do I mean when I say to you, “Arise.” What do I mean when I say, “Arise to your natural stature.” What do I mean when I say:

Even if you are fearful, get up. Get up anyway.

I mean, Arise.