You want to let go of the idea that, when life is hard for you, that you are being punished. No longer think in terms of hard times, going through it, being in a fix, being in trouble, at a dead end. No longer think that life has taken you by the neck and is shaking you, or that life is merciless or that, in life, you are running the gauntlet. Beloved, life in the world has gotten a bad press. There has been false advertising, and, by and large, you have bought into it. Have you perhaps thought that life is a jungle filled with danger and yourself as helpless? Think again.
 
No longer think of life as divided into two camps, reward or punishment. No longer think of yourself as either a recipient of goodness or sadness. No longer characterize yourself as bad, wrong, stupid or any of the terms you may throw at yourself. No longer think that what you see as punishment earns you reward points, as if suffering entitles you now to a reward. Be your own reward, beloved. As much as possible, make the chair you sit on.
 
It is a huge step forward when you use new terms concerning yourself and life and no longer think in terms of right or wrong, wise or foolish, stupid, weak, unwell, etc. Address yourself with good manners. You are a Child of God. You are entitled to know this and live this.
 
No life is wasted. Do you hear Me? You are not a Voice in the Wilderness any more than I am. You are heard, and you are answered.
 
Consider yourself in a high-class mystery novel. You are the hero detective. Even the hero detective may spend time on false clues. He may spend half the novel on false clues. No longer see yourself as an investigator in life.
 
Nor are you to see yourself as a dedicated gardener who must dig out weeds, as if digging out all weeds is the mainstay of your garden, as if your garden with a single weed won’t pass muster. Consider the weeds friends to your garden. You do not have to eradicate weeds nor do you have to eradicate every bug that exists. You don’t have to eradicate anything. You are a Being more than a doer. From your Being, rise.
 
Be an equitable greeter of all that appears in life. Something appears in front of you. Today you may think it’s wondrous and tomorrow you may not. Today you may think that something that appears is ferocious, and the next day or year, you may see that what seemed so dire brought sunshine into your life.
 
Do not think that I am a God who rewards and punishes. What kind of God do you think I am? If you have thought of Me as a money-changer or a teacher with a ruler to rap your hands with, think again. If you think of Me as someone who is supposed to hand out to you your candy of choice, think again. If you think of Me as a God who has an overall picture of the future, you are on the right track. I do know the so-called future. It is happening right now.
 
Life is not always directly in your hands. Life is not a chess game right in front of you that you have to win. Life is not about winning or losing. Life is about living. Life is about water streaming through your hands. Life is about sunshine that sparkles the waters. Life is not a fortress, nor is life a prison. Today you may walk on water. Tomorrow you may walk on stones.
 
Regardless, you are always the walker, and so you walk. You are walking to Me.