Sit upright in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths.

Relax your whole body and do a body scan starting from your feet and slowly going up focusing on being present in each part of your body. Release any remaining tension.

Now slowly rise up in your mind to a view from above your body. Look at the world and everything in it in detail, observing the high mountains and the seas, the wildlife and domestic animals, highways and rural areas, people busy at work, children playing...

Of all of the creatures and all the people, zero in to focus on you and observe yourself.

You are a wonder! Look at how your body is fashioned, how you breathe and digest your food without even thinking about it, how your mind tells your arms and legs what to do.

Furthermore, you are fundamentally worthy and precious. You are essentially a spiritual being in a physical form. No one can take this preciousness away from you. The spiritual dimension is the source of your freedom to decide what you will do and who you will be, and through your choices you shape your life. Formed in the image of your Creator, you are naturally conscious, loving, compassionate and free. As a spiritual being you naturally think about where your life is going and you want to live a life of meaning and purpose.

You can potentially choose wrongly. By passively allowing your baser instincts and emotions to run your life, you can sink to a sub-human existence.

But you can recover your human-ness every time you pause and consider the ramifications of your actions. You know right from wrong. You know what is good for you and what is bad for you. By listening to the still, small voice of your conscience you can decide in favor of what is life-promoting. Even if all you can do is choose your attitude, you always have a choice. You always have a choice and with your thoughts and speech you create your reality.

For instance, you can choose an attitude of gratitude. Right now reflect on everything you appreciate in your life. See in your mind’s eye all of the beauty and goodness. Savor it. Feel it. Allow the recognition of all of life’s gifts to penetrate your awareness. With your thoughts you have just created your reality.

Being human also means you have a will. What do you pray for? Why are these things important to you? What gives you a sense of fulfillment? Silently ask for these things and feel as if your prayers have already been answered. Picture yourself celebrating and enjoying this reality. Feel the loving energy coursing through your body.

Like Adam, the first human who walked on earth, you are a complete, entire world. Like everyone else, you have feelings and urges. You are susceptible to disease and your body can repair and heal itself. You experience the same human struggles and share the same dreams and aspirations. All of humanity are your brothers and sisters. No one is intrinsically better than anyone else. The one creator of all loves all of us.

Yet, even though you are just like everyone else, you are one-of-a-kind. In all of history from the beginning of mankind and into the future until the end of time there never was and there never will be another you. You are a complete, entire world.

No one looks like you and no one has the same perspective. No other person has your particular set of talents, your strengths and your circumstances of birth. No one shares your challenges because no one shares your life’s meaning.

Where do you fit in, in your difference, to the whole big picture of things? Know that you are here for a reason. The world was created for you. The world was created for each and every one of us, because each of us has a role to play. You are an irreplaceable tile in the mosaic of life, a unique individual within a greater whole.

You contribute something unique by your very being. No one else can do what you can do. Even tasks that seem similar to what other people do have your unique stamp on them. Everything fate has given you is a tool with which to fulfill your destined space in the world.

Just as you are unique, every moment in time is a unique moment. You will never pass this way again. The unique configuration of events of any given moment in time will never repeat itself. Even the people you encounter will be different. They will have changed ever so slightly, and you too will be a new person.

Moment by moment, life asks you questions and you must answer. Life tests you and confronts you to polish you so that your light will shine. Therefore, utilize every event as the opportunity it is to choose life and to connect to your family, your community, your nation and ultimately the world. Do not compare yourself to others and ask ‘Why do I have this problem?’ Ask, rather, ‘What is this problem inviting me to do?’ You are responsible for your greatness! You are invited to be your greatest self in all your uniqueness within the great mosaic of life.