Life is going to bring all kinds of experiences our way. Some of them are going to be so mind-bendingly awesome you will actually feel your heart expand. And some are going to be so painful, you will have to think about how to breathe.

There’s no controlling circumstances. There’s no stopping time. The world won’t stop spinning for you. Everything around you and within you is in a constant state of change. And one day your body will give out and you will exhale for the last time. Until then, I highly recommend you live all the way. Live with your heart out in front and your arms open wide. Feel everything. Feel heartbroken when you need to. Feel joy. Feel scared or confused or angry. Feel whatever you feel in each moment, don’t miss any of it, and certainly don’t push it down. It’s all experience. It’s all growth. It’s all part of your journey. And it is a very mixed bag.

Some times in life are so beautiful. These are usually birth cycles, productive times when you feel in the flow and connected and awake and aware and full of purpose. And other times are so painful it’s hard to know how to move through the day. Death cycles are like that. They’re times of letting go, of moving within and honoring and appreciating your experiences but accepting they’ve come to an end. Sometimes a death cycle happens around an old way of being that just isn’t working for you. Everyone craves the birth cycles and hopes to avoid the death cycles but life is going to bring both, sometimes all at once. You might experience incredible growth in one area of your life, while also having to acknowledge a lack of growth in another. Energetically, anything that isn’t growing is dying.

And anything that is growing is also dying. Everything in life is cyclical. So grow all the way. Expand to your fullest potential. Embrace everything. Be awake and blossom to such a degree you stun yourself. That’s what you’re here to do. The pain is there to deepen you, to open you, to soften you. Some loss is so large, you might have a well of sorrow and compassion within you for the rest of your life. So share that, give that away freely. People need that. They need to know they’re not alone. They need to see other people who’ve lost and managed, somehow, to keep going. Use whatever you’ve got to fill your life with purpose. Don’t let a single day pass when you haven’t done at least one thing to help someone else. I don’t care if you smile at a stranger, or help your kid tie her shoes, or let someone merge on the freeway. This is one thing I know beyond any doubt. We are here to help each other. The more you do that, the less you will be burdened with questions like, “What’s the point of it all?”. Because the point will be obvious. This life is gonna bring it all at you. Give whatever you’ve got so you enjoy the ride before it’s over. Wishing you all the inhales and exhales you need to live your happiest life. And sending you love, Ally.