I know what loss feels like, I know what it feels like to think love was wasted and swim in a sea of regrets and what if's, thinking what we could have done differently, maybe we should have fought harder or had less pride, maybe if we were better people things would never have ended in the first place, I know what it feels like to let someone go when all you ever wanted was to have them with you, to be the better person when everything inside of us is raging, when there is more anger than peace, when there is no hope in going back or moving forward and we stay stuck in this tortured replay of our own vivid memories, and we die inside with buried screams and tears of pain, and we want to take it out on the first situation that comes our way, but still by the grace of god and the fact that we love them more than ourselves we find the courage to release them, even when our hearts and minds disagree. 

We know all too well we cannot hold on to something that does not wish to be held on to, so we let go and let god and we curse the whole ride through because their happiness is more important than our own and at the time it feels like we will never experience that kind of love again, it feels like our chest is about to cave in, there is no air, no hope, no light, no reason to want to live our lives anymore, this emptiness that seems to find its way in everything we do and say, we've cried so long our tears are dehydrated, and we internalize everything and pretend to be strong, we put our mask on and walk around like zombies instead of seeing the experience and learning from it we stay stuck wallowing in misery. - Yeah I know what that feels like, I am living proof live does goes on with or with out us, but I can tell you this, there is so much more out there than our emotions lead us on to believe and the day will come for us to love again even if its learning to love ourselves and life truly is beautiful, I learned to use my emotions as the fuel to push me forward, I've learned nothing lasts forever so I make the best of this moment no matter what, I look back with gratitude, the sorrow still exists only I have learned to make peace with it, it has humbled me on this journey but most important I have learned to never give up and to never fear experiencing new experiences and for me thats says a lot; just like caterpillars the moment we feel our lives are truly over is the same moment our lives begin - to all my butterflies - ~Will "Story" Rivera

www.JourneyingWithin.com

Its through our differences we gain knowledge and wisdom, its through our differences we gain insight through other perspectives, other options, other ways to live, other creativity, other traditions, other inventions, other spiritual gifts and awareness, it is through our differences we go farther as planet rather than a country, a race, a gender, a sexual preference, its because of our differences this world less monotonous, our differences are exactly what allows us to be unique yet connected, it is through these differences our world changes and we coexist equally with all beings, without the need for separation only understanding, to truly see that each soul on this planet has something to teach us and is here on purpose just like we are, its only by accepting our differences will we ever unite as one. ~Will "Story" Rivera 

www.JourneyingWithin.com

We must become aware of what we give value to, what we consider power. When we start thinking that our heritage is the best, our gender, our race, our economic class, these all are just categories that do nothing but create more illusion of separation. We think our cause is the only one worthy of attention, our house is more important than the neighbors, our cars more precious, our meeting more valuable, this is dangerous water we tread in, it is feeding energy into the ultimate illusion that any one of us is any more important than each other or any other being. There is nothing in nature that lives only for itself, everything you can possibly imagine is connected; rivers do not drink their own water and trees do not eat their own fruit, you never hear either one of them complaining about supplying us for free these amazing resources. We are just as deeply connected to one another, when we turn a cold shoulder for fear we may get hurt; we only hurt ourselves in the long run. This goes for when we feel we have a right to live where we do, as if the animals and insects who inhabited the land before we did have no purpose or right to co-exist with us, as if just because we handed in a piece of paper for so called rights to territory all of a sudden we are above all else. We must bring our selves to become aware of the basic fact that everything on this planet has a specific divine purpose, just as important as our own divine purpose; its that simple. ~Will "Story" Rivera

In The End: What Matters Most - the book now available
www.JourneyingWithin.com

The most beautiful things in life first have to go through a lot of dirt before they get to blossom, we can learn so much from this, lets regard every challenge in place as the the fertile soil in which we need to grow from. ~Will "Story" Rivera

www.JourneyingWithin.com

Connection to one another and the universe is everything; LOVE is the bridge. ~Story Naiad
www.journeyingwithin.com

Search for ourselves first, dig deep to understand and accept ourself wholeheartedly, there are many parts of ourselves that we need to uncover, to face with courage, nurture and heal, to accept responsibility for our choices, we must cover every nook and cranny of our souls with unconditional love; this will be one of the most fulfilling relationships we ever have in our lives. ~Will Rivera

Love will always lead the way, no matter the circumstance or how grim it looks, love triumphs; face every aspect of our life through loving eyes. ~Will Rivera

I want us to look into the mirror and admire everything there is about us, I want us to be still and alone with person we are and be in love with the moment, being confident that we are evolving into the person we have always dreamed of, we inspire ourselves for better, we are completely grateful to be alive and know that with every choice made we can look back and admire it with all our heart. ~Will Rivera

You must be completely in love with who you are, before you can expect anyone to unconditionally give you love. ~Will Rivera

It started in my heart, this compelling feeling drawing me to my purpose, it felt right, it was comfortable, it was a universal peace, I knew deep down in my depths that I was on the correct path, I needed to reach out more, write more, allow my words to touch every single soul I could, I knew there was no stopping when It started, it was determination, a drive, I finally realized why my soul was here on earth, I had to open myself, my heart, my trust, forget all my failures of the past, allow myself to grow spiritually, erase the word discouraged from my memory, look my deepest fears in the face and never ever stop believing in myself or others; I was born for this. ~Will Rivera

It’s human nature to love, to care, to nurture, to want to share, to be affectionate in all aspects, compassionate with our actions, from the moment we are born we crave to be held and loved, to be supported in our growth, it’s a learned trait to shut ourselves off from the world, we learn to be protective of our hearts expressions, it’s truly sad just how much fear plays a role in stopping us from opening intimately to our natural desire, we're built from love but we somehow got lost along the way, we can make up a million excuses to why “we have to be like this”, we can think of a million and one people to try to put the blame on, but to be truthful to ourselves, means we must accept responsibility for our actions; we don’t love wholeheartedly simply because we have not confidently made the decision to do so. ~Will Rivera

 

How do we love when we are afraid of opening our hearts, afraid of being hurt, afraid that if we love to much it may not be returned, or we may get betrayed, taken for a fool, or even made fun of for extending so soon, how can we truly learn to connect with one another when we are hiding behind our fears, not letting go of the past, afraid to speak our souls emotions, so lonely in isolation, we crave connections, we live for the love we feel, we dream of opening up, it’s what the universe has called us to do, yet we reject our own instincts and allow fear to rule our world. We already know what’s best for our higher good, so why do we still follow the advice and instruction of others who have yet to experience the meaning of being AWAKE.

Love is truly never wasted. ~Will Rivera

 

Some times we fear our own destiny, we create all these rituals and ceremonies of distraction, anything to get away from our feelings, our thoughts, our reality of the lives we live, we build walls and take pills to flush the pain away, we harden our hearts and stop feeling all together, then we live in a misery of isolation, so we create more distraction to keep us from feeling lonely, we sometimes even drag others into our darkness and we don’t even know why, we push away our families because they do not understand, then push away our partners because we can’t stand seeing who they really are, a perfect mirror of ourselves, then the cycle repeats for our children, and all this because the more we push away everything that IS US, the less we will ever have to take responsibility for who WE ARE. The truth WILL set us free, it’s time to do what we were destined for. Will Rivera ~Namaste

It was so easy, I opened my heart and accepted myself for who I was, who I am and who I am aspiring to be, so sweat, so safe, I forgave myself for all the disheartening choices I made, I learned from myself, I stopped beating myself up, stop comparing my life to others, figured out what happiness truly meant for me, through my eyes, it was a simplistic realization, I am truly beautiful, we all are, and if we all chose to open our hearts up, then the decisions we make would naturally will benefit everyone’s higher self. We are responsible for the quality of our lives, plain and simple. 

Carrying the mirror of my soul for others to reflect off of. ~Will Rivera

No more excuses... ♥

Being kind and compassionate, opening your hearts up, the idea of genuinely caring for another being, spreading a message, or even feeding the hungry, these are all universal innate emotions and actions that we all possess, that we all are capable of, there is no separation in this, there are no lines or dividers, it all falls under LOVE, that is the only thing that is going to unite all the separation of ego and ideas that our way or our cause is the only one worth investing time into, enough is enough. I won’t even sign my name to this, because the intention of my writing is to open hearts and minds, not to seek credit for myself. We are all ONE.

 

Although it may pain us deeply, some times in a partnership, its best to take a step back outside of the situation and the relationship, in order to move foreword; even if the step forward leads you both down a different road. ~Will Rivera

Because love exists in all forms and different facets, it can be reached and felt from the furthest depths, bring peace and harmony to the most rage full situations, an indestructible force, the most humble of all emotions, innate within us all, a resource that will never run out, requires no protection, no restrictions or regulations, just unconditional acceptance, when we find this force within ourselves, we no longer feel separate from anyone or anything in this universe. ~Will Rivera

Everything in this world can be comforted with love, if we just open our hearts and allow others to feel our emotions, without fear, without expectations, there would be so much more healing for one another if we all learned to give love the way we love those closest to us, if we show the kind of acceptance that we expect for ourselves, if we nurture and encourage every soul we encounter, love makes all things possible, love heals every single pain, love makes the impossible more than possible to obtain, that unconditional force allows for communication with anyone from any place on earth, learning to love ourselves unconditionally is the only way we are going to bring peace to this world and finally accept the concept that no one person in this universe is ever separate from us. ~Will Rivera