The power of choosing a song to demarcate a liminal period lies in the truth that in-between times are uncomfortable and music helps tether us to collective meaning and memory while empowering us to move forward into the future.

All it takes is one good card. One good card has the potential to win over other good cards. And from that one step, that other foot is so much more likely to follow.

The good news is that you can take back control, no matter how fast your merry-go-round might be spinning. The better news is that you can start today. It begins, quite simply, with your choice, and just one small step.

Life's commas are just like the ones we got used to during those mundane classroom lessons. They are a time to pause, reflect, catch our breath then move on. They aren't the end.

Live life with the knowledge that there is more good in the world than evil. The small positive changes we make each day make a difference for us, for our community and for our world.

For reasons I could not explain in 10,000 words or less, I moved to a small town on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, for three months or more, to determine how I begin with all of this that has happened, and to wait for this story of the pain in my neck to resolve.

Now Millie has a small house of her own, financed by a brick-making business she runs. And this was made possible because she learned how to roll beads out of strips of recycled paper.

Whatever it is, you have two choices: Live with it and continue to be unhappy or take a good, serious look at yourself in the mirror. The key word here is mirror. We can't see our blemishes until we have a mirror to reflect them back at us.

Life is too short to spend your time being unhappy and adding to a long list of regrets. Put fear aside, really evaluate what you want out of life and how best to get it, and then go for it! You only get one go around, so why are you still at the starting gate?

It's incredibly important to be able to pinpoint the moments, people and experiences that trigger these feelings. Even if your whole life feels like it's in a funk, you have to start noticing more specific moments that cause that feeling in order to start making positive changes.

The heart rhythm is subtle. To find a smooth rhythm when you need it requires a new reference place inside from which you respond -- a heart-intelligent place. That reference place will feel different from your mechanical head, and you'll come to recognize it.

Change is like going on an expedition: It can be a trudge or a hike. Take it all in and enjoy the view, or focus on the faults -- it's absolutely a choice. Here are some lessons I've learned about encountering change, some by resisting it and some by jumping into it with two feet.

Remember that we cannot begin again until some other chapter has closed. For the daffodil, the winter is on the wane. The end of one season brings the onset of the next new life.

It's only when you stop resisting change and make the best of the moment, "without knowing what's going to happen next," that the universe supports you to create inspired healing, wellness, and live-out-loud joy.

The story of humanity's soul has taken us from living in caves to walking on the moon. But there is much more of this story to be told. For one day, we will travel beyond our own tiny spot in the cosmos and begin yet another new adventure of discovery.

I've felt so good about the marginal, barely-measurable progress I've made in one month that I already have a 2014 "wish list" started.

Just one focused, positive thought, in fact, can serve as our escape vehicle out of a rut. By simply concentrating on a painting we love, for example, we immediately can shift our mindset from misery to one of gratitude.

Don't tune out, because the story of humanity is about to take a turn. Human beings are nothing if not master storytellers.

It may not look like it, but this moment is the most powerful time to shift your story. This month, the planet celebrates a new beginning. Summing up the past, we're given the opportunity to witness who we really are beneath the charade, writing a fresh, preferred chapter.

You may be thinking about the goals you want to achieve in 2013. Perhaps they're specific and concrete, or perhaps you're still figuring out what you want. Either way, I'm here to tell you that you can experience straight-up miraculous change this year.

Learning a sound strategy about how to strengthen the behaviors that support and nourish our wishes to be healthier, happier, and more connected puts us in a position of greater personal power.

Change doesn't just happen; we have to make it happen. And the first hurdle to change is inertia. So, how do you get past this? Easy.

Before you start making lofty resolutions that you know you won't keep, why don't you prepare to do it right this year? Use my three steps to set yourself up to win and make your resolutions stick.

Without change in ourselves we become stifled and stagnant; without change in the world we will not survive. Such impermanence means that every difficulty, challenge, joy, or success will, at some point, be different: This too shall pass.