Now, existence itself, in its natural state, is a state of absolute joy, we assure you. Existence itself was not intended to be painful, sorrowful, damaging, hurtful, reducing, denigrating or denying. You did not create existence with the intent to experience pain and sorrow, we assure you. Many individuals believe that, when they incarnated, they had a certain direction of existence -- to experience pain and sorrow. They see it as karma or karmic reaction to their existence. And as a result, they choose to accept pain, sorrow, hurt, denigration, and denial in their existence, for after all, this is payback for karma.

And we would suggest that this is poppycock, sheer poppycock! There is no such thing as an automatic payback. There is no such thing as an automatic denigration of your existence. There is no such thing as an automatic denial of yourselves. No such thing as an automatic reduction of joy in your existence. There is, however, such a thing as choosing to reduce the joy of your existence. And if you choose to believe that it is necessary for you to reduce your existence in order to experience the experience of payback, we assure you, you do so out of joy. You do so from a joy of love.

Some would suggest that if that's the case, why would we even bother? And we would suggest, absolutely, why bother? Why bother reducing your existence in order to experience pain, sorrow, reduction, denial, denigration or karmic payback? We assure you, there is no reason that can be described as valid for doing so. There is reason that can be justified on the basis of ego-personality, for it perceives itself as "less than" and therefore it can justify itself in a number of different ways. But we assure you, regardless of how you perceive the justification, the only validity of the choice of reduction is that you choose to do so, and as a result, you choose to do so out of joy.

Think about this. Here you are all standing in a group, each one of you flagellating each other and saying, "Oh joy, isn't this wonderful. Hit me again please. Oh joy, isn't this wonderful. One more time, I really want to feel this one. Oh joy, isn't this wonderful, do it again. Do it again and do it again." We would suggest that this would make a good scene in a comedy, but not much more than that.

There is no need to deny and denigrate yourselves. Far from it. Therefore, why not instead stand in a circle or a group and appreciate each other and say, "Oh joy, love me some more. Oh joy, compliment me more. Oh joy, appreciate me more. Oh joy, do it again and again and again." Both are joy. The choice is yours as to which one you would like. We would suggest that of greater expansion of existence is to recognize that because you can choose any -- and we do say any -- aspect of existence, why not choose an aspect that is loving, supportive and expansive to the self as opposed to a circumstance or situation that denies and denigrates the self?

We're suggesting that you begin to recognize the degree to which you can command yourselves, in your existence, to choose to your benefit, to choose to reflect the joy of your existence, to choose to allow your existence to be a reflection of the joy of your existence. You can do so. But it requires a willingness to do so consciously.

Now, some would argue that if every choice in our existence had to be conscious, you would be overwhelmed. After all, if choice is made every moment of existence, how can you be conscious of every choice? And we would suggest, who needs to? The point is begin. Don't sit there and say, "I can't do it, it's too much." And therefore you sit with arms crossed, simply waiting for existence to happen to you. And then you say, "See there, I proved to myself again what a lousy life I have."

We would suggest, choose and choose again and choose again, and each choice that you make, be conscious of why you choose to make that choice as best as you can. For we assure you, if you are conscious in the moment of why you make a choice, even though the result of that choice may not be what your ego-personality would anticipate, you will maintain a degree of consciousness that will expand, and the joy in your existence will expand. You will find yourselves leading a joyful, empowered existence that will move you from perspective to perspective, from circumstance to situation, and allow you to choose the direction of your existence to your benefit.

Think of it. It's the equivalent of someone not knowing how to swim, deciding to go into the water and saying to themselves, "I don't know quite how to swim, but I will try." After one stroke, two strokes, the nose goes under the water, the eyes fall under, the breathing comes in, water goes into the lungs, the person gags and says, "There you go, that's it; I'm not going to do this again." And as a result, for the remainder of her existence she only ventures into the water no deeper than her big toe for fear of gagging, regardless of the fact that her mouth is not near her big toe. But this is what she chooses. For after all, if she were to trip and fall, her mouth might be in the water, and she might gag.

The alternative is to be conscious of why you allowed the nose to go under the water, why the mouth went under, why the choice was made to attempt something that, at that point, you weren't ready to do. Then you can choose not to fear the experience, not to limit the experience and make choices that would eventually lead you to become a great swimmer. That's the alternative.

Your existence is the same. You can spend your time making one choice and letting the rest remain in a subconscious and unconscious perspective as a result of created belief structures which, in effect, will limit your existence -- or you can begin to make choices consciously, recognizing that every time you choose, you do so out of joy, and therefore that joy manifests itself in your existence. The more you choose consciously, the more conscious joy you bring to your existence, the more conscious expansion you bring to your existence.

Have you ever seen an individual who chooses everything consciously? There isn't a happier individual. Why? Because they choose everything, and they know they choose everything. They choose the drink they're going to have for breakfast, what they're going to eat, how their body is going to feel. They choose the clothes they're going to wear; in fact, they even choose the underwear they wear. They choose the make-up, the hair, the style, the color; they choose the car; they choose the job; they choose the environment; they choose their friends; they choose their relationships; they choose the circumstances of their existence. And as a result, they are joyful and they manifest it.

And when the choice brings sorrow and pain, they are joyful at recognizing that they have brought to their consciousness an awareness of a choice made unconsciously and subconsciously. As a result, they can expand that existence by then moving that choice to the conscious perspective. And they choose to do so; and again more joy expands their existence. Look around, you will find these individuals. We assure you, they exist. They're all around you. There aren't many, but they are all around you. Each one that you observe, regardless of who it is you observe, you can observe the joy they have in their existence, if you choose. However, we assure you that if you don't have a great deal of joy in your existence, you will choose not to observe a joyful person. Why would you choose to observe a joyful person to remind you of what you don't have? Some would because they like to be reminded of their lack. Most would not, but there are some who would. Some like to know that they are "less than" and like to be reminded of their perceptions of "less than." But it is all a perception -- that's all it is -- and the perception is an illusion.

Joy, however, is not an illusion. Joy is the constant permeating all of your existence. As a result, regardless of what you choose, regardless of the circumstances under which the choice is made -- regardless of whether it be conscious, subconscious or unconscious in relation to the ego-personality -- we assure you that each choice that you make, you do so out of joy. Therefore, observe the degree of joy that you have, that you are experiencing in your existence, and you will observe the degree to which you consciously are allowing yourselves to choose.

We assure you, you have joy in your existence. Regardless of whether the choice is conscious or unconscious, the joy exists. However, to observe the joy, you must then observe the conscious perspective of the choice made. And then, dear friends, it would be the equivalent of standing under Niagara Falls when someone had dammed it, and all of a sudden the dam opens on top of you. We assure you, the water will rush over you, take you, carry you and give you the greatest ride of your life. Now, this isn't something to be afraid of. Some people would say, "But all that water will kill me." We assure you, it will not. It will bring you on the greatest ride of your existence. It will give you the greatest joy, the greatest experience, the greatest expansion; it will move you to expand your existence beyond the limits you've set for yourselves. And then, dear friends, the joy will so fill your heart that you will choose to share it with others. Not just with one or two or three, but with so many that eventually they will laugh at the giddiness of the joy within you.

Think of it this way: When you walk down the street, and someone goes by you laughing, and you wonder why, it's because he perceives the joy in you. Joy, in effect, is contagious. It brings about a certain giddiness, a certain lightness of heart to individuals. Joy is that which resonates with the heart chakra. It is the self-love. No one can resist self-love -- no one. Not even the most closed-off person could resist self-love. Now, we didn't say that he/she wouldn't react to it differently. We said she couldn't resist it.

Therefore, give yourselves the opportunity to recognize the joy that you have of your existence. And when, as a result of a choice, a certain circumstance or situation occurs that to you is defined or judged as being hurtful, sorrowful, or harmful to your existence, observe the joy with which you made that choice. Observe how much self-love you have that allowed you to make that choice in your existence. And recognize that, though you may not perceive the interconnection of that choice to the joy of the totality of existence, there is an interconnection. And that a choice made at any moment of existence can manifest itself at any other moment of existence.

As a result, be willing to experience the joy of your existence. "That Which You Choose, You Do So Out of Joy." Explore, experience, expand and enjoy.