I have blogged about this before but I think it bears repeating, or re-blogging .. anyone who presents a challenge to us in this lifetime is not only our teacher, but also an opportunity for us to cement who we are and make sure we really know what we believe .. someone who comes at us with negativity and doubt, if viewed correctly, can present us with a chance to decide fully what we really feel and who we really are .. and not in a mean or spiteful way .. but rather, gently, lovingly, and honestly, we can take the energy from the person and take a deep breath, and decide internally what we feel to be true for our selves .. and then, in this truth, we can act with forgiveness and gratitude towards the person ..

I’m not saying we should allow ourselves to be treated badly, per se .. but I do think there is much value in being given poor treatment as long as you use it to guide your inner voice .. someone who constantly derides our position can actually help strengthen that position, or perhaps even show us a different aspect to our position that is useful .. the key is to let go of ego and try to humbly remember that everyone is here to help us grow, if we want that .. our Higher Self is calling, always, for someone to assist us on our journey to the Divine .. and it may be bumpy and hard and uncomfortable sometimes, but really, that is sometimes the only way to really grow .. as we must pare through the thicket of thorns to find the magnificent beauty of the rose ..

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like it on Facebook!

I have been thinking lately about my journey to becoming an internationally known musician .. the path has included many unexpected bumps and detours .. and yet, through it all, my music survived and flourished .. as I near the attainment of my goal, I reflect on how it doesn’t matter how you get somewhere .. it doesn’t matter when you get there .. it only matters that you get there .. it doesn’t matter how many obstacles you are presented with or how many challenges you may face or have to overcome .. it just matters that you keep your faith in God and belief in yourself and march on, ever on ..

Just like a play where the backstage calamities may be many, as long as the audience is being entertained and is happy, it doesn’t matter that the sets might be held up by string and the stage manager is going crazy trying to get the actors on stage and the light cues are just barely being called correctly .. it only matters that the final production goes off without a hitch and the people watching are satisfied ..

We ought not judge ourselves or others on how we attain what we have .. instead, we ought to focus on what we do with our success .. how we use it .. how we share it .. how we inspire others to achieve the same thing .. and we ought not get caught up in regret or self-criticism .. we are who we are, we have the walk we have chosen to walk and we need to embrace our story and tell it with all of our heart, proudly and strongly .. be the person we are striving to be and let go of the voice in our head that tries to make us feel bad or worthless .. encourage our own hearts as we would encourage others and realise that, as long as the final number is performed well and the standing ovation ensues, it doesn’t really matter how long or how hard it takes to actually be up there in the footlights to begin with .. it only matters that you’re there, finally , shining, basking in the spotlight, being who you are as fully and magnificently as possible ..

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like it on Facebook!

It occurs to me that everything changes but we adapt and actually are given the ability to cope and shift and deal with the changes, if we are present and aware, and trusting .. for instance, with kids .. when they are little babies, just beginning to sleep in a crib, we are somehow able to function without the sleep that we don’t get while tending to them at night and being there for them .. there’s coffee, of course .. but there’s something else that kicks in which gives us the  ability to find some reserve and some energy to be there for them .. then, as they get older, and need different things, we seem to be magically equipped to innately understand this and we respond in kind .. I’m not saying that everything comes naturally as a parent .. personally, I have been quite humbled and have learned a lot about myself through parenting .. however, I think I have also found qualities inside of myself that I wasn’t heretofore aware of .. much like what women are able to do while giving birth, when somehow a strength arises and they are able to push and help the baby be born .. God’s grace and miraculous gifts of undiscovered capacities is revealed in that amazing and challenging time ..

And I suppose this is a metaphor for life .. we are always - if we try hard enough and have faith, and breathe - able to respond to whatever challenges come our way .. without any effort, really, something that we didn’t know was inside of us subtly emerges and brings us the aptitude and clarity to face any problems or unexpected twists and turns along the way ..

The infant becomes the toddler becomes the young child becomes the teenager becomes the adult .. and as they pass through each stage we can be there for them and learn, and grow, and succeed in keeping a loving communication throughout, if we are purposeful and determined .. and our own personal life and goals grown in much the same way .. remember always to have faith in yourself .. you are the answer to everything .. trust .. listen .. be .. 

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like it on Facebook!

This has been a season of learning to let go, learning to not take things personally, learning to stay focused on the ultimate goal, rather than get distracted by ego or emotion .. it’s almost harder, in a way, to stay centered and just keep your eyes on what you want to achieve .. feelings can get the best of you and it’s a challenge to stay on track .. but, I suppose, after years of being easily put off my game, so to speak, I realized that there is beauty and elegance in simply remaning humbly (yet firmly) directed on what I want, even if it means letting other people think things about me that aren’t true .. it’s fairly liberating to just let go of caring so much about what someone might be thinking, and instead stay true to what my heart yearns for and let it be okay that I am seeking that ..

Perhaps in some way most things come down to deciding that you deserve them .. and for whatever reasons some of us have that question in our minds .. but why don’t we deserve to be happy and to have our lives reflect that which we believe in and that which we want for ourselves and others?  Why don’t we get to stay on the path that is best for us, the one that we have decided best serves us, even if it isn’t the one someone else would choose for us?  And to feel this way and be this way with grace and appreciation for those who might challenge our way, is truly in the divine line with God .. acceptance and grace .. that’s what I feel He wants us to act with and how He wants us to make choices .. no need for anger or petty things .. truly, all we need is love ..

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like it on Facebook!

A few days ago I helped someone plant some flowers .. recently we checked on them and, lo and behold, they had sprouted .. I constantly marvel at the miracle of life and here is yet one more example .. birth, of course, is truly the most amazing miracle – life, coming from nothing, becoming a person, a soul inhabiting a body .. and then that person growing, becoming bigger often than the person who created them .. but looking at planting and growing flowers, trees .. it is just incredible .. a few random seeds scattered into some dirt .. a bit of water .. a peek of sunlight .. and, suddenly, a bloom .. fragile, yet holding .. until, eventually, a magnificent blossom ..

In this way we all are as well .. beginning with just a dream .. a thought .. a desire .. sowing it into the world .. feeding it .. nurturing .. a bit of imagination .. some effort .. a peek of magic .. belief .. faith .. and, eventually, a dream come true ..

Hold your blossoms dear and always be brave enough to let them become all that you want them to be .. for, with every new bloom, the world is brighter and fuller and more as it should be .. 

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com . You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration , and like it on Facebook!

I have found that rather than fighting someone's energy, it is better and more productive (and more spiritually beneficial) to work with one's energy in order to bring about the changes I seek .. instead of resisting and finding negatives about how someone is being, I uttilize the options that their choices are giving me .. I let go of judgment about their actions .. I open myself to the possibilities that could exist if I am willing to see them .. I remember that everyone is my teacher .. and in this way I find that I affect more productive and positive change in my life than I ever could have had I simply fought and struggled against another person ..

It is somewhat like the martial arts approach of using the force of one's physicality to aid you, rather than to cause you pain ..

As with anything, this approach takes patience and fortitude and taking the long view .. but done correctly, it can bring about much peace and satisfaction and actually, in a win-win way of looking at things, this kind of way of being in the world even helps the person who you are exercising the restraint and the “utilizing of energy” that I’m advocating, because it allows the space for their hearts to open and heal as well ..

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can

The happiness of loving makes the pain of separation worthwhile .. as someone just told me .. and so I reflect on this reality as I consider the complex and nuanced world of caring for children who are not biologically my own .. and yet they are creatures whom I love and feel just as fatherly towards as my own children .. such an interesting journey .. if being a parent is a thankless job, what is being a step-parent?  However, that is not the positive way to frame it .. truly, being a parent is a wonderfully rich, rewarding experience, as well as challenging, scary, sometimes confusing and often humbling .. and so I suppose there is no difference between “step” and “real” parenting, save for the bittersweet reality that the children are not “truly” yours and at any moment, they could be gone .. or they could pull the “parent” card and tell you that you’re not allowed to tell them what to do or that their “real” father or mother wouldn’t do something the way you’re doing it .. thus, it’s an excellent opportunity to be present and selfless .. to give just to give and because it’s what you want to do, and let the relationships be what they will be .. do not expect, do not attach, and do not take anything personally .. seems fairly similar to how one ought to live life itself .. 

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like  it on Facebook!

Lately life feels strange .. unknown .. I have written about this before, but it is always just as powerful when it happens .. that is, the newness of dreams coming true .. we get so used to things being a certain way and even though we yearn for something new, when it begins to unfold it feels odd, and uncomfortable .. and almost melancholy .. I have always maintained that, for whatever reason, it is easier to fail than to succeed .. to be unhappy and complaining than to have what we really want .. the tension of desire is strong, and sometimes it can outweigh the simplicity of attainment ..

As I move through this new reality, I know that at some point it will be my accustomed comfort zone and I will hardly remember getting used to it .. just as we went from crawling to walking .. to riding a tricycle to riding a bike .. from one plateau to another, we continue to evolve and manifest unique experiences that are what life is all about .. breathe in the fresh air of your magically-created day .. trust that it is what you are ready for and, more importantly, what you deserve .. 

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com . You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like it on Facebook!

It seems easier sometimes to focus on what didn’t go well rather than what did ..  how we weren’t able to meet a particular goal .. or rise to a particular challenge .. it’s harder to celebrate what did work .. what we were able to accomplish .. what was good .. I don’t exactly understand why it seems easier for us to focus on what isn’t there rather than what is, but it’s really up to us to frame things however we want .. the glass is as half full if we want it to be .. we can tell ourselves whatever story we wish ..

And the word celebrate – what a great word ..  we ought to do more of that, in our every day and every moment existence .. daring to celebrate learning something new at work .. or talking in a kinder way to someone who tries our patience .. or bringing some kind of adventure to our lives .. or opening our hearts to another person .. we don’t have to wait for the huge things to occur .. anything we decide can be cause for celebration .. from the amazing to the mundane ..

Pop the champagne and toast to your own reunion .. celebrate the miracle that is you being you, growing, learning, striving .. always, always, always getting closer to the Divine .. 

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com . You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration , and like it on Facebook!

Today, like every day, is a new page to write upon .. a blank canvas to paint our lives .. whatever we went to sleep with, we can wake anew, refreshed, rejoicing in the miracle of life and the infinite possibilities within every moment .. a new way to react to someone .. a new way to look at something .. a new way to decide to go .. a new way to frame a challenge .. we are ever changing, ever growing, second by second, moment by moment .. and so, arise to the belief that your pen is mightier than the past and you can use it to create your own story, devoid of the past and the regrets and the worry and the decisions about this or that .. arise to the newness .. arise to the Higher Self calling to you, offering the refreshed, open book, with chapters yet written .. with the ending still evolving .. write, and write, and write some more .. fill the pages with you, with your heart, with your desires .. with your truth .. and then make it so .. 

Joshua Rich is a divinely gifted, self-taught pianist , composer and performer. You can sample all of his inspirational, healing and upbeat music for all ages at www.joshuarich.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshuarich. And please take a moment to enjoy his Morning Inspiration, and like it on Facebook!