A friend of mine, Martin Rutte who co-wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work contributed to my new book The LifeQuake Phenomenon. One of his pet projects is a foundation he calls Project Heaven on Earth. One of the steps is to think back on a time when you experienced heaven on earth. Allow your body to fully remember what that felt like. I was feeling a little low today so I decided to think about that and what came to me when I did this exercise today was my wedding day. Now, what is interesting to me about that is I am now divorced and have been for a number of years. I married young and outgrew the relationship after 8 years.

Although it ended painfully, my mind chose to remember this particular day when I was very happy and in love. So often, when things end in our lives we forget there was a time when we did have a piece of heaven. Inherent in the disintegration of something that is no longer viable is chaos. The stress of life being out of our control can lead us to react as though we were now in hell not heaven. So, how do you create heaven inside whatever chaos is going on in your life today?

Begin by training your mind to look for evidence of heaven. Where is the heaven in your relationships? Where is the heaven in your job search if you’ve lost your job? Where is the heaven in your body if you are confronting catastrophic illness? If we look for evidence to support that life has gone to hell in a hand basket, we will find it. If we look for evidence that there is grace, we will find it. Once you have found the evidence for heaven on earth in your life, repeat the affirmation, ” I am living heaven on earth now.” Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Dr. Toni Galardi is a licensed psychotherapist, public speaker and author. She can be reached through her website, http:www.LifeQuake.net or her office at 310-712-2600 and is on twitter.com/lifequake and facebook.