Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I know you are wondering about what us sad Jews do on a day like this. Don’t worry - we go to the movies and eat Chinese food! :)

There is a keyword I hear from clients all the time, and that is what they should or shouldn’t be eating or doing. We tend to "should all over ourselves."

The word “should” is a make-wrong word no matter how you say it. If you "should" get off the couch and exercise, and you don’t do it, you are wrong.

If you "shouldn’t" have eaten dessert at the restaurant last night, then you are wronging yourself for past actions.

Either way, it’s a negative word that puts you out of alignment with what you want to be experiencing. I want us to be very careful with the words we say because those words put out an energetic vibration and it gets mirrored back to us through our everyday experiences.

Take a moment to think that one through...

Negative thoughts, words, and actions put us in a place of feeling out of alignment with the Universe, with our goals and with life in general. Do you ever feel like the day is just knocking you around and beating you down? That’s what it feels like to be out of alignment. Notice what you wind up eating and/or drinking in order to feel comforted. It ain’t a salad.

I want to give you the tools to get yourself back in alignment with positive energy so you can go with the flow, change your stories, and have your plate reflect your inner state.

Out of Alignment = stressed, resentful, angry, anxious, victim role

In Alignment = calm, peaceful, present, grateful, powerful, open to what happens

Here are some steps you can take when you are out of alignment with your inner guide, the present moment and the miracles around you:

1. Recognize that your current state is negative.

2. Be willing to change your story.

3. Turn it around with gratitude.

Once you learn about being in alignment with all that you want, you aren’t going to stay there… you are human, after all! We tend to bounce in and out of alignment. The practice is recognizing where you are at each moment and working towards where you want to be!

Regardless of what comes up for you today, try to stay focused on all that you have. Be okay with it just as it is, knowing it is that way for a reason. Below are some mantras to help keep you in alignment:

• Just this, just now.
• All is well.
• Out of this, only good will come.
• I choose peace.
• I trust the Universe is guiding me.
• I love my life.
• Peace begins within me.

Ok, now you can go back to tolerating your family and pretending to like those cheap earrings your Aunt Meg got you for the holidays (they will turn your ears green but wear them anyway).