By: Gabriela Yareliz
One of the lessons I have been learning and processing is this idea of guarding our hearts and minds. In spirituality, we often just think about this as it relates to purity, but I think that in this day and age that we live in, as we see more and more people choose evil over righteousness, it’s so easy to be affected by all of this evil that surrounds us.
The news, politics, people’s horrendous actions without consequences– it all feels so overwhelming, at times. It can create in us a lot of judgment, trigger trauma, and it can make us cynical.
“Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything,” Stephen Colbert once said.
I realize that I have, at times, allowed other’s frantic energy and pessimism sort of seep into my day-to-day. It can really affect us. And this is where this idea of guarding our hearts and minds comes in. It’s not that we ignore what is happening around us. In fact, we must approach it with compassion and empathy. But by the same measure, I loved what Gabby Bernstein said in one of her talks, which was that our greatest contribution to the world is to show up with light and positivity.
We need to take time to elevate ourselves, so we can elevate one another. We cannot just plunge each other deeper into the despair and hopelessness the world offers.
I truly agree. It’s not selfish to guard your heart, mind and energy. It’s actually the only way you can be a force for good and change in the world.
One of my good friends, Martha, says we can’t crash the ambulance. If we want to elevate, be a light and reflect God to the world, then that will require us to deeply and intentionally invest in hope and positivity.
May we stay focused on Him who can keep us in perfect peace. Only He can guard our hearts and minds. This surrender to God’s guidance is the greatest contribution we can give our neighbors, our children, our partners– the world.
Happy New Year!
GABRIELA YARELIZ 
We can’t crash the ambulance. Beautifully said. Some days I start off with lot of positivity and optimism. But the biggest challenge is to deal with negativity and cynicism of some people around me. I observe a close correlation. When I am feeling strong, optimistic and energized, I tend to attract negative people more and more. It feels like these people somehow sense the source and promptly turn up to drain me. I don’t know how to protect myself from this.
I hope that you can continue your journey and keep choosing joy for yourself, setting boundaries and as it sounds you already do, elevating your spirit intentionally, each day. Our intentionality makes such a difference. Keep being a light!