Real, lasting change happens from the inside out. This means that we have to let go of the idea that changing others is going to change our circumstances. We can spend an entire lifetime doing that without any success. Why do I know this? Well, because this is what I tried to do for most of my adult life until I got to the point that the pain was so deep that I decided to seek help. This is when I begun to understand the meaning of the phrase "your power lies within."

This is when I realized that for me to be happy I had to let go of my need to control others and allow them to have their own perception and preferences about life. This is when I got out of the vicious circle that I was in for all these years, doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. This is the definition of insanity.

The only way to change your results in any area of your life you have to be willing to change yourself instead of trying to change the externals. For example instead of making people wrong, you decide to have more compassion in your heart; instead of criticizing others, you invest your time changing the areas that need some tender loving care; instead of contradicting others or arguing, you decide to be accepting and know that other people have the right to have their own view of life. In other words, is all changing from the inside out.

I recently invited Barry Gotlieb, a great very successful leader, as a guest on my Thank God it's Monday call and he invited our community to avoid the 3 C's: Condemning, Criticizing and Complaining.

My invitation is that we turn inward to demonstrate the opposite of these behaviors, as follows:

• Empower yourself and others
• Praise with your words and actions
• Be Grateful for what you already have

Decide to be happy right now by demonstrating the divine joy that lives inside of you. From this space of love you will be able to touch the lives of many and create lasting change.

Affrim: "I live my life from inside out."

Gloria Ramirez