My home is very conducive to meditation and reflection. I have several private meditation areas and coffeehouse style seating beneath wall to wall bookshelves. I have a most interesting selection of books, tapes and cds by all the old/traditional and new/popular teachers and it's a very quiet, pleasant setting for contemplation and study.

A good friend last year said to me that she wished she had her own private meditation area in the home she shared with her husband and two teenagers. There wasn't enough space, she said, to let her claim an entire room for herself.

Upon considering her living space with new eyes, we discovered we could convert the small walk-in closet in her bedroom into a private room, and we purchased an affordable wardrobe closet to place at one end of their long bedroom to accommodate their clothes and shoes. Problem solved!

This worked well for a few months and then, she said, she stopped finding the time to go into her private retreat space. She felt guilty taking time away from the family to be alone to read, and as you can guess, she spent less and less time in meditation and spiritual study, and was soon back to her former frazzled self.

We spoke recently and she again remarked how perfect a place I have for meditation and reflection. I asked her what was the difference between my place and the space we'd created for her in her home. She said, at my place, she wasn't thinking about who was in the other room doing what and when she was home, she couldn't stop thinking she should be doing something "useful" instead.

So, I said, the only difference was what she was thinking? Hmmmm. I asked her what thoughts came to mind as she sat for meditation in my home. She said, " What a serene place. How quiet and peaceful, how sacred-seeming. Even outside sounds seem to slip away as I focus on the soft lighting, the pictures and images of teachers of all traditions, the breeze of the fan, the smell of the incense. Soft music plays in another room and the candlight flickers, inviting my attention. For a moment, thought seems to stop and I find myself feeling more relaxed and content than in a long time, and I feel alive and important ."

"Good answer!" I thought. I asked her to go back into her meditation area that night and try thinking those thoughts instead - just do a 20 minute test run and report back to me. She called later and was excited, it had worked for her, and she was inspired to reclaim her space and try again. Although she and I talk all the time about changing our thoughts to change our experience, she said this was the first time that she actually experienced it. On purpose!

I told her that was what affirmations are all about. Affirming what you'd like to experience, and considering how it would feel if it were so. I do some form of that every day.

I wake up when I want to and drink morning tea looking into my east garden and woods, listening to birds greet the day. I live in paradise and every window I look out of is onto woods and gardens, without another house in sight. I get to work when I want to, doing what I love to do, with people I love to be with. I have plenty of time to write and create and do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I'm happy with how my time is spent, I'm happy with my income, I'm dedicated to ongoing ventures, I'm excited about new projects, I feel lucky and good things happen to me.