Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.
Are you feeling stuck? Just can't seem to get the traction you need to break through to the next level? Many times we get that feeling because, in truth, we feel we're not worthy. We're not worthy of all the attention or accolades we've received thus far, or of all the challenges and hardships we've had to endure along the way.
The reason for this is because we've based our sense of worthiness on the past. The only place we should base or worthiness on is the future. That's where our life is. That's where our truth is, not the past. What we have done is unimportant compared to what we are about to do and the mistakes of the past are insignificant compared to what we are about to create.
We've all come a long way in the last number of years and the problem is not that we've changed or that our values have changed, the problem arises when so many of us insist on thinking that the values we now have (since we started awakening) are the right and perfect ones, and that everyone else should agree with, or adhere to them. This sometimes makes us feel a bit self-justified or self-righteous.
Don't get me wrong here, it's great to have adopted new beliefs that serve you, in fact, hold on to them, for those ideas about "right" and "wrong" are your definitions of who you are. But don't require that others define themselves according to your terms, and don't stay so "stuck" in your present beliefs and customs that you halt the very process of your own evolution.
For example: If I believed something to be true on Monday but was presented with incontrovertible evidence on Tuesday that my belief was no longer valid, yet I continued to steadfastly believe in my previous belief on Wednesday, then I would become stuck and bring my evolutionary process to a screeching halt.
Actually you could never really do this because life goes on with, or without you. Nothing ever remains the same or stays unchanged. For something to be unchanged it means it has not moved, and to not move is to die.
All life is motion, even rocks are filled with motion at the microscopic level. Everything moves. Everything. There's nothing that's not in motion and therefore, by the very act of motion, nothing is the same from one moment to the next. Nothing.
Remaining the same then, or wanting to, causes "stuckness" and moves against the laws of the Universe, the laws of life itself. And in this struggle, life will always win.
You know what to do, so do it.
You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
Bye for now!

Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.
Awaken to the power of "You."
Have you ever given thought to just how powerful you really are? How easy you make this whole "living on earth thing" look? First of all you need to make sure you understand this one concept: You are a Soul in a body, not a body with a Soul. You are part of an infinite energy field and can never die because energy can never be destroyed only transformed.
Many things have happened throughout history to bring us to this very moment in time. A moment where the time has come for those of us that are "awake" to awaken the rest. "But what is this awakening thing people talk about and how do I get it?" you may ask. Therein lies the rub, you can't "get" it. It's something that you just start to intuitively feel. A feeling that makes you wonder "What's all the fuss about?"
While others are busily trying to solve problems and figure everything out, you're not. While everyone else is striving to arrive, you're not. While others are running from their life, in this very moment, to try to get there, you're not. You start to move with the flow of life itself instead of trying to resist it or carve your niche into it. You realize, in the truth of your being, that you are the totality of the Universe in human form.
Now this may sound very "out there" to some of you, but the ones who understand this know who they are and it's for them that I write this. It's not that there's a "special club" that you need to join (if you thought that you're still asleep!) it's the exact opposite, you just need to "be." Be you, down to your very core. Not, this fake, false self we have created and identify with in order to satisfy society.
Now the real reason you need to awaken is so you can awaken others. Awakening others will not happen by chance, but as an intended effect of all those who embrace their personal evolution. The way you will do this is by allowing your personal growth and your struggles to be on display, to be modeled publicly.
By allowing your personal evolutionary process to be observed by others, it can become a means by which the evolutionary process of all humanity is advanced. But let's be perfectly clear, this is not about walking around declaring yourself to be the model of perfection or evolutionary excellence. This is about simply not hiding your personal choices, and presenting yourself authentically to the world with regard to both your struggles and your progress as you continually seek to fully awaken.
"Why do we even need to awaken?" you ask. Because the time we have left on this planet is perilously short if we don't start to evolve. I'm not talking about switching to electric cars or using solar power here, I'm talking about the evolution of our species. To become higher evolved beings where we treat everyone with love and compassion and expect nothing in return for doing that.
This will lead to fundamental changes in our society and technological advances that will help, not hinder us. Once we are free to evolve and concentrate on loving others instead of competing, the world will be changed forever. Or not. It's your choice, you see.
Are you ready to join me and awaken others? I hope you are because once one of us is awake, we can awaken another, and then we can awaken our brother. And soon together we can cause such a fuss, we will awaken the rest of us.
You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
Bye for now!

Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.
The power of positive thinking. I was standing in my driveway yesterday talking with a neighbour when a friend of mine drove by on the way to show the home next door that's for sale. My friend is a Realtor and since I spent numerous years as a Realtor too, it was a pleasure to see him bring clients by to show the home next door. I quickly walked over to warn his clients about their choice of Realtors and we all had a good laugh. You see, it would be extremely hard to find a genuinely nicer, more humble man than my friend James (I'll call him James here). James promised to stop by my home when the showing was over, and so he did.
The last time I had talked with James, over a year ago - man how time flies - he was in the middle of a wonderful relationship. Apparently, things had not gone well since the last time we spoke and his relationship had disintegrated. James, after experiencing terrible lows, was now bursting with joy! He mentioned he was following me on Facebook and loved all the messages I was sending out and had decided to adopt a positive outlook to erase all the doom and gloom he had been feeling. He continued to think positive thoughts and focused on himself to remember who he was, and just when he wasn't paying attention, someone new came into his life.
James went on to tell me about so many coincidences, serendipities, and unexplained phenomena that kept happening in his life. I reminded him that there is no such thing as coincidence and that all that was happening because he had adopted such a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA).
You may not feel positive thinking alone can have that much affect, in fact you may even dismiss some of these folks as Pollyannas and little more. But many things are happening to you when you decide to adopt a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). In many cases you've stopped watching the nightly news, you have little time for, or give little thought to, the Negative Mental Attitude (NMA) thinking of co-workers, family members, or friends, not that you ignore them - you just don't allow their NMA to affect your PMA.
Once you adopt a PMA and also the belief that good things will happen to you because you have adopted this new attitude, changes begin to appear. Your perception of others and therefore how we perceive the whole world is altered, and if we change our perception, everything else changes. This leads to thoughts of love and harmony, that leads to love and harmony returning to you. Thoughts become things remember.
But its more than that. Its a "feeling." A feeling that rings true inside you that lets you know that you're on the right track. It's all about the feeling folks. We're emotional beings and all our time in physical form is spent trying to attain an acceptable feeling. It's the pleasure vs pain syndrome that cause so much devastation, but also creation in our lives. You see, our brains are wired to detect negativity, since that is an important function for basic survival, so we easily take in and adopt this never ending cycle of negativity that we're exposed to every day. The media, of course, is of no help because it knows this too and continues to bombard us with all the "bad" stuff thats happening around us everyday just to sell advertising. Truth be told, statistics tell us that this is the safest time ever to be a human being on this planet.
The way we think is the way we feel, the way we feel is the way we act, and the way we act gives us the results we get in our lives. So one can plainly see that if we start thinking differently, we will feel differently, which will allow us to act and receive differently. Simple eh? It's not rocket science folks.
This also opens up the idea of service. What happens when we are of service to others from a place of love, is that we are actually serving ourselves as well. Many of us think of service as great feats, sacrifices, or large philanthropic donations, and while it is those things, it can also be much more accessible in our daily lives. Being of service to others is simply realizing what you do best in any given moment and offering that as a gift to someone else. For instance, today it could be as simple as a warm smile to brighten someone's day. Giving can be just that simple. I'm reminded of a wonderful quote from Martin Luther King Jr.:
"Anyone can be great, because anyone can serve."
A life of love, happiness, and abundance then, can be started with something as simple as positive thought that made us "feel" better.
Your mission this weekend, should you decide to accept it, is to displace some of that NMA with a PMA. Do this all weekend and by Monday you'll already start to "feel" the difference.
You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
Bye for now!

Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.

In last weeks blog post I talked about the Soul's desire and that it's ok to desire earthly items that brings joy as well.
Enter the new love in my life. Her name is Merlot. I purchased her on June 10th and this is the first public pictures of her. She is a 2003 BMW Z4 roadster. She's not perfect, but what is? I love her just the way she is.

You see, I've always been a car guy and have owned everything from Pontiacs to Porsches (I am a Mechanic after all!). But I've never owned a convertible, much less a two seat roadster version. The minute I drove her I knew she and I had a connection.

So why would I spend time and money on a material object when I preach that you have all you need within you and all you need to do is just be? Because I asked myself, asked my soul really, "What do you want?" Of course a two seat convertible sports car was the first thing that popped into my mind. I realized though that was my mind talking, not my Soul so I put my hand over my heart, breathed deeply and asked again, "What do you want?" "To love and serve others. To help them awaken and remember who and what they truly are," came forth from the depths of my Soul. I knew this time it was my Soul talking. "OK, so is it reasonable to want a sports car?" I asked. "What ever brings the joy within you out into the world," is the message I received back.

You may find it strange to have a conversation with your Soul, but you should try it some time. You just need to ask, be still and wait for an answer. You'll know when it rings true to you who's doing the talking. So then I asked my mind why on earth would I want a sports car again, because I've had a few before. The answer that came back to me was "To feel the freedom." But I felt this answer more in my chest so I knew it was my Soul talking again.

To feel the freedom. Of course! That's why I desire this car. To be able to put the top down and drive on a twisty back road, to me, is almost like meditation, and it frees me from all earthly responsibility for and hour or two at a time.
You see, "Desire" exists in the Soul. In fact, a great one word definition of the Soul would be "Desire."

Desire is the creator of "Intention" and Intention is the creator of "Thought," Thought is the creator of "Action," and Action gives us the results we get in our lives. Without "Desire" the very Universe could not exist.

So, if the human part of me "Desires" freedom and I get a sense of that when I drive Merlot, then this will turn into more creative thought patterns that will in turn help me with the creative action I need to help others.

Does this sound like justification for buying Merlot? You bet it is! But I truly do get a profound sense of freedom when I drive her, and the joy within is released, which is definitely a good thing. Now, this is not a prescription to go out and buy a convertible sports car just because I did, but if you do, just make sure it rings true with your Soul.
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You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
Bye for now!

Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.

Just the other day I was thinking of all the blessings that have come into my life and of all the other things, places and events I still want to manifest into my life. When we talk about manifestation, most of us think about a better car, home, or partner. But when you're able to get in touch with the desires of your Soul, your true Self, they will bring you closer to your spiritual aspirations of greater love, joy, inspiration, and spiritual freedom.

Your Soul is always trying to communicate with you, albeit in very subtle ways. It wants to experience all your human emotions and help guide you to becoming your highest divine Self. But how about all those better cars, homes, and partners. Just because we desire those things in our lives, does that make those manifestations any less worthy of our attention? Many religions would have us believe that we can only be close to God when we have no possessions what so ever. So what gives?

Here's my take on it. Our highest true self, our Soul, is God. Therefore we are a piece of the divine as well. We are a piece of God. In fact we are God. There's no other way to say it. We must be like what we came from, right? There is only one. All races, creeds, colours, earthly life forms, alien life forms - everything in all the Universes is all, "Us." When we kill, we kill ourselves. When we love, we love ourselves.

So how could it be so terribly wrong to desire earthly pleasures while here on this planet? It's not! The secret is to desire that which gives you joy, not happiness, but joy. Happiness is fleeting, and comes and goes depending on our outlook to what is currently happening to us. Joy, on the other hand, comes from the Soul. If that better car gives you joy while driving it and in ownership of it, go for it.

As long as you don't harm anyone else or become judgmental of others in the process (remember, we're all one, right), then what stirs your Soul, and allows the joy already inside you to come forth, in my opinion, is a good thing. Remembering of course that all earthly manifestations are only temporary and we will leave them all behind soon enough. We came into this world with "no-things" and we will leave the same way.

While all those earthly possessions we manifest while here may serve us, remember that when we get closer to our divine selves, our Soul, they will start to mean less and less. You'll discover that perhaps that better car, home, or partner really isn't necessary after all. You are God remember, and there's so much more to experience once we leave this world and return home.

You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic, and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
Bye for now!

Hello everyone! Mike Arend here founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book, "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.
Spirituality. It can mean so many things to so many different people. Not all that long ago it just meant being religious, worshiping God or the Spirit meant you were spiritual. Oh, there were those that preached that spirituality was not "worshiping" anything, and that it meant a union with everything around us, but these folks were usually written off as heretics or lunatics.
Flash forward to today, and I believe we have made leaps and bounds in just the last ten years in terms of the general public moving away from the age old definition of being spiritual, and moving toward what many spiritual teachers and wisdom traditions have taught for thousands of years. You can hardly go anywhere, talk to anyone or watch anything without someone remarking, "That's the way the Universe works. I just have to do my part and let the Universe do the rest." It's becoming more and more common place and I hear it a lot from the younger crowd too, which of course is a very good thing.
Yes, times are changing and we're right on schedule to help save humanity from certain destruction. If I were to try to nail down what spirituality means to me, it would sound something like this:
"Living in constant love and gratitude."
Pretty simple, eh? If we could learn to see others and the world with the vision of gratitude and love, so much in the world would shift for the better. I call this "seeing with the Soul," because when your deepest self recognizes itself in another person, it experiences love. When your true self sees itself in another object, it experiences beauty.
When we see with the eyes of the Soul, we find pure Self everywhere.
Your job this weekend, should you decide to accept it, is to look at others as you are out and about and say to yourself, "That's me!" Say that when looking at the beautiful, the not so good looking, the fat, the thin, the weird ones, the downtrodden, and accept the fact that in essence we are all from the same energy source, we are all one, and in fact there is only one.
You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
Bye for now!

Hello everyone! Mike Arend here founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book, "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.

As we move through life and things and events take place, it's natural to wonder "how" this is all happening. Are we actually doing anything, or are we just being done by something we'll never understand?

If you're looking for a scientific answer you'll be looking a long time. Oh, eventually science will come to the same conclusion that you already have. Yup, that's right, you already know the answer. You just need to remember, and you will when you leave the physical realm and "re-member" with the realm of the absolute. Although there's limited space within this blog, I'll try to jog your memory here. Are you ready to re-member? Good.

There is a "process" behind everything (one I will write about in an up-coming book!), and this process is responsible for everything that has been created, is being created, and will ever be created. This is where you fit in because as you know, you are a creator. In fact, you are both the creator and the created.

Like it or not, you are always creating your life. Whether you create it consciously or unconsciously (as many of us do), you are creating it, and that means you are 100% responsible for everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen in your life (there goes all your excuses!). In other words, whether you are causing things and events to happen or sitting back and allowing things and events to happen, you, yup little old you, are creating everything.

You see, we are surrounded by energy (indeed we are this energy), and when we impart our thought, which is energy, upon this energy field, we start to form an image of what we are thinking about. The longer you think about it or imagine it (and the more of us that imagine it), the more physical the energy becomes. Until finally all this increased energy literally bursts into an image of itself onto what we call reality. This is in essence "the process" or the mechanics of the Universe. I like to call it "Soul Mechanics." Catchy huh?

So you can plainly see that even if you are not trying to create or believe that you don't have the power to create, you're doing it all the time with the thoughts you think. Which turn into words, which turn into actions, which turns into the things and events of your life. Thoughts become things, re-member?

So, are we doing anything or are we just being done by some outside force? Actually it's both because we "Are" the energy that is doing all of this. From typing a blog, to creating stars and planets, we "Are" this energy. Which means we are all one.

"Hello brothers and sisters!; have yourself a wonderful day!"

You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
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Bye for now!

Hello everyone! Mike Arend here founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book, "You're The One - An Adventure Into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.

Success, we all describe it differently. However, what I've found on my journey is that the success that is portrayed in movies, on T.V. and so often in the business and sports worlds, is often very fleeting and only lasts in the moment.
You see, the very need for success is fueled by our desires. This desire to grow and evolve is inherent in every living thing on this planet and we're no different. We are compelled to evolve and grow just as the tree must continue to grow, blossom, and become the greatest tree it can.

The success I talked about earlier is really nothing more than ego gratification at it's finest because it is being defined by things that are external to us. We want something so bad that we're willing to crush any and all living things (including our inner self) to obtain what we set out to achieve. If we actually are successful in our ego driven endeavours, then the pinnacle of our achievement is only felt the moment it's achieved. Often times, the next day or even the next hour, we're actively searching for something to fill this insatiable void of ego driven success, no matter how big the prize we just achieved. Leading to always feeling unfulfilled, unhappy, and empty.

When gratitude guides our thoughts and actions however, our success is internal and will be fulfilling and meaningful. This type of success is different from the ego-driven success that seeks to hold, control, and keep the object of desire as a way to feel better about itself.

True success comes from inner fulfillment and with every success comes the desire for more. This desire to fulfill oneself, to become the greatest version of you that you can, is totally normal, natural, and not fed by the ego. In fact, the Universe is infinitely abundant and it waits to give you more when you ask for it. This is the type of success that society often overlooks.

What saves us from falling into the ego trap is to accept every gift that is given to us in life with humility and gratitude. Contrary to many peoples beliefs (and this is a biggie), it's not spiritual to shun external rewards as if it was proof that you're better or more holy than the next person (this in itself is an act of the ego!). In fact, accepting external rewards can be a sign that you're connected to your Source that wants nothing but the best possible life for you.

What we really want to avoid is the ego stepping into the picture and taking credit for all the good things in our lives. It's gratitude and grace that is responsible for our abundance, not the ego with it's selfish, anxious struggle.

"How can we tell the difference?" you ask. The difference comes down to fulfillment. If any good thing comes to you and you want to grab it, hold it, and feel triumphant, that's your ego. If instead you feel gratitude and warmth of the heart that these things have come to you, thats gratitude, the source of success that lasts a lifetime.

Ego gratification is temporary. Once it fades, and it always does, the only tactic the ego knows is to ask for more, and more, and more. Without external stimulation the ego feels completely hollow.

Gratitude, an the other hand, aligns your attention to the support of nature. You accept a deeper truth that success has always been present and all that happens on the surface is an unfolding of what was there beneath the surface all the time. This type of gratitude, that connects you to your Source, is totally life sustaining. It allows you to experience a life that just gets better year after year.

In other words, true success!

You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
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Bye for now!

Hello everyone! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book "You're The One - An Adventure into Truth" and, the Soul Mechanic.

We're all the same. I know that's a bold statement, and a bit hypocritical because I've also recently stated that we're all unique. But as unique as we are, we all come from the same Energy Source and we all want the same basic things.
What I've found on my journey so far is that regardless of who we are, or where we live, we all want the same three things, and here they are:

Do you see me? Do you hear me? Do I matter?

As humans we are a social species. We have to be because we need each other to survive and procreate. With this it's only natural to desire some form of appreciation from our fellow humans. So we want to be acknowledged and we want to contribute, but the last one is the biggie.

Do I matter? This one, is of course, a matter of our own perception, yet we know it intrinsically when we matter to others. The way they talk to us, look at us, and treat us gives us a big indication. Unfortunately in today's world 99% of us are glued to the screens on our phones and this communication of "you matter" gets extremely dulled. I heard an amazing stat yesterday, if you live in a major city and you take public transit and don't stare at your phone while underway you are 1% of the ridership. That means that 99% of all people on the buses, trains and subways are staring at their phones instead of communicating with their fellow humans. Incredible!

Of course you DO matter because you came here to continue in your Soul's evolution and although we can't see it, we are intricately woven into the tapestry of all the other lives here on Earth. However, that doesn't mean that sometimes we can't start to feel lost, as if we don't matter.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

Gandhi said that, and I've found it works every time. Yes of course I've felt lost too, and when I do I know I need to immerse myself into the service to others. It doesn't matter how small, sometimes a smile is all it takes to remember who you truly are and why you're here.

You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance. Now, and always.
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Bye for now!

Hello everyone! Mike Arend here, founder of Infinite Success Academy, author of the soon to be released book, "You're The One" and, the Soul Mechanic.

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with."

A lot of people talk about our "true self" or our "false self." Exactly what does all this stuff mean anyway? "I'm alive and here on this earth, so I must be true." you're thinking. "How can I be false?"

Well, the answer is a bit more complex than that and in true spiritual fashion a lot of wisdom traditions and spiritual teachers seem to keep things a bit mystical and therefore more cryptic. I'll try to explain these things a bit more simply because hey, I'm a simple guy.

First of all we have to stop thinking so literally and trying to put everything into a physical perspective. I know we live in a physical world, but there's lots going on around us that we can't detect that is not of this physical realm, but of the realm of the absolute, heaven, or space if you prefer.

Now, 99.9% of people, even atheists, agree that some sort of higher power exists. Your "true self" then, is not something we created or will create while here on this earth. It was created by god, the Universe, source energy, or what ever you want to call your idea of a higher power.

It is the "self" we are in our depths, at our core. Our Soul, if you will. It is our capacity for divinity, meaning love, compassion, and joy. It is our ability to transcend this physical realm and contemplate our real home, which is the realm of the absolute.

Your "false self" is the person you've created. It's that voice in your head that doesn't allow you to trust others. Otherwise known as the "ego." That competitive, ambitious voice that says you must win at all costs. It's who you think you are - for example your job. We often say "I am a ..., whatever your job happens to be, but you're not that at your core. Your false self has just convinced you that you are that as a form of protection from invisible and nonexistent enemies.
Your false self goes on to convince you that you are what you own, you are what you drive, you are what you wear, you are what others think of you, and it goes on and on. Of course we are none of those things, we just are identifying with them. And if you look at all those who do this, they are often the loneliest people you know even though they seemingly possess so much.

Once you realize what, and who your true self is, you will be able to be fulfilled from within, not from without. You see, this whole mumbo jumbo spiritual journey is not a journey at all. It's a discovery, no, a "remembering" of who you truly are.

Remembering who you truly are is your purpose in life, all the rest is just fluff. It's what your Soul longs to do. As soon as we're born we're really all on a return trip, a one way ticket home. To the realm of the absolute. From which we all came.
So make the best of your short stay here on this marvelous planet we call Earth. Explore, smell, taste and drink this world in. Treat people with kindness and compassion and love your fellow Souls while here.
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Just remember who you truly are because once you know that, you will have realized your true creative powers and will never be lonely again.

You've been listening to the Soul Mechanic and it's been my absolute pleasure to serve you. Sending you Love, Happiness, and Abundance.

Now, and always.