I noticed on your weekly message board you invited us to share any experiences we have had as they apply to the Universal Principles and wanted to share this with you:

I am a stay-at-home mother of a two-year-old son and we have made some really great memories. But it wasn't until recently that I realized that I didn't quite understand the "All that you see is you" concept until something rather interesting happened.

For some time, I found myself really struggling with my son's attempts at finding his independence, and no matter how creative I got, it still seemed that he would resist me -- every day, all day -- with his "temper tantrums." It was my reaction to those tantrums that really bothered me. However, because I could feel the frustration and impatience and anger inside me growing, and though they were never verbally expressed in front of him, I struggled with not wanting to feel that way ... wanting to choose love instead but never doing so. And I was continuing to "beat myself up" with thoughts like, "Good mothers are always patient," "It's not right to feel anything but love," all the while not quite understanding that this undercurrent of resistance with myself was being reflected right back at me.

The very next day, after we had our support group meeting and I had asked for support in consciousness to help me with my struggling, I got my insight. It had been an especially difficult day and feeling impatient and lost, I found myself in a "meltdown." And I call it a meltdown because that's what it literally felt like. All of the emotion I stuffed inside, all of the thoughts I had bottled up, came exploding out in this guttural outburst -- something I have never quite experienced before. And I just let them be. I didn't judge myself or the feelings I had -- they just were. And my son, who had been screaming because he didn't want to be in his car seat, stopped and waited. And we sat there just looking at each other -- both of us surprised and unsure of what had just happened. And then it came -- this indescribable, unshakeable, magical peace that overtook us both. This calmness and lightness that I became seemed to have crept into him too and enveloped us in the car. And my son, as he spoke to me, spoke calmly and quietly and seemed to be at peace with himself, as did I.

It wasn't until later, when I opened the gift from that moment, that I understood it's message. My son, wrapped in the Universe's wisdom, was simply no more than my mirror, and when I finally gave myself permission to feel and acknowledge what I was feeling and let it unfold without judgments, I opened myself up to receive the love of the Universe ... so that I could give it away. I could give love to myself, I could give love to my son, I could give love to everyone that I know now and to everyone I don't. By not loving that part of myself that was not loving, I kept me stuck there and the love couldn't flow. It couldn't flow in and it couldn't flow out.

So now, what are the temper tantrums like for me (yes, they're still there, though not as often or as dramatic)? I can only describe it this way -- they're loving. Somewhere between the beginning and the end, I find that feeling of peace that overtook me in the car that day and I become it. I become the Me that I always knew existed. Some days are easier than others, but I understand now that it's always about one step at a time. And it's always about coming back to me ... the Me that is that place of serenity. The Me that is a gift from my son.