To do your best is to be present.

I always start from the idea that either the Divine is everything or it is nothing (or, sometimes, it is both, but we’ll let that alone for now). If the Divine is everything, then you are a part of the Divine; what you are reading this on is a part of the Divine; your pets are part of the Divine; and every single person with whom you interact with today is a part of the Divine. Every single thing is a cell in the body Divine, if you will.

In order to stand in your Divine power, all you need to do is your best, a measurement that will change from moment to moment. It would be unreasonable to expect you to do more than your best, and when we do our best, we are completely present. The Now is where the Divine exists, because it is the only moment that actually exists. Everything else is in your mind, whether it is a story you’ve made up about what’s going to happen in the future, or a memory you hold in your mind from the past. The only reason we ever don’t do our best is because we aren’t present – we are stuck in the past or the future. Be here, now.

When we don’t allow ourselves to be present, we turn away from the Divine. Not just from the external concept of the Divine, but also from our own Divinity. We shut off our access to a limitless supply of energy; we disempower ourselves. We buy into the lie that we aren’t enough. But if you are a cell in the body Divine, and you are doing your best, how can you possibly be not enough?

This is not to say that we shouldn’t strive to stretch our limits, to grow. Growth is Divine. Expansion is Divine. Of course, so is contraction, which means that when your best is less than it was before, this is still right and good. Thinking that you should be anything other than what you are in this moment is to not be present, and therefore to turn away from the Divine. Now is the only moment that exists. What you can do right now is all you can do. Don’t get distracted by what was or what could be, or, worse yet, what someone else told you should be. Be here. Now. Do what is front of you. Be present to the task.

When you evaluate yourself, ask what you did to the best of your ability, where you were able to grow, and where you weren’t able to be present. Ask yourself how you can change your ability to be present and in acceptance of what is. These things are all the measuring stick you will ever need.