Truthful principles can only act as agents of change for us when we choose to enact them. Their capacity to restore self-command, grant us a mind at peace, or deliver us from fearful dark states is only as great as our willingness to call upon their powers. That's why we must do the personal work it takes to put higher principles into practice.
Study the special lesson that follows closely. Welcome its insight by allowing the wisdom it contains to remind you of its corresponding part in your own consciousness. Little by little, but surely as the acorn becomes the oak, you will know and grow into its power.
Understand -- in spite of the highly polished performances to make you believe otherwise -- that everyone you meet suffers in much the same way as you do. No one wants others to know the weight of their unspoken pain. And yet, all are burdened with broken dreams, shattered hearts, and whatever other sorrow walks with them through their day.
Now have the courage to act on this knowledge: Refuse to ever again add to the pain of another, even a small measure of your own. Whatever suffering you agree to shoulder in this way not only helps to lighten the load of those in need, but also serves to awaken within you the strength you need to be a real "friend in deed." Your reward: the birth of a whole new kind of compassion that not only flowers when faced with the weakness of others, but whose fragrance helps heal all those who are touched by it. Always remember:
Your original Self cannot help but act from what is right, bright, and true any more than the sun has to remember to shine each day.