“Cultivation” is a word I woke up to when I saw that word reflected all over St. Albert. I thought about that for a very long while, then created eight cultivation challenges for the universe: 1) Be wholly principled. Start with understanding emotions, then integrate principles. Did we fail? Learn from that. Bad options all around? Dig deeper or make new ones. Learn what works or let it all go. Like and appreciate a particular success? Practice, grow, then habitualize. Tip: Experience love in full, and give love away while following heart. 2) Release the past by loving what is best about that past. This asks one to permit change, especially when it helps. Let everything else become water under the bridge of life. 3) Work to make good from bad via the application of integrity. 4) Serve. Those that recognize service always give thanks. 5) There may exist a subtlety which is missed by mathematics. In other words, the ‘feeling’ within a situation is subjective because of its relation to and impact upon that specific individual. 6) Believe in a universe where virtue persists; now imagine the steps to get there. 7) “Give your best!” in every situation. 8) Grow Harmony within oneself, and those in proximity. Peter Verhagen, St. Albert
