We are all made to be the power and the expression of universal love through the human experience. We are made of love substance. And there is a pattern that allows that love to come through clearly in the human experience. That pattern is the truth for any individual. The truth for humanity as a whole is that pattern that allows universal love to come through the human race clearly. Truth has the elements of design and control, so love moving through that kind of pattern creates life.

Here is a formula that expresses this reality: A + B = C. In this formula, A is the power of universal love in the human experience. B is the pattern that includes the controlling factors in consciousness in the human experience, and C is the life experience that a person actually has.

A is a constant—the power of universal love is moving through us. We don’t have to create it and we can’t stop it. It is what animates us; it is what animates everything. And C is a known quantity. We are familiar with our life experience day-to-day, and we can know what we desire in our life experience. The art of living is to solve this simple algebraic equation in which A is the constant and C is the known. Solve for B! Algebraically, C is the sum of A and B, so if you subtract A from C, the result is B.

In life, here is the question to ask to solve for B: What pattern of thinking, feeling and acting (B) lets universal love create a happy and fulfilling life? That is the truth for you. And what would your life experience (C) be like if B were the design and control of the universe? It is such a personal experience to examine your own life and your own patterns of beliefs and behavior that are creating your experience. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. It certainly doesn’t lead to happiness if A plus B is not adding up.

I know the experience of life I am having has a lot to do with the choice I make to transform what is happening in B. And I have watched the choices other people make and where it leads them. I met a young man who had tremendous physical limitations and knew that he was not going to have a long life. He was physically uncomfortable and needed help with the simplest of activities. But he would not let that stop A (universal love) from inspiring C (his life expression) in a clear, radiant way. The experience of C in his presence was glorious. And the B part of the equation (what he chose to think, feel and do)was not dictated by his circumstances. He felt the privilege of having direct connection with the universal power of love and decided to bring it on earth. How he chose to live his life was so inspiring to all of us who knew him. His example invited people to know this formula: A plus B equals C.

We can use our intelligence and our strength to address any stuck patterns of belief, emotion or behavior that we have. We have the choice to face any worn-out ways in which we have thought life should be moving through our capacities. We can rethink how someone else taught us to be, so that we would do the appropriate thing in their eyes. There are many factors that go into the B part of the equation—patterns we have learned, ideas that we think are spiritual. “You don’t look spiritual if…” I gave up on that one because I figured out quickly that who I am was not capable of moving through what I had put in the position of B. The beliefs and behaviors I thought were appropriate for me as a person were stopping almost all my joy, all my creative capacity.

So we all have the opportunity to solve for B. Take a look at C. Measure the joy and creativity level in your life (C) and realize that you can change B to increase it. We are made to be able to do that. The universe makes our next step available to us so that we can change our experience of life.