It has been a long time since I last found a feather. This was my thought the other night as I did some updating work on thedailygace.com. Have I simply not been paying attention? I wondered.

But that doesn’t seem a very plausible explanation, since I never really look for them. Instead, feathers just seem to appear in my world, particularly when I need a little encouragement.

The very next morning I opened my inbox to find a note from Oprah Winfrey, sent, no doubt, to the thousands of us who have emailed her since that final Oprah show. (I had sent her a photo last summer of the joyful night I spent with Eliza and friends, just before they headed off to college. We gathered to watch that last show together and to talk about the life lessons Oprah shared as part of her goodbye.)

As I read the email, several lines stood out:

• Our journey is the same, though every circumstance is different.

• We are all on a quest for Wholeness that comes with fulfillment and Grace, and a connection to something GREATER than ourselves.

• Whatever challenges you’re facing, I know that your faith, resolve, and your Decision to get through whatever it is, is most important.

• You alone are responsible for transforming your life. Which ultimately means seeing yourself as a human vessel for experiencing a deeper spiritual essence as a Being here on earth.

• Every problem has a spiritual lesson. Get the lesson. Life gets better. Don’t get it. And the lessons get harder.

• Stop resisting what is. Either change it or find a way to move with the flow.

And then I get to this.

That is my new goal: to become what a Sufi teacher recently shared with me “A Feather on the Breath of God.” Flowing where I can best be used in service to my calling.

My feather, delivered as a New Year’s wish, from Oprah.

On this Day 30, I wish you great, great joy as you make your way into 2012. As my husband says about having a full tank of gas: Anything is possible.

30 Days of Joy