My interest in astrology was foreshadowed in my youth by a love of astronomy. I think that was foreshadowed by my love of science fiction. All three of those things, I love to this day. As a young man graduating high school, my mind was other places. It wasn’t until I was late into my studies in accounting that it occurred to me that I should’ve pursued a career in planetary astronomy. Of course now I know that I shouldn’t have done anything other than what I did. But when I was 20 years old and about to graduate, that thought stung because it seemed like I’d been foolish not to see what was right in front of me…

…the cosmos.

Without nerding you out too much, there has never been a more exciting time in the history of mankind to be a planetary astronomer. Thousands of worlds have been discovered by space telescopes. And the frequent occurrence of sightings of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) indicates that there are potentially 11 billion earth size planets that could be habitable. And that’s a fraction of the number of planets that are non-habitable out there.

Please bear with me. I really am going somewhere here.

Because of all of this, I watch a lot of documentaries on astronomy (Hi, Discovery+). I am fascinated and astonished at what is being discovered. But do you know what I am even more astonished by?

Just how incredibly intelligent a human being can be. Not just the astronomers, but also astronauts. The intelligence of these people is (pardon the pun) mind-boggling to me. And then my ego gets involved and says “You are no way near that smart.”

This is me comparing myself to other people – a truly silly thing to do.  I talk about this in my book, Manifesting Your Magical Life. I call it “The Comparison Trap” and it’s just that… a trap of the mind. (If you have the book, see page 7.)  There is only one way to win the game of comparing yourself with others, and that is if you can do it completely objectively, without judgment of yourself or envy of the other person. But most people can’t do that. And so in comparing ourselves to others, we almost always come up wanting. This is demoralizing and a crush to our self-confidence and our ability to have a joyful life.

I’m a smart boy. I do know that. Am I as smart at those astronomers, astronauts, brain surgeons, etc? Probably not. But I am smart in my own way.  I am smart when it comes to angels and spirituality. I am quite brilliant at helping people get out of their own traps to see how fabulous they are. Maybe if those super geniuses were thrown into a zoom call with a hundred people who were hurting and searching, maybe they’d think “Wow, that Radleigh. He’s pretty super.”

I have two main points here. First of all, don’t compare yourself to others. Just stay on your own path and do your best. But I think the second point is even more important.

Do not judge yourself or others. We are all different. Could I have been a planetary astronomer? I don’t know. Maybe. But I am certain that I am on the path of my own best destiny. I am doing what I was born to do. And while others can do it just as well as I can, maybe it’s possible that no one can do it as well as I can for those who have been led to learn from me.

The same is true for you. You are the only person who is like you. You are unique and perfect and a genius at being you. Remember that the next time you feel less than someone else.

And in retrospect, I may have missed out on the cosmos, but The Universe (aka the Divine) has indeed been my calling. So I guess I got it right after all.

With you on the journey,

~Radleigh