New Year, New beginnings?

I love the New Year even if it is just another day designated as the changeover of the calendar. I have always kept a diary and delight in the newness of the page for the January 1st entry. It's a time of reassessment for me, not so much to set New Year's resolutions but intentions for the year to come.
I write out ten things that happened in the previous year and ten things I would like to happen in the coming year. It's my way of acknowledging my progress or the changes that a year brings in circumstances, in relationships and career. At the same time I get to be conscious of what I would like to create. And we create each day anew if we choose to. So whether its January 1st of Feb 1st or the ides of March itself, one thing holds true, the past can only affect the now if we choose to allow it to. I love this passage from Thomas Troward, which acknowledges the possibility for expansion of our lives and the possibility of completely new experiences.

"My mind is a center of Divine operation. The Divine operation is always for expansion and fuller expression and this means the production of something beyond what has gone before, something entirely new, not included in past experience, though proceeding out of it by an orderly sequence of growth. Therefore, since the Divine cannot change its inherent nature, it must operate in the same manner in me; consequently in my special world, of which I am the center, it will move forward to produce new conditions, always in advance of any that have gone before."
-Thomas Troward, The Dore Lectures on Mental Science

May you allow and enjoy in 2011, new conditions beyond what has gone before, as your life expands and the Divine finds fuller expression through you this year. May you create the new beginnings you most desire.
Blessings, Joan

Walking Through Illusion

Betsy Otter Thompson leads us to see with deeper discernment the growth opportunities in life's challenges in her book "Walking Through Illusion." Using different Biblical characters who struggled with memories, complaints, beliefs, handicaps and confusion, to mention but  a few of her chapter titles, the reader is brought on a vicarious life path to the insight and gift of the challenge faced in each situation. The characters were each personal acquaintances of Jesus Christ and Thompson channels His compassionate understanding of the path their lives took. Each individual is doing his best as are each of us. What Thompson offers us is a door to unconditional love of ourselves and others if we are willing to explore our own challenges and look at our lives from a broader perspective.
A workbook, each chapter is followed by thought provoking questions so we may explore our own experiences with each issue. Most helpful I found were her own own personal insights, gained on her own life journey that conclude each chapter; the theory in practice.
I am reminded of a question posed once about upsets in relationships, why is it when we love someone who upsets us we cannot simply skip the anger, confusion and argument and jump to "I love you" which you know will come at the conclusion? This is what would happen if we truly walked through the illusion as Thompson is asking us to do. She offers us gems of great value if we seek a more peaceful and lovefilled experience of life and who would not wish for that. May your Christmas and New Year be blessed by the revealing of what is of true value in all aspects of your life.
To check out her book go to http://www.betsythompson.com/index.php

Season of Light

Personally I love Christmas because I have strong positive associations from my childhood. With nine children in my family we were not affluent in terms of money and but we were abundant in comradery and love. Christmas carols, cards, gifts and get-togethers, its a busy time of year!

These days there are so many ways to be stressed at Christmastime: shopping, lack of funds for shopping, planning dinner at your place or not having a place to go for Christmas, organizing travels, dealing with colds, flu, family or maybe a combination of all of the above!

Or maybe you are someone who stays centered at this time of year, feeling only the goodwill and childhood joys of the season. Its possible!

Whatever your experience, my wish for you this coming week is to find time to really be present to your power and to your every experience. You are alive, you have the capacity to love and be loved - whatever is going on around you or within you, you can choose to be the light of love. Your presence is the greatest gift of all so be conscious of where you spend your time and be aware of your thoughts. A kind word is a simple and inexpensive gift so why not give generously this week! First to yourself and then to others. Its not really complicated but its so easy to forget.

If there is sadness of loss in your Christmas, acknowledge it and find a way to include that person in this year's experience. Lighting a candle in their honor at the Christmas table is one possibility. Loss makes everthing more precious and helps us see what is truly important. Be present in your present relationships.

You have the power to make this a peaceful, love and light filled Christmas. 
YOU are the light of the season!

I Find My Path

I always find my path, even if I sometimes have the impression that I have lost my way. So often I have taken pointless detours. I find the one and only reason for my presence in the universe- my ultimate realization, the return to Unity. I now walk in peace.

Bleak mid winter.

With the images and news I am seeing from my homeland of Ireland I am reminded of iambic pentameter! In the convent where I went to school the poem "Winter" was used as a beautiful example of this rhythm of poetry writing. Reading the poem again I cant help but think of the perishing cold that these characters had to fend off with wool and wood. How hard their lives must have been and short their life expectancy.

The double glazing, the gas heating system and my fleece jumper ensure my body heat, and my electric kettle boiled water for my tea this morning. I am grateful.
I woke up, I walked to my kitchen to feed the cat. I am grateful.
My husband walked by and kissed my head, I am grateful.
I see my sister's latest art on Etsy, I am grateful.
I use Skype to call my mother, I am grateful.
And though money may be tight and the winter bleak, I put a prayer out for protection to my angels for my family and for all people experiencing difficult circumstances. I affirm Spirit as our source and sustenance and know that we have much to be grateful for and grace will see us through. 

WINTER.

When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
And Tom bears logs into the hall
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipp'd and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit;
Tu-whoo, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow
And coughing drowns the parson's saw
And birds sit brooding in the snow
And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit;
Tu-whoo, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

I feel dead people!

"Life is real

Life is earnest,

And the grave is not its goal.

"Dust thou art, to dust returneth"

Was not spoken of the soul."

There are more people dead than there are people alive on the planet today!

Great minds, paupers, kings, mothers and murderers, all gone on to inhabit the next life. And one day we too will join them. Where are they do you think? Many imagine multiple worlds in order that the next might not suffer from overpopulation!

I know people who see dead people. Trustworthy individuals who get messages to pass along and others that seem to make no real sense at all. There are so many opinions and beliefs about the afterlife that it really comes down to your personal experience what you choose to believe.

When we do talk of death I believe it is only of the physical, what we see with our eyes. And we are so much more than that. If you have ever looked on a dead thing, be it an animal, a flower or a human being, you know that what you see is just a shell; a shadow of its former self with the essence of life force gone somewhere else. 

As the poet Longfellow says the soul does not turn to dust.

When I feel in my heart the presence of someone lost to me in the physical, they are as real as they have ever been. This is not uncommon. My friend Robert speaks of his deceased father in the present tense. In meditation we turn inward to experience the vast field of possibility, our connection with the infinite. There it is in our very being as if a portal opens to the other worlds. This is our connection to all life including our beloved in the next. We are never separate except by choosing to think that way. We create and demolish our very own personal blocks to our divinity and to love. Open up today to connection in whatever form your meditation takes; a walk in nature, painting, listening to music, journaling, day dreaming, creating a collage of your loved one. Feed your soul connection and know that you are never alone and you are loved just as you are. Then go forth and love unconditionally and in earnest while you still have time in the physical world!

Talking about death won't kill you!

I have heard people say as a positive conclusion to a list of physical ailments or complaints "Oh well, it beats the alternative!" To which people respond with agreement, acknowledging that whatever we may be experiencing, we are still alive and that is always preferable to being dead! After all death is the ultimate fear, the unknowable and the great void, the end...that's all she wrote!  Shakespeare's Hamlet contemplated "to be and not to be" concluding that there may not be peace even in the permanent sleep of death. How can we know so lets not go there, what's the point?

I was browsing a book at my library the other day, intriguingly entitled "Talking about death won't kill you," just my kind of book by the way. I like to tackle ideas that others throw up their eyes at and have little time for. The author Virginia Morris, a woman after my own heart as we would say in Ireland, was putting forward the idea that talking about death has many overlooked benefits. It can help us appreciate life more fully for one thing, it can help friends and families appreciate the relationships we enjoy more deeply and also can help immensely when the inevitability of loss visits our lives.

My father broached the subject of his demise to me years ago when he was making his will. I kept the discussion brief, adding I didn't want to imagine that day. This is a very natural response and I know I am not alone in my feelings. But I wish I'd been able to say how much I loved him and how unthinkable it was to no longer have him in my life. I wish we could have held each other and acknowledged that love and continued our discussion to its conclusion in awareness of the reality of that eventuality.

So many of us run from emotion - from being real and authentic and we miss out. I really feal our lives would be richer if we could simply allow our selves to be real. Emotion and discomfort just like all things come to pass and not to stay...we will not be swallowed in the slough of despond forever..in fact if we go there we can come out more quickly instead of skirting along the edges indefinitely.  Its all about living fearlessly. All my life I have worked at releasing the fears that restrict my experience of life. I am still determined! So who wants to talk about death?

In the quiet moments...

Lately my life has taken a slower pace. Its the time of the year when in America we turn to Thanksgiving. Yes this involves turkey and friends and travel and the tensions and joys of family. I spent the last two weekends celebrating with my husbands family so the coming break will be quiet and I hope a time to rest. For this I am thankful.
My life has taken a slower pace because work is slow and I am having to use my time creatively without remuneration except of the most personal nature. My own family are caught in the morass of the dismal Irish economy crisis. Every day the news is full of doom and gloom with no hope of a light at the end of the tunnel for years to come. Where can we turn at times like these when optimism is all but quenched?
Help wanted? Apply within! We must look to ourselves for the truth of our experience.
It is our own thinking that has the power to darken our world according to John ODonohue.

"Search and you will find the diamond-thought of light. Know that you are not alone and that the darkness has purpose;
Gradually it will school your eyes to find the one gift your life requires hidden within this night corner."

He seems to be saying there are gifts in times like these that without them we would never discover. Depths and strengths unexplored. Overlooked blessings that if we can pull our eyes away from the external, await our appreciation. Look for them in life's simple quiet moments. This poem by Irish poet Seamus Heaney illustrates, in quiet moments with his mother, the sacred found in the mundane. Turn your eyes from the world this Thanksgiving and find your abundant blessings of love, strength and insight within. Then shine it for all to see, it is the greatest gift you can give to your loved ones and to yourself.
Have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving!


In Memoriam M.K.H., 1911-1984

When all the others were away at Mass
I was all hers as we peeled potatoes.
They broke the silence, let fall one by one
Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:
Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
From each other's work would bring us to our senses.

So while the parish priest at her bedside
Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
And some were responding and some crying
I remembered her head bent towards my head,
Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives--
Never closer the whole rest of our lives.

Let Death lose its Sting...

They say that death is our ultimate fear and all other fears can be traced back to the idea of death. The word itself makes us recoil. It means something is devoid of life, inanimate, inert, ended and without power of any kind. Our ego screams at the thought of its annihilation, the idea that we end or no longer exist. This is the human reaction to the death of the body.

In Religious Science we believe very differently; that life never ends, we are not our bodies, we are our consciousness and as such a unique part of Spirit which is infinite and ever expanding. Depak Chopra gives an example to illustrate this idea; your TV until it is turned on is inert but the signal information is always there no matter how long the TV has been off. So too with people when they die in the physical, their energy still exists, its just not channeled in a visible body. For this reason we are never separate from those who have left this plane of existence, though our energy/consciousness still expresses through our bodies it is also connected with the whole, as a wave in the ocean of being. Therefore we can still commune with our loved ones in consciousness and they with us. What a comfort when we truly deeply know this.


As an old friend of mine used to say I'd still rather have someone with skin on!!! Yes we miss those who have left us. I live 6,000 miles from my family but at any time I still gain great comfort in writing a letter to my mother which is an action that I take separate from her. This year as part of my artistic expression I began making collage portraits of my family members. It is one very satisfying way of spending time with the individuals I miss and love. I also get to acknowledge their unique traits and qualities and how they express those in life. My art pieces represent my experience of another individual, what I see in them and the connection we enjoy.
In the Workshop "Remembering with Joy" that I designed with my friend Mary Hylan this is the core idea; we focus on the beauty of a relationship and how we have been enriched by another, knowing that we can still draw joy from it, that we have gained from it and that every situation in life including loss is an opportunity to know our spiritual interconnectedness more deeply.
For details www.GratitudeandGrace.com

“Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can't separate people from love. It can't take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death.”

Small Daily Tasks

"A small daily task, if it be really DAILY, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules"
Anthony Trollope

This wisdom is a good thing to remember when we are feeling overwhelmed or that we cannot seem to achieve all we would like to. It reminds me of water on limestone, it has the power to wear away caves over time. Similar to love, whose action is gentle, it has the ability to make its way into the hardest heart with daily acts of kindness.

We put off so much saying I need an entire free day to tackle this task, or I need a consistent day off to really make a dent in this goal. Its not true! This is just one way to hold ourselves back from achieving. We get out of testing ourselves, we can avoid failure but in doing so we also avoid success.

So if you are attempting to love yourself more today or love a difficult person in your life or achieve a major task, know that persistence is omnipotent. Do something in line with what your heart is prompting you toward today, no matter how small. Place reminders on your fridge or somewhere you will see it to remind yourself to take time DAILY. You can achieve so much in just five or ten minutes a day - EVERY DAY. Novels have been written this way. Fitness, closer family connections, forgiveness, a more beautiful home, clearer consciousness, more peace, all of these things can be and have been achieved this way.

What could you attempt to do? I'm certainly giving thought to this idea. I know there is power in it.
I'll keep you posted.

We must maintain love.

Its not what happens to us in this life that matters most - it is the attitude we take to what happens that dictates our experience.

Some people derisively call keeping a positive or optimistic attitude, a Pollyanna attitude as if seeing only the good is some how a delusion. A course in miracles would say that any other way of seeing is ego based and we have forgotten who we are. Only love exists. If a person acts unlovingly it comes from fear. When we choose to love that person despite their negativity or fearful actions we are choosing the power to heal that person. Making a person wrong, pointing to their anger or negativity we lock them into the illusion they are creating, forgiving them we see through to their innocence.

We are all innocent. Marianne Williamson says in her book, A Return to Love that when a person acts unlovingly, if they lie or hurt us with criticism or judgement, that it is a call for love. If we can step out of the way of the insult or negative behaviour and remain nonreactive we can find our power. Our power lies in seeing the illusion or dream the other person is in and seeing with the eyes of Spirit. We are instruments of love not of defense of the ego.

The choice to act this way is not easy but it is within the realm of our choosing. We can ask for help in this shift of perception. Outside circumstances don't bring us peace, it comes from within. Are you willing to stop withholding love as forgiveness? Do you choose love or fear? Let us not let the closing of another's heart tempt us to close our own. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." (Romans, chapter 12: verse 19) , lets leave that to her as we choose love today!
Namaste.

Willingness is Worthiness

I believe that whoever is willing to bring the qualities of God into expression is worthy of experiencing them. Therefore because I am willing to prosper others I am worthy of being prospered. - Science of Mind Principles

Say this out load to yourself. How does it make you feel? Does this phrase evoke a sense of truth or feeling of hope? Do questions come up in your mind about what it means to prosper others and do you feel you are doing it?
The word prosper has its origins in the latin prosperare, to make happy. The dictionary says it means to make successful or fortunate especially in financial aspects, to thrive, to flourish.

I cant necessarily make others rich, though I circulate money when I purchase services and goods and I give to charity. That's only a small of my power to be willing to prosper others.
What about to make happy? I can't make anyone happy if they are not willing to be but I can add to people's happiness by my attitude, my respect, my time and attention.

I can look at what I need to thrive and flourish in the world and provide that for myself to start with. There are so many ways, I will list just a few; getting to bed early, exercising, eating well, finding time to journal and feel gratitude, to call my friends, to be kind to myself and also exercise self discipline in the areas I am lax, expressing my creativity, my joy, my love. Sharing who I am. Your list may be similar, it may be different.

Then I can look to my family and friends, acquaintances and people I meet in the course of my day and constantly ask - how can I assist or serve this person in order that they may flourish and thrive? What is it they need right now? Is it a smile, a kind word? How can I contribute in the work place to prosper my company, my work colleagues, the patrons of my business?
The Science of Mind principle states "because I am willing," so a willingness to simply ask what a person needs to thrive is the beginning of your own prosperity. What does your sister need to thrive, what does your husband or wife or daughter need to thrive? Very often when we think about it, it is love in some form; understanding, support, compassion, a word of encouragement or approval or a listening ear. Its not difficult to prosper others, it takes our willingness to be present to them. Take that time today and "Live long and prosper!"

Take Time

“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
- H. Jackson Brown Jr.


So many perceptions of time. These days there just doesn't seem to be enough of it. I know I feel that way often. So much so that when I suddenly had some time the other day I wasn't sure what to do with it. I was a little panicked even!!

This morning was a different scenario. I found myself writing my journal as I lay on my couch looking out at the greening trees in my neighbourhood and simply so present I did not want to move. It was a delicious moment and I reminded myself to just enjoy. The house was quiet except for the ticking of the clock. I let seconds go by just listening and looking and breathing. I continued to write and as I did I could feel the morning close in with lists and choices and tasks and the old feeling of rush and tension. I recognised what I was doing and as always I knew I couldn't get everything done this morning so I had to choose. In time all things would be taken care of. Right now my power was to choose. Rather than what I usually do on a task oriented day getting caught up in doing, this morning which I consider my morning off, I chose to spend one hour doing necessary jobs and two and a half hours till lunch doing fun things. Balance!

Its all about balance. We work so hard these days despite our labor saving devices and our computers! Or because of them! The brain needs space to be be undisciplined and free flow, to reflect and rejuvenate. In this time I can assess if I am headed in the right direction, I can access my feelings about my life and my choices. I can make new choices based on what I find. If we don't take time out we are definitely on a treadmill, caught up in the rat race that goes nowhere I want to go. So give yourself time this wonderful Easter weekend. The perfect time for rejuvenation and rebirth and enjoying family and friends. Even if there is sadness in your family this Easter, be with it fully, be present for a time before life sweeps us all forward again. Just choose to be fully present, your present to the universe!

"Time discovers Truth" - Seneca

Who are you in relationship with today?

Relationships, they are the thing of popular magazine covers and scandal, who is Jen seeing now? Will Brad and Angelina last?!!! We love to watch how celebrity relationships play out. Actually we love to hear stories of love. Just look at the movies we watch, almost all will have a little romance if its not the main plot. People love to be in love and if they are not, hearing your story of love will warm their hearts. It is my belief that love makes the world go around not money!
At least it moves my world!

The truth is that love, passion and relationship permeate not just our intimate relationships but every aspect of our lives. Even if we live alone and rarely venture out, love plays an active part in our day. When we put on a beautiful peice of music or choose what to eat for lunch we exercise love or the lack of it. Choosing what to wear, how to spend your day, how to perceive the events of the day or people in our lives, they all ask us to activate care and attention. Loving anything is bringing care and attention to it. Your plants wont grow without it, your relationships wont either, whether this relationship is with yourself or your pet or your mother.

So many people want to find the love of their lives, the One! I say you have found it but you dont realize it. YOU are the One, the love of your life is the love, the care and attention you bring to every task, event and happening no matter how trivial or traumatic in your day. Activating the choice to bring love to your mundane everyday tasks can enrich and enliven our lives immeasurably. When we do this, whether we find our mate or not, we experience the joy of a lifelong and faithful love that will not desert us. Then, if or when that person does show up the joy increases and the person does not carry the burden of being your main source of joy or love.
It makes for a happier and healthier partnership.

So love yourself today as you would wish to be loved. Find time for yourself, do something that brings you joy, eat healthy, enjoy the earth and its pleasures, it is full of wonders.
With love to you, Joan

Creative Visioning

Its life's dichotomy's that challenge me to really think. At this time of the year I love to make a Vision Board. It is a visual representation of what I would like to experience. It is similar to day dreaming, which I have a particular talent for since I was very young, much to the annoyance of my school teachers. God bless you Mrs. Duffy!

A vision board is similarly enjoyable to create as I pull images from magazines that are attractive to me. Its a playful and pleasant dreamy pursuit, yet the intention is there to somehow set in motion the energy of creation. I've heard of people creating them as you will have too if you watched "the Secret" and later finding that they live in the house they pasted on their board or driving the very make of car they chose in that dreamy state.

Getting back to dichotomies, in my attempt to figure out how come some things manifest from these boards and others do not I have heard conflicting things; you must want it with all your heart and spend time focusing on it daily! And you must release it and be equally willing to not have what you want. The moment you do this it will be yours! Can we do both at the same time?
The answer to this became clear to me as I read Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. He says "Attachment to things will fall away when you no longer seek to find yourself in them." The motivation for wanting something is all important. How much of our value we attach to having that object matters.
Tolle puts it like this. "Ego says - I don't have enough yet, and means I AM not enough yet." When we truly value ourselves and know we ARE ENOUGH as we are - beautiful, precious, whole and complete then can we create and manifest from the substance we already are. Its all one. No separation, no barriers to joy or the idea of deserving it. As Spirit we are joy. Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness of this truth. Maybe not getting what we imagine will bring us joy serves to teach us we can be joyful anyway. And when we are joyful already more is added to it.

Desiring one more way to express joy, as in a holiday or a new car while we express it already is one way of letting go while also focusing on it daily. Whether we get that car or not we know we can express joy, if we get that relationship or not we can express love.

So with this in mind I will make my Vision Board and as I bring joy and love to my daily tasks, I can anticipate more joy, more love and more abundance in my life. And you can too.

We are Kings and Queens

"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinately precious things that cannot be taken from you." Oscar Wilde

We look at scenes from Haiti and feel for their struggle, their poverty and their loss of life. People there are suffering what we all dread, hunger, devastation of lives, homelessness, loss of families. Things will never be the same for so many. Naturally there is an outpouring of sympathy and support as differences and separation pale in the light of empathy. There but for the grace of God go I.

I am grateful today that I can give. Though I am not wealthy in finances and I live modestly, I have so much to give thanks for today. I also choose to not just carry on with a self satisfaction that its not me in that situation but look at what I can give.
After I give to Haiti in whatever way I can, I can look to my own life for people who are less fortunate and do what I can for them, remembering there is so much need in the world. Volunteering your time to the elderly living alone or to children who need a stabilizing influence has rewards untold. We are not alone or separate and we can always find something to be grateful for in being able to give. Giving of ourselves is a reminder of how rich we are.

"Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them." Napolean Bonaparte

The importance of grounding.

"Unless your heart, your soul, and your whole being are behind every decision you make, the words from your mouth will be empty, and each action will be meaningless. Truth and confidence are the roots of happiness.”

I just got back from a ten day stay with family in Ireland. Living in LA as I do, this visit is exceptionally grounding for me. I always feel renewed, strengthened, more sure of myself and true to myself. With the new year just beginning I feel very positive and ready to create a new experience.

I have dreams I am working toward and goals I have set and I am very much aware of how life can distract from these focused ideas as the year progresses. This is one reason I make a Vision Board. A vision board is a collection of images I put together that represent my goals and in particular the feeling I want to experience as I actualize these intentions.

Goal setting and vision boards are powerful. Once you commit your deepest wishes to paper it's as if you are initiating the process, igniting the spark of divine creation. You have begun something which throughout the year takes on a life of its own especially if it continues to be fed by you with your enthusiasm and energy.

Keeping your vision board before you acts as a reminder of that spark. You may find yourself flagging in April or July. Don't be discouraged if things are not shaping up as quickly as you would like - maintain your attunement with yourself and make the necessary adjustments. Reaching your destination is much like driving a car. Constant steering is necessary to keep the vehicle on course.

So remember to ground yourself so you can find that certainty of who you are and what is your deepest yearning and truth. I cant always make a visit to Ireland but I can connect with the feeling either in nature, in a conversation with my sister or writing a letter to a dear friend. Identify what gives you that feeling of connection with your true self and consistently renew your spirit throughout 2010. From a foundation of stability and rootedness it is possible to build lofty dreams. From a place of deep self love and connection you can make this a great year!

The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure.”
D.H. Lawrence (British Poet, Novelist and Essayist, 1885-1930)

Can there be new beginnings?

This bright new year is given me, to live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be my highest and my best.

New Year always invites us to review the old year and reset our course for the new. It's an opportunity to set goals and take action to create something new. I have always loved New Year for that reason. I feel if the previous year was not so great, that this marker divides my experience and can bring a new page in the book of my life. It is a nice feeling to turn over a new leaf, declare how I desire my life to improve and set an intention to take the necessary action to make it so.

Unfortunately often the best of intentions wain and resolutions are broken before we are even a quarter of the way into the year. Why can we not hold for long to our moments of high resolve? It has led me to wonder about the depth of my desire to change or if I really just prefer my old slovenly ways! I have come to the conclusion I do have a strong desire to make changes but that I often set unrealistic goals.

Change happens slowly, gradually unless one is propelled by great pain or great inspiration. So firstly I believe we could be a little gentler with ourselves as we venture to implement change in our habits. Secondly, we need to be mindful, on a daily basis and access if our actions are in alignment with what we have declared as our intention. Doing this reminds us that it is love for ourselves that motivates the changes we have chosen to make. There is no power but in the present moment, the only time we can make a choice or take action is now. Not in the past, not in the future but here and now. Be it New Years Day or March 17th, let us consciously choose our actions.

Human beings are great at self deception and rationalization, so honesty with ourselves and regular evaluation of our motives is essential to real change. The boost of the general consciousness of goal setting we feel around us at the start of the year helps get us off to a good start. This year I am marking my calendar with a big red X at the start of each quarter with the intention to review on these dates the goals I have set today. Once a year is not enough. With that I wish you a healthy and prosperous 2010 and may you effortlessly implement the changes you desire.

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

Jim Rohn