lifestyle
New Day, New Year, New Vision
New Year’s Day is the perfect opportunity to reboot your life and redesign your future. What haven’t you manifested that is important to you? What tugs at your dreams moving forward? Today would be a good time to do something about it and change your life for the better.
However, if you only come across this later in the year, fear not. Any day can be the first day of a brand new year for you. It does not have to be January 1st. Your New Year’s Day can be whenever you choose it to be. Today, is a new day, just as tomorrow will be, and so forth. Choose any new day for you to start living your life. Whenever you are ready, declare what is in your soul and change the direction of your life.
To get started, the best counsel I can give you is to buy yourself a nice journal or notebook, a glue stick, a comfortable pen and, if it pleases your soul, some positive affirmation stickers. This is how you start your new year. And again, it does not have to be January 1st.
As you go about your daily life, take note of things that make you smile – whether it be a picture, a saying, something kind that you saw someone do, or something selfless that you did for someone else. Journal about it . Write about how it made you feel in that moment. Let these feelings come to the surface of your life and allow them to grow.
You will begin to notice, over time, that the more positive instances you write about, they more frequently similar experiences will come into your life. It does not happen overnight, so don’t sit there the next day and think, “Well, I wrote about seeing someone buy a homeless person a coffee and it made me feel good, but nothing good happened to me.” This process takes time. You are working on your inner being to simply be more accepting and positive as you walk your daily path.
Love Is All You Need
A popular Beatles song was written circa 1967 by John Lennon, as part of the anti-war movement, with a very simplistic set of lyrics about love. “Love is all you need,” proclaims the song. Simple, yet often so elusive to so many of us.
Love is also a “many-splendored thing,” according to the Andy Williams classic. Yet, it is also complex set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors that we have learned. Either through witnessing, training and personal experiences, which loop back into our behaviors. It is a dynamic process. These beliefs and emotions are then ‘translated’ into feelings. Feelings of attachment, affection, trust, respect, and commitment.
Love is also a topic of discussion, research and vital part of life dating back through all time. Throughout human history priests, philosophers, poets, artists, musicians, and scientists have all contemplated the mysteries and meaning of love.
And love is more than just a feeling between two people. We can have a love for country, nature, freedom, animals, opera music, or cold beer! And anything else that resonates with our heart.
The challenge for many of us in life is the rollercoaster of chasing love. As humans, we seek companionship, community, a sense of purpose. We seek to love and be loved. And we take many actions and steps towards our own definition of love. Yet, it is a dynamic, elusive, ever-changing target – one influenced and even manipulated by the many facets of human desire and emotions. Also, the sometimes harsh realities of life may take away that which we loved so much.
Spiritual Or Religious?
There are those of us who describe ourselves as “spiritual, but not religious.” But what does that really mean? Spirituality can be defined in many different ways, and it is a very personal matter.
Everyone has the right to decide for themselves what belief system or philosophy resonates most with their heart. In my view, there are many different spiritual paths that all lead to the same destination.
To be spiritual, for me, is to practice being kind to others and myself. It is simply about the ‘golden rule’ of treating others the way you wish to be treated. Truly spiritual people, no matter what their personal beliefs or values may be, are appreciative of life’s blessings and practice gratitude daily.
Spiritually aware people have hope and faith. They look at life challenges as possibilities and opportunities, instead of as limitations and setbacks. They strive to see the glass half full, as opposed to half empty.
Spiritual people also have compassion for others, and all life forms. They are usually concerned about global issues. They respect the natural environment and see the beauty in the world around them. The simple things in life become the extraordinary things bring them joy. Look at trees, mountains, ocean, birds, animals, flowers and plants! That is what I called my church. How can one be out in nature, surrounded by all its beauty, and not believe in something greater than yourself?
Spiritual people are always aiming to become better people. It’s about living your own truth, living with principles and integrity. They realize that money does not necessarily bring happiness and fulfillment, which is not to say that one cannot be wealthy and happy at the same time. I know some very wealthy people that are highly spiritual, happy and grateful, doing good things for the world we live in. Wealth often affords people the ability to contribute to making the world a better place.
Keep Your Intuitive Energy Flowing
If you are psychic, clairvoyant, intuitive, or a pure empath, then chances are you find yourself periodically, or even frequently flipping the ‘off switch’ on your gifts in daily life. You certainly can’t process, neither share with everyone, the energetic information that is streaming 24/7. Sometimes it is also not understood, welcomed or trusted by others.
But, as you have no doubt noticed, this does not prevent the energy information or spiritual messages from showing up. For the gifted person this can feel like a concrete wall, especially when they are first utilizing their gifts and abilities. Many overly eager psychic mediums, intuitives and empaths have been met with a harsh rebuff, when they were starting out, from those they were genuinely trying to help, or wished to share an important message with.
Over time, if you are in an social environment that is less than open or supportive, this can cause you to doubt your own abilities, or force you to try and shut them down completely, in order to fit in, or avoid ridicule and criticism. But here’s the thing: you really can’t shut your gifts down completely.
You can ignore, rationalize, temporarily mute your gifted nature, but the bottom line is that it is here to stay. You were born with your extra-sensory abilities and healing gifts. They may have just recently surfaced for you, or you may have been aware of them from an early age. Whatever your circumstance, your gifts are a part of you, just as your eyes, arms and legs are a part of your body.
So, you might as well learn to deal with it more effectively. You will become much more comfortable with your gifts and abilities if you know how to keep yourself safe, healthy and strong, so that your energy can be powerful and free flowing.
Looking Within – A Message From My Guides
As the holiday season starts to ramp up around the world, everything becomes more and more hectic. Travel plans are made early. Gifts are purchased. Party invitations are extended. New outfits are bought. Menus are set. Baking is done. It is a wondrous time of year, to give thanks and to show appreciation to family, friends, neighbors and colleagues.
Under these circumstances, it is understandable that stress abounds too. For some people, in addition to all the excitement, there is a real feeling of obligation. The expectations of others can be overwhelming and, of course, it is impossible to please everyone. There is also the feeling that time is running too short to accomplish everything on the to-do list. Demands on your time can seem endless and unreasonable.
For others, the holiday season can be a very quiet and somewhat lonely time. Old memories can be triggered. Losses can become more heightened and a sense of sadness can prevail. In the Northern Hemisphere, the days get shorter and sometimes much colder, so sunlight isn’t as prevalent to perk you up and lighten your spirit.
Whether you are run off your feet or living a more solitary lifestyle, we recommend that you make some time to look within. A daily meditation habit can do wonders to give you a sense of peace, calm and gratitude. A quiet mind at the start of your day can prepare you for the remainder of each day as it unfolds. A peaceful feeling can help you to put things into perspective so as not to worry, overreact or panic unnecessarily.
Everyone has a ‘little narrator’ inside their head who is constantly chatting up a storm. If this little chatterbox was a real person sitting with you in your living room or in the car, you would eventually ask him or her to stop talking for a while so that you could think, read, watch TV, listen to music, converse, drive, and so on. However, because everyone has grown quite accustomed to this little tag-along giving constant commentary throughout the day, you carry on in spite of the continual interruptions.
The World Needs You
The concept of spiritual awakening is central to most New Age teachings and modern metaphysical belief systems. This is because we can only create effective change in this world once we become aware, or conscious, of the world around us.
So, what exactly does it mean to ‘wake up’ in spiritual terms? Too many people believe that being spiritually ‘awake’ or ‘conscious’ is simply observing the challenges that are all around us. However, this is not the full implication of being aware from a spiritual perspective.
It is true that we must be able to see things more clearly and honestly, to be able to make changes for the better. But, being awake from a spiritual perspective is much more about personal responsibility than it is about just recognizing the challenges that exist on the planet.
Author and philosopher, Howard Thurman, said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people that have come alive.” He makes a very valid point.
To be spiritually-minded is to recognize that we are the creators of our world and our own reality experiences. Every thought we think is being returned to us as experience. It is true that there are tremendous challenges facing our world today, but it is equally true that we are either contributing to those challenges, or dissolving those challenges through our own personal patterns.
Our thoughts and beliefs contribute to the war, famine, dis-eases, and other challenges the world is facing. Our thoughts can also contribute to global peace, abundance, and prosperity.
Nurturing The Spirit
Walk into any bookstore in any given city, and you will find a multitude of titles on diet, nutrition and healthy eating. We are warned repeatedly by the experts of the dangers of high cholesterol, the importance of adequate fiber in our diets, low sodium, low fat, less meat, more fruit and vegetables, and a myriad of other dietary guidelines and advice to keep us healthy all the way into eternity!
One can also search the Internet and immediately arrive at an astounding number of expert sources telling us not only when, where and how to eat, but also how to play, exercise and live out the rest of our lives with good health and well-being.
There are also a wide variety of applications and activities that we are able to participate in, that promise us mental agility and good memory retention, in order to remain of sound and alert mind. This is accomplished through an assortment of tests, quizzes, puzzles and mazes to show us exactly where we might need additional help and improvement.
All these resources and tools are provided to us in order that we can believe and accept the idea that the present life we are living can stay at the same level, with no need to think things may have to deteriorate over time. Being healthy, both physically and mentally, is of course exceptionally important if we want to stay in balance while we are going about our daily grind.
But what about the spiritual side of us? Granted there are books and programs available for any of us who are seeking such knowledge and information. However, I find it interesting that this vital aspect does not appear to feature in the forefront of our quest for health, well-being and longevity. Many of us go to great lengths to fulfill our obligation to nurture our minds and bodies, but what essential steps do we put in place to nurture the spirit that clearly dwells inside each of us?