New Year’s Day, 2016

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]henever we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, we invariably think about all the things we’d like to have happen in the upcoming year, the good things that’ll happen to us, and that the pain of the past year will become a distant memory. And although we as a society have realized the silliness of New Year’s Resolutions (seriously, how many have you stuck with?) and have made them the point of jokes, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with making intentions and living by them.

There is a definite difference between the colloquial “good intention” and living an intention.

A “good intention” is most often a wish, a whim, a wouldn’t-it-be-wonderful-if-this, or I’d-like-to-do-that. They are what we hope to do, without becoming anything more than that. Many times, we even know in the back of our mind that we’ll never live up to it. We see it as a daydream of what we would like to be without a chance of ever putting enough effort into making it happen; or, worse yet, we set a goal that is so high, we immediately become depressed when we can’t live up to it. It becomes another weight around our neck, a burden we bear upon our shoulders, the knowledge of yet another failure. It becomes another unnecessary line item on the list of why we’re such a loser, a hopeless excuse of a person, or reason why we should be so depressed and feel sorry for ourselves.

A living intention, on the other hand, is a constant state of gratitude for what you already are and will manifest soon. It is a place in which you eagerly look forward to the fruition of expression of God through you—of being that part of Source, of Love, of the Creator—here on Earth, right here, right now. Our whole lives are a series of lessons that offer us the chance to learn how to express our Divine Source through us, to the betterment of ourselves and everyone & everything around us. It is never a state of being in which we condemn ourselves for not “arriving,” not succeeding in some arbitrary amount of time.

So, on this New Year’s Day, be gentle with yourself. Do not think about this upcoming year with dread or negative expectations—especially if you fail at getting something done. Live your life on purpose, do the best you can at everything you do. Do not expect to be perfect; expect to learn and grow. Intend to be more expressive of all that’s good. Picture yourself as a glimpse of God, a loving being that does not condemn anyone—including you. Envision yourself as fulfilling your purpose, as being content, as having an inner peace that is never quenched, as loving others around you. Make those your intentions.

When we realize that Life is a classroom full of lessons and learning, we cannot reject ourselves for not knowing the answer to everything or doing everything correctly all the time. Love yourself and others, and have a year full of blessings, growth, and positive outcomes.

Namasté,
John