Entering the New Year

We enter the year to be…2012. And my question is…how did we enter it? Check any of the following should you be feeling this way:

1. More tired than when 2011 ended. Physically, and even spiritually, drained, the holiday break was just enough to take a breather (or perhaps a no breather depending on what you did to celebrate). The speed of life is something we should already be used to by now, as this will just go faster as the world’s energies are changing.

2. Slightly depressed, broken-hearted or even grieving. We know many who are in this state now, having lost a loved one over the holidays or unable to release past hurts, pains and regrets.

3. Fearful of the future. Now this is a common one, where fear of uncertainty includes financial insecurity, personal dissatisfaction and fear of being alone.

Now my question is: “How do you want to live?” If we answer with words like joyfully, positively, progressively and consciously…then we need to move into the new year with a triple dose of awareness at each moment we continue to be alive. This is the challenge and the resolution! The task of awareness, of embracing every moment of life in its totality is something we don’t learn overnight. It is a practice of training our mind to be still so that the intuitive side of our nature begins to arise and we begin to understand what it means to be more conscious and awake to life. That, when we move through our day with awareness, we can become more patient, more gentle, more understanding. With awareness, we can learn to recognize where guidance is coming from and to disentangle the clear voices (or feelings) of intuitive, essential wisdom, from the feelings that arise from fear, anger, desire or delusion. This allows us to transform our lower-negative parts that need to come to the light, to be seen and healed. In the words of French writer-philosopher Albert Camus, “We all carry with us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them to the world but to transform them in ourselves and others.”

It is this daily conscious transformation of how we react to life that takes us away from our places of inner exile. We see life truly for the beauty it has: our personal state, our relationships, the beauty and vastness of our capacities. We see the marvelous and intricate details of the string of events in our lives that make us grow. The milestones of our deepest joys and despairs, the greatest challenges that stretch our capacities to evolve.

And why do we need to be aware of this? Because we are human and alive, aware conscious and evolving and this is how we want to enter the new year in sync with the Earth, Nature and the vast Cosmos.

2012 is a year of transformation. And when transformation and change are imminent, we are forced to stretch on all sides. Our world is speaking to us in dramatic ways through changes in the earth and weather patterns; evolutionary leaps where our existence is tied in by technology and information; and scientific discoveries that hover between spiritual truths and practices now meeting as science tried to understand the mysteries of the universe, of our DNAs, and even our spiritual minds. 2012 has been written about as a jump-off year of a shift in consciousness in Old World cultures like the Mayans, Hindus and Egyptians, to name a few. We don’t see doomsday scenarios happening; but rather, a real spiritual awakening when we see beyond our material physical world, our dramas, our petty shadow plays of emotional repressions and negative emotions (judgment, anger, jealousies, self-hate) away from our “personal places of exiles, crimes and ravages.” Indeed, we would venture to say that we are at the birth canals of an exciting new period with 2012 as a jump-off date. An old world ends, and the old ways of materialism, ego-delights and selfish, petty needs make way for more compassion, collaborations, healings and understanding.

Our personal lives will parallel the state of the world. Stress, challenges, difficulties, where the natural tendencies would be to sink down into our inner exiles, versus effort, discipline and awareness at living healthier and more positive; keeping the higher moral grounds; and choosing the lighter way despite the difficulties. So how do we do this?

Let me offer you some suggestions:

1. Set the compass of your heart and offer the best of yourself in the circumstance no matter how difficult it can be. The best of yourself is your highest intention for that situation. It can be as petty as choosing to listen to your body when you are about to eat, to stretching your patience with a nagging partner or boss, to as deep as extending forgiveness to someone who is unaware and has wronged you.

2. Think that you have all the time in the world. We cannot change everything right away. Some things in our life need time to get done. We need to carry through or wait for the outcome. By focusing on the present moment of the process, this will make you see not the end result, but the actual value, rightness and truth of the value of the work you are doing.

3. Learn to breathe deeply. The breath is a stabilizing force. When stressed, harassed or worried…just focus on the breath and bring that breath as deep and full as you can. By doing this, you work the central nervous system and awaken the parasympathetic system of the body to allow a quiet relaxation that will also quiet the mind.

4. Change the axis of your existence once in a while. Rediscover what enchants and excites you and try to do something related to your passions at least once a week. Or dare to truly follow it for your life to have more meaning. This will give your life more sense, away from the drudgery of daily profit-making, survival or ambition-climbing. Try not to pick a packaged goal, a dream defined by advertising and media or a safe desire. Choose what you really want. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You don’t have to leave your job but following your heart can begin with the toes! Dip your toe in…take a weekend retreat, leave the office early to play with your pet or take a walk, start something creative, learn a new sport.

In this human form, halfway between heaven and earth, as we enter 2012, let our hearts guide us as we try to walk past every limitation and fear that hinder us from our fullest expression. Let’s reset and listen to the compass deep in our hearts.

(You may email the writer at jeanniejavelosa@gmail.comor follow her on Twitter @jeanniejavelosa.)