Aaah, a new year and an opportunity for “fresh starts”. It’s that time of the year when my email Inbox is jam-packed with ads for weight loss and workout apps, fitness equipment and all those other self-help books, apps and services to get you to succeed in meeting your resolutions for the coming 12 months. Rev. Michael Speer graced Unity in Naperville this morning with a talk on approaching the new year with a fresh view on manifesting what you want in your life, what he referred to as “the beginner’s mind.”
Our lives can be complicated, but the power of the beginner’s mind is in how we frame our thoughts about our life. If our life isn’t what we thought we wanted, we need to come up with a new idea. In other words, change your thinking, change your life. There are two of the 12 Unity powers that can be employed in this process – release and imagination. Release the parts of your life and thoughts that no longer serve you, to create a vacuum that can be filled with what you do want, which is created by your imagination.
In his book “Everything Is Here To Help You”, Matt Kahn illustrates a differentiation between our unconscious thoughts, and our conscious thoughts and meditations towards creating our lives. He says that our unconscious, ego-driven life creates Worry, Anticipation, and Regret – or the acronym of WAR. As we begin a path of spiritual growth, we end the inner WAR with what he refers to as the equation of ARE: Awareness + Resolution = Expansion. As we start this new year of 2023, take the time to review those ideas that no longer work for you, creating WAR in your life. Once you are aware of those thoughts, you can release them. Resolve to bring things you prefer into your life, meditate on that, and know it is there for you. And let yourself expand into that new place.
