Remember your New Year resolution?
Oh yes … that New Year Resolution! Well, with all the best intentions, it’s the New Year’s resolution (or maybe more than one), that’s often overlooked once the celebratory season is over. And now it’s April already!
What’s the point of a “New Year Resolution”? A resolution is really a determined promise to oneself to put in place some matter of importance that may facilitate change. Very often the promise is to the self – especially following a period of indulgence over the Christmas and New Year season. Quite possibly, and in keeping with the emphasis on eating correctly according to our body’s needs, one likely resolution may well be to change one’s diet. And then of course the matter of fitness presents itself as another good idea to implement … and that may bring to mind the need for regular health checks, or gym membership or a Yoga course and so on. The possibilities for potential resolution are endless and very often the most important goal can be left behind, forgotten completely within the melee of daily living as the year pushes on.
But there are resolutions of another kind, those that come forth from the inner self. These are perhaps the result of pondering the many needs within society, the tragedies that afflict entire communities or the poverty that defines the lives of thousands of beautiful human beings, born into Third World countries. Such ponderings may well lead to even deeper reflections on life and its purpose, death as its outcome and the search for a richer understanding of the internal challenges that trouble our minds and hearts from time to time. It’s no wonder that we’re drawn to frivolity and to indulgence through material distractions that remove us from the realities of life, especially those over which we have no power to completely settle.
A New Year means a new beginning, perhaps the most notable of all new beginnings – or at least the most regular reminder. But really, each day is a new beginning and perhaps as you read this prompt, tomorrow is the day to recommence attending to whatever your own most important resolution – or promise – may be. It might be centred within something life-changing – or world shattering! But whatever it may be, this is about you. So maybe tomorrow’s resolution is simply to tidy your desk, clean out some cupboards, open that new book you’ve been meaning to read or putting aside the mobile to listen to music. Promises require effort – and sometimes we just don’t have the energy to make that effort. To those of you who meditate in whichever style you prefer, if you’re reading this because you want to renew your resolution/s … then begin by returning regularly to your meditation. Stepping back from the pace of life, taking time to experience your-self and retreating to revive lost energy and relieve overwhelming feelings are all part of the gift of meditative practice.
From ease of being comes the strength to fully be.
Pauline McKinnon ©
April 2017, Melbourne
