Spirit (note: This article is part of a series originally written for Deni Richter's newsletter.) We seem to have edged our way into the new year already! It was a strange Christmas season for me - it was not bah humbug time, but I certainly was not inclined to do either the decorating or the baking that I usually do. Fortunately, the day after Christmas, for some unknown reason, sanity prevailed and things began to look up! New Year's was a day that I was truly looking forward to - the advent of a new year, literally, and a time when I could focus and manifest in my life what has been so slow to come to me in the past year. I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. My feeling is: "If I am not doing something because I want to, it will slowly grind to a halt - I will not continue doing it." That is not to say that I don't believe in *down time* - in taking time to focus inwardly (where all the answers are :) ) and see clearly the direction that I want my life to take. The resolutions that worked for me were the ones that involved changes made over time, in distinct steps. (Ever the Cappie here! Which brings me to another thought: the things that worked for me worked because they were implimented on or near my birthday, which is coincidentally days before New Year's. I read somewhere that if we set aside the New Year's resolution thing, and made our changes near our birthdays, the birth of our personal *New Year*, that they would be made to better effect. That is what I advise my clients.) As individuals, as a nation, and as a world - the year 2001 was a rough year. There was much devastation - which in many countries has not yet come to an end. Where do we go as individuals to find inner strength, how do we cope with day to day stress, how do we reflect in the living of our lives our personal beliefs, our caring for ourselves and for one another? We follow our spiritual paths, and we allow those paths to be reflected in our everyday lives. No - I am not saying to become Christian, Muslim or Jew - I am saying find what brings you peace, find what grounds you, and put that to use in your life. You may find this peace in a lovely statue, in a small indoor waterfall or in a Zen garden. You may find your peace in daily reading from scripture, or from poetry that makes your soul soar. Whatever touches your heart has the ability to bring you peace - of mind, heart and soul. Light a candle and meditate, draw a Tarot (or non-Tarot) card a day and write in your journal what meaning this has for you. You may choose to repeat a mantra during the day - whatever has meaning for you. All paths *work*, if we apply oursleves to them. :) I send my wishes to each of you for a peaceful, joyous New Year. May you walk the path that brings light and serenity to your life. (c) January 2002 Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions. Home Personal Empowerment Personal Empowerment links Personal Empowerment articles View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook Graphics by Art for the web