Every Day is a New Beginning

New Year 2016

What is the first thought in your mind when you wake up in the morning? What to wear, what to eat, or what’s on your ‘To Do’ list for the day? What is the first thing you feel each day? Happy, sad, frustrated, bored, anxious, excited, indifferent?

Each day is a new opportunity to mold your thoughts and feelings, or to move them in the direction you want them to go. No matter how you felt yesterday, last week or last month, that does not have to determine how you feel going forward.

Thought patterns and feelings can change, and you are the one who decides how they will change. By seeking a new perspective, you open the door to all kind of possibilities for life improvement.

Letting Go of Yesterday

Life is full of ups and downs, problems and challenges. It can be easy to make the mistake of thinking that everything should be perfect or wonderful all the time. It’s part of human nature to need challenges, to ask questions and seek answers, to learn and grow. Life would be boring if nothing ever went wrong or everything was easy.

Unfortunately many people develop thoughts and feelings that lock them into fighting the same battles over and over, or prevent them from finding solutions and living joyfully. We tend to wake up the next day feeling and thinking the same way we did yesterday.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Yesterday is gone and will never come back. We can choose to hold on to the good experiences and emotions and let go of the ones that did not benefit us. The way to make this choice is through intention and focus.

A Habit for Change

This is why most spiritual traditions encourage a habit of morning prayer and scripture reading, or meditation. These habits can set your intention for the day and help you to focus on the positive, or what is valuable. Even one short passage of scripture and a prayer of gratitude, or offering the day, can lead your thoughts in a positive direction.

Regardless of what your belief in the divine is, you have an invisible aspect of your being that needs to be nurtured and directed. The spiritual or invisible side of yourself needs truth, love, beauty and goodness to thrive. Perhaps you would prefer to start your morning with beautiful music and an act of service or love. These can also be spiritual habits that express your intention and help you focus in a meaningful way.

If you begin each day seeking to develop a heart and mind full of truth, true love, beauty and goodness then surely these aspects of your nature will develop and grow. When you grow spiritually the world around you benefits. You begin to feel your value and the value of others, and life takes on new meaning and depth.

Make Your Day Your Way

As a unique incarnation of divinity in the making – yes, that’s you – the ball is in your court, you decide what to do with it. If yesterday was a painful mess just offer it up as a learning experience. Start your morning with fresh inspiration from a source of your choosing. How you develop your personal spiritual life is your own responsibility, no one can figure that out for you. But it’s hard to grow spiritually if you don’t put some effort in that direction.

This is the purpose of spiritual traditions – to help us make the effort to see life in a new way, to give us opportunities to develop new thoughts and feelings that lead to happiness. By keeping an open mind, looking for answers and seeking positive change, we learn and grow and can become our best self. In the process we also make the world a better place for everyone.

 

 

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