Resolutions of Abundance

Image via WikipediaI have made resolutions in the past and have been everything from a complete failure to a moderate success at keeping them. This year I want to go about them from a different angle. I am learning that life is about abundance and not scarcity, growth is about adding to and not taking away from. I have become convinced that the Universe in it's loving Grace and Wisdom wants us to succeed and prosper and to move toward fulfillment. All of my past resolutions have been focused on the negative; quit smoking (done), quit drinking (done), cut back on frivolous spending (done, but only because I am poor not because I have defeated this demon), lose weight (done and undone several times), etc.

I am sure you have made your own, similarly negative, resolutions. Focusing on the negative is not only counter to the Universe, but it is no fun. Is it any wonder I struggle to keep resolutions when they involve self-denial and the removal of things that, while they may be bad for me, are obviously so much fun that I have done them to excess?

• What if the focus for resolutions was on working toward gaining rather than loosing?
• What if we were to accept who we are, what we do and how we live as OK, but sought out ways to improve on it?
• What if instead of giving anything up this year we figured out what we could add?
• How much fun would that be?
  

I think this way of re-framing resolutions may be more than just semantics. It is possible that the concept of acquiring is just more appealing than losing, or giving up. It is possible that by adding the right things to our lives, the wrong things will just fade away.

This year, I resolve to add the following things to my abundant life in 2009:

1. Add more time to my schedule to talk to God.
   
2. Make more friends
3. Think more of others than myself
4. Take better care of my body
5. Devote more time to rest and renewal
6. Be more generous with my generosity

As I look over the list and think about the upcoming year I am aware of the fear that a year long commitment sometimes carries. Maybe it's best to go with the "one day at a time" approach. Instead of being intimidated by focusing on the whole of 2009 I could start each resolution with the line "just for today I will...". That seems doable! OK then, resolutions of abundance done one day at a time.

• How can you reword your resolutions to be in a positive rather than a negative voice?
• What can you add to your life that would enrich you and fulfill your spirit?
• How would you complete the phrase "just for today I will..." every day in 2009?

Blessings to you in 2009. Thank you for journeying along with the rest of us. May you be aware of the abundance of the Universe. May you give freely from that abundance.

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Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

We're back to blogging after a few days to focus attention on family and friends. Having been away from posting and realizing how excited I was to get back to it this morning, I suddenly heard the old axiom, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" rattling around in my head. I am wondering if that is universally true.

I know that I have missed the opportunity to express my thoughts and questions on spiritual stuff every morning. I have missed the way it forces me to jog my own brain and I have missed hearing from others how it jogs theirs as well. The discipline is welcome in my life and my sense of wanting to entertain and provoke the thoughts of others is well served by this blog and is missed when it is absent from my day.

• What of people and their Spirits though?
  
• How many generally absent friends or family members did you see this holiday that lifted your heart?
  
• What was it about them that you missed?
  
• Were you able to tell them?
  
• Are you going to maintain the relationship throughout the year, or is it best to keep the absence, lest the heart grow weary of them?
  

One of the most interesting absences I was blessed to rekindle this holiday season was not a person, but a familial relationship. I always see my Mother and my Siblings over the holidays but this year we were able to spend time together with a cousin. I see this cousin regularly, and I love him, but it was the community relationship that I was surprised to see had been missing. The addition of this member of our extended family who had been absent from our holidays for at least 30 years gave us a larger communal memory to look back over, to laugh about and to cherish. It was almost as if our family's touchstone of memory was increased exponentially by this spirit that had been away for too long.

Did the extended absence make any of our hearts grow fonder? I don't know. I can tell you that the reunion of the family made our hearts grow larger. We laughed harder than we had in the past, we felt fuller and more complete than in previous years, and our spouses and young children saw and heard parts of our history that they were never exposed to before. All of these things added up to a richer and more Spirit filled holiday.

Now, i am very aware that sometimes absence is necessary for the health of a person or a family. I know that there are some who are absent that should probably remain that way. What I would ask you to consider though is if your heart was lightened when you reunited with someone who has been absent from your life;

• what can you do to keep the absence from reappearing?
  
• what common glue can you find to "keep it together"?
• can you, at the very least, express to them what they mean to you?
  

May your absences in 2009 be few, may your heart be fonder of everyone and everything, may you grow in peace.

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Family and Holidays

Image via Wikipedia
One of the most beautiful things about holidays with spiritual or religious origins is that they give us time to pause and give some intentional thought to what our spirituality means to us. We all do this to greater or lesser extent. It doesn't matter your culture, your belief system, or where you are on your journey, these holidays give us all a reminder that we are on a road of discovering who we are, where we come from and how to live more fully in tune with the Universe.

Another thing that is universal to many of our holidays is family. They are a time to get together and remember our earthly roots. We revisit traditions, share hugs and stories of our younger years and generally bask in one another's company. I say all of this knowing full well that many of our families of origin are less than warm and loving. I believe that there are two families we all live in; the family we were born into and the family we choose along the way. My prayer is that for many of you, there is much overlap between the two. If there is not, may you be richly blessed by your family of choice and may they fill you and sustain you in friendship and love.

As Christians, this is our season for spiritual reflection, waiting for release from oppression and exile, and celebration at the birth of a Living God who teaches us, guides us, saves us from ourselves and the forces of the world and showers us with Grace and wholeness. Part of this season for us means time to be with our God and our families by removing as much distraction as possible. We will resume posting sometime after the 26th (within a day or two). We pray for you this season for healing where you need it, truth where it is lacking, light where it is darkest, and love where there is loneliness.

We'll be back on line soon enough, for now it is off to our families and our God.

Peace to you,
The folks at Spiritualevity

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