I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions even though I am a firm believer in the power of setting intentions and visions for the future. That’s why my practice, when the year rolls to a close, is not to make a list of “shoulds” for the upcoming year, but to jump ahead and imagine what it is I want to be celebrating a year from now.
I take out a pen and paper and write a letter of thanks to the Universe for all that has come to pass in the year ahead, as though the coming year were not commencing, but concluding. The more I write, the more I can feel myself entering into the reality that I am envisioning. Then, when the new year begins, I feel as though my dreams have already come to pass and all I have to do is cooperate and do my part to let them express themselves.
My New Year’s practice draws on the wisdom of Jesus, that great guru of imagination and intention, who said that whenever we pray for something, we should believe we have already received it and it will be ours. It is our willingness to receive what we ask for, without reservation or resistance, that makes all the difference.
There may be things you can feel deep down inside that want to come forth in your life, and one of the ways you can get out of the way and let them happen is to let yourself enter into the experience of them as though they already exist in manifested form. (They do already exist in un-manifested form, otherwise you would not be envisioning them.) If that’s the case, you might try this practice for yourself. Rather than write a list of resolutions for the new year, jump to its conclusion and write a litany of thanks that your dreams have already come to pass. Date it a year from now, and then look back over the year 2012 and celebrate all the wonderful things that have manifested themselves in your life.
Leave a Reply