“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls”
- Joseph Campbell
As we stand on the cusp of welcoming in the New Year, we are widely encouraged to let go. To let go of disappointment and tough times, to let go of sadness and grief, and to let go of old attitudes and habits that have brought us pain or discomfort so that we can bring in the New Year with positive aspirations, joy and optimism.
This is a great premise. The ringing in of the New Year provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon that which has passed in the last twelve months and to set objectives for the next. It is a time to evaluate what is important to us and to decide where we want to direct our energies as the new year unfolds.
It is without a doubt, a time for setting intentions.
Around this time and following a period of indulgence and partying, many of us are focusing on making positive mindset changes concerning health, family, and work. We are considering giving up or at least cutting down on those things which do not serve us well such as processed food or alcohol and cultivating new and healthy habits such as exercise and wellbeing rituals.
We are making resolutions, and we are hoping that we can stick with them until they become a new way of life.
When we make a resolution and ‘hope’ that we can stick to them however, we introduce into the situation the elements of both doubt and need
‘But what if I fail? I will be so disappointed in myself, and I’ll have to revert back to my old ways.’
If we are wise and wish to hold ourselves in a nurturing space moving forward, these are not the energies that will accompany us into the New Year.
When we have clear, unmovable ideas as to what we want to happen, we become blind sighted by the image of what we are hoping for and therefore less able to see the greater and differently shaped future that may well be part of our destiny.
If I am looking out for and focusing only on manifesting my perfect push bike - I may fail to notice the enormous helicopter that is landing in the back garden for me.
Let us, instead, throw the doors of 2024 wide open by completely freeing them from our expectations.
A New Year is a portal to an infinite field of potentiality. Let us place no caveats or limitations upon it at all.
In her life changing book ‘Women who run with the Wolves’ Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes speaks of a door. She shares the powerful message that throughout our lives, every notable event is a door. It is a place where the divine shows up in its various guises and it is a place where we have the opportunity to step through and be changed.
Your new job is a door.
Your new partnership is a door.
New life is a door.
Your loss is a door.
Your mistakes are a door.
Your pain is a door.
Your grief is a door.
The New Year is a door.
Open the door.
When we embrace change in this way, we free it from the shackles of hope and fear, and we move into a place of opportunity and open-hearted acceptance of whatever comes our way.
You can hear a wonderful recording of Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes reading ‘Abre La Puerta’ here:
Try this:
For this New Year consider letting go of the need to make resolutions.
Make only one promise to yourself to accept whatever experiences, gifts, relationships and teachings come into your life with an open heart and without the weight of your expectations.
Walk lightly upon the Earth and let whatever comes to you flow through you with ease and gratitude.
Whatever is for you will find you, and whatever is leaving is no longer yours.
Know that you are perfect, whole, and worthy and that you are here for the adventure of living an earthly life.
Embrace it.
Open the door
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
For more insights and a host of tools and techniques for exploring the Self and improving your human experience see our book:
Thank you so very much for this ladies. GOD is made manifest to me, through you! I love you! Happy New Year!