The clock strikes 12, and so it begins; a new year -- nay, a new decade. Just like that. A stroke of the clock and everything gets reset. A chapter ends, the page is turned.
Indeed, a new book begins. A new decade, barely unwrapped, its pages still new, crisp and shiny. We open it slowly, taking care not to break the binding, treading gently into this new story, not yet certain of the plot or even who the main characters will be.
We hope this time the good guys win. We pray for a happy ending. We hope the storyline progresses the character of the characters. We hope they deepen, gain wisdom, discover their gifts and use them to create a better life for all.
We hope the characters develop generosity, become humble, have integrity, admit their shortcomings and accept their greatness. We hope the story blesses them with grace and ease and provides them with abundance. We hope they achieve health in body, clarity in mind, and are filled with the goodness of spirit.
Yet we also know the story will contain surprises; the plot will take unexpected turns. It won't always turn out just exactly as they'd hoped. Events will unfold that will stretch the characters, require responses in ways unfamiliar to the ones standing here, where the action has not yet begun.
They'll be required to reach for things within themselves they didn't know they had, and be surprised to discover they could go farther than they thought they could go, cross boundaries they said they couldn't cross, learn to love and forgive more than they know how from this place, here and now, at the start of things.
Along the way, they'll falter and hesitate. They'll doubt themselves and feel lost at times. They'll want to give up, or settle and make up stories in order to justify their choices. And just when it seems like the good guys don't stand a chance and are surely going to lose yet again, this time, in this story, in this new decade, something different happens. The story takes a turn that changes everything.
The chapter that just ended led to this part. The struggles and suffering from the story before taught them something. They saw what happened when they settled last time. They remembered the feelings of self-betrayal, and remember telling themselves they wished for another chance to do this right. Surely, if they had another chance, they'd do it differently. They'd be a different person. They'd be someone who knew the outcome of selling out and who vowed they'd never do it again.
And so life unfolds in this new story, in this new decade, and sure enough -- wouldn't you know it? -- another chance arrives. This new chance to be courageous and aligned with their higher selves comes disguised in a new wrapping, wearing a new dress, looking for all the world like a completely different animal. But in the end, they'll understand, it was the same unlearned lesson, come back around for another go at being gotten. And this time, they get it.
They get it this time because this time, they'll finally hear the still, small voice from within that has been there from the beginning. They'll finally hear the voice that speaks from a higher vibration than the voice from the conditioned past, the one that responded to fear as if it were real. This voice from a higher vibration speaks in a language that cannot be heard by the mind, but in one that resonates with the soul.
This voice knows why they're here and who they're destined to become. It already knows where the story leads, how it ends and it knows the path between here and there. This voice assures the characters that all plots are designed to move towards enlightenment, no matter which road is taken.
All roads in the story lead towards enlightenment. For the story itself is a story of enlightenment, like the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, our favorite Christmas villain, who each year reminds us that love always triumphs over fear and that even the most closed of hearts can learn to open and blossom.
Every story is a story of enlightenment. In every story, the characters will be tested and will sometimes triumph and sometimes fail. But failures only add spice and intrigue to the plot. They're never the final version. For new chances are always on their way, awaiting the destined time and place to meet up with the characters who populate the story.
And so begins this new chapter in the story of this new decade. It is the story of our collective awakening, yours and mine. It's the time for which we've been put here on earth. It's the ninth inning, the score is tied, there are two outs and the bases are loaded. And we're up to bat. All six billion of us. We're the ones in whose hands the future has been handed, even now as we dally at the entrance to the new portal.
The time has come for us to pick up the bat. The clock strikes 12; it's our turn to swing. This time, we swing for the fences. Preparation seeking opportunity. This time we don't settle. We don't sell out. We're ready. We've been getting ready for this for lifetimes. It's no accident that we're here, now. We know exactly why we're here. So let's stop pretending we don't know. The jig is up. We're the ones at bat.
We can take this as a burden or receive it as a gift. The old way would be to be burdened by this responsibility. Our old selves would whine and cry out "Why me, why us? Why should we have to shoulder this burden? Can't somebody else do it?"
But this is where the story changes. For we are the ones who've come to say, "Yes, we'll be the ones. We'll do this. We get it. We got this. It's already done." And so we begin the living out of that story. Right here, right now, this moment, that new story is unfolding in each and every one of us. We're here to swing for the fences.
We're interconnected in the web of the new paradigm. We now literally live in a web of connection. Even the tiniest shift in one part of the web affects all parts of the web. We're here to be that shift. We're here to cause it, support it, participate in it, live it. As one of us awakens, something in all of us shifts, perhaps at a level undetectable on this plane. Yet. But stay tuned. The story is just getting started.
May yours be a story that takes your breath away and shocks you with joy. May you be undone by the goodness that pours through your life. May you know and remember that you're never alone. May you see your own beauty reflected in all that surrounds you. May you always feel the love of friends and family and draw them close.
And when the part in the story comes where you wonder if it all was worth it, when you come to the part where you're tempted to give up or give in or not even start, think back on the lessons learned from last time, think on the wisdom gained, and remember those whose wind lifted your wings and take heart, know that all is always well. Remember, even Scrooge woke up. So can you, and so can I.
My deepest thanks for participating with me in this, our collective story. I am honored to be a part of it all. I'd love to hear how you imagine the story of the new decade. Who will you be in the collective awakening?
As always, blessings on the path.
Please drop by the comment section below, and/or visit my personal blog and website at Rx for the Soul.
You can receive notice of my posts every Wednesday by checking "Become a Fan" at the top of this page. And for personal contact, email me at judith@judithrich.com.
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Andrew Z. Cohen: The Evolution of Enlightenment
Let's get capable!
Well said! But, even if the world's problems were not solved, at least those individuals closing the gap would begin solving most of theirs...
Lawson
Thanks for a very thoughtful post!!!!!
Hope is a fragile thing, and I believe we have to guard our new year's energy carefully- plant the seeds and not forget to tend, weed and fertilize!
Love
kari
And thank YOU for a very thoughtful comment! Indeed,
Ms. Warrior for Transformation, Ms. Double Aquarian, you are here to help show and lead the way. I take heart and hope in knowing that as CPE says: "We are mighty ships built for these times." I know your ship is sailing mightily in the direction of the collective awakening with many passengers on board.
Blessings on this new year my dear friend.
Much love,
Judith
Thanks so much for your comment.........
Interesting observation about these parts of the world. I do recall watching the rescue of the Chilean miners and thinking we were witnessing a "moment" when the world stopped fighting long enough to focus their attention on these 33 people in a far off land, trapped beneath the earth. It felt like a convergence of goodness. Other signs of goodness emerging amidst the terror, but it takes a willingness to see it. Yes, look at the children......... they never lie.
Consider me your latest fan........
Many blessings to you,
Judith
We're the ones we waited for...
The two opening paragraphs describe the opening of my 52nd year on 5 Jan too. Congratulations HAHAHAHAHA...Don't know why I'm laughing so much.
Can't begin to fathom who I will be & my imagination is very agile. However, I'm going with the flow. I might hesitate but will do it as I know now I have everything to gain.
After that epic realisation that there is only abundance on 1 January, which puts me to sleep every night with a smile on my face, how can I possibly lose. Impossible! Like poverty, we might feel poor but there is no poverty.
I want:
1- al-qaeda snuffed out
2- elimination of all killing fields
3- education for africa's children
4- protection for africa's women
5- support for farmers in rural india who are committing suicide after giving their wives and children to extortionist land owners as debt repayment.
6- an uncompromising Barack Obama re-elected
7- governments that care about all the people
8- more bold & forthright women on the world stage
9- a country called Palestine
10- deliberate & kind words every day
11- destruction of landmines worldwide
12- first virgin space flight
13- more inspiring words like yours
14- the recognition that we're NOT separate from the environment & must protect it.
15- peace as our watch-word.
Didn't know I had that list in me!
Catherine
My dear, I'm sure there's more you don't know you have in you, but trust and know it's there and it's all good! Your list is a mighty one! Write it up and post it in a prominent place. Make copies. It's worth all of us paying attention.
You're the best! I'm always happy to see your smiling face here.
Many blessings and a Happy New Year!
Judith
This is a brilliant post! One among many, I might add.
I think the rewrite of our collective story began worldwide after World War II, although it remained very subtle until the 60's when America began to write about the death of the old toxicity and the birth of an authentic spirituality based on justice, understanding and compassion. From then on the revisions accelerated and new plot developments began popping up everywhere at an unprecedented pace: women, gays and minorities gained more respect and equality; the pill freed us from the double standard; in the last 60 years television has provided more knowledge to more people worldwide than since the birth of humanity; the space program gave us a healing perspective on this fragile blue marble on which we dwell with our brothers and sisters; in the last 40 years computers and the internet have given us all access to the wisdom of the ages and each other; traveling has changed the worldviews of countless individuals and furnished them with profound respect for the cultures and religions of people different from "us." How can our story not make an evolutionary breakthrough in the face of this? To focus on our current dysfunction is to ignore the soul's relief and joy at our revolutionary advances.
This piece puts it all in perspective and I have provided a link to it in my next blog post.
Thank you for your healing role in the new story.
Blessings,
Jeanie
Wonderful recap of the historical, incremental shifts. And I love your observation: "To focus on our current dysfunction is to ignore the soul's relief and joy at our revolutionary advances."
I think someday future generations will look back on this decade as the time when a global transformation took place. Not in increments, but in a massive shift. There is a gathering of souls dedicated to this event, coalescing now. I'm honored to be among those who see this as their life's work and grateful to be in the company of others, such as you.
Bows to you! Keep your wonderful writing coming. Our cups are filling.
Blessings,
Judith
A happy abundant 2011 to you...
http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bernstein/shadowtime/wb-thesis.html
It can seem a little pessimist at first glance. Especially when you think about when it was written. But it's really just another way of expressing how we do know that 'the time has come for us to pick up the bat.'
No. It's more than that: It gives us the courage and determination to act, because it explains why looking at the wreckage of the past, at the costs of 'selling out' that have been incurred... can help us to find focus, instead of getting lost in too many choices about too many unknowns. Like your writing, which gives similar courage and determination.
But I do believe, after reading the poem you shared, (thank you!) that it is we who are the angels. Only now, our uniforms are dusted off, wings adjusted for the kind of flight required in this time---- straight for the fences. No looking back, full speed ahead, the skies are opening, the window of opportunity is upon us. You in?
Other than that, memories aren't much good anyway. Because we rarely get to the same place twice along our path. And even if we do, we're not the same. Except that we now know that it's possible to get away, to enter that hole in the sky where the future is.
My heart is filled with admiration and appreciation for your insight and ability to encourage the same in others. My head is filled with encouragement and determination. We are in this together, though the media often points to divisions and derision among parties with different agenda, our efforts must remain, even when, as you say, we are "tempted to give up or give in or not even start." Otherwise, we may settle for the habit of settling. I believe there is a law of achievement that says you don’t always get what you want, need, deserve, or pay for, but you can always get what you settle for... that is a bad habit too many people accept with little or no resistance.
Also, regarding SShaw490's comment @ 7:21PM, I love the words in the last paragraph...
"If there's anything I want to do in this decade, and if there's anything that would define success to me, it's the ability to receive gifts when they come and give them when I can."
... never saw it expressed better!
Galileo, said, “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” SShaw’s statement "Passion is the stuff of life" is truth discovered; without passion, there is nothing to come, and little to call “life”.
Your passion, dear lady, is obvious. Thanks for such an encouraging start! Let us get on with our stories!
Lawson Meadows
A fine analogy for consistent persistence - it reflects one of my favorite quotes:
“Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett
Yet, the word "try" sometimes troubles me ( I notice you did not use it ), because I feel it hints that failure is a possibility.
So, another great philosopher’s quote becomes significant:
“Try not. Do, or do not, there is no try.” Yoda
Both serve to encourage and motivate the re-application of effort toward passion's goal. So, using your words, let's climb... today, and all of our tomorrows!
Lawson
Thank you.
I have been plagued by the "cyberspace bandit" with several of my responses being snatched away into that great cosmic black hole in space. I've lost 2 successive responses to your post. Is somebody trying to tell me something?
So for the third time, quickly, before "it" returns, bottom line I want to tell you how grateful I am to be on the same team as you and to know that we're in "this" thing together. Everything else I say from here is embellishment. It all boils down to this.
Although I might not recognize your face on the street (your photo only shows the eyes) I'd surely recognize your heart. For your heart speaks volumes about who you are and it is clearly on display through your comments and responses. This kind of generosity is what is needed to have the new story gel. It's about love and connection, cradled in the arms of generous souls like you.
With you and your colleagues here: Sam, Arith, Diog, J&C, Catherine, and so many more, we'll get this, this time. It's already done. And so it is!
Thank you for sharing the path,
Judith
As of late, I too experienced comments falling into the mysterious gapping yaw of frustration and destruction, and when I stared in the that pit, all I saw was the rectus grin of "it", a psychotic programmer, shimmering in a pool of malevolent mirth at the bottom.
Actually, I have no idea what happened, all I know is that I have developed the habit of saving backups until I see my comment posted. I am surprised more are not lost. In my eclectic employment history, I was a systems programmer for a few of years, and I am not shocked when odd things happen.
Regarding you kind words... What "it" boils down to for me, is my appreciation of your depth and passion, the examples you set, and the high standards you maintain. The bonus is those other colleagues who share not only their support, but their contribution of ideas and opinions. The confluence of the many, as always, exceeds the whole.
There are so many souls with ears that don't hear, eyes that won't see, and brains that settle for not thinking. We must reach out to them; encourage them to find some path, some passion, and begin their journey, aware that the destination, though important, is not as significant as what they become along the way.
Damn girl... I was just going to say thanks! See what you do!
A bouquet of warm smiles for you!
Lawson
The old me, I must admit, remains hypnotized by the past, that hallway of failed beginnings and a tomb. And I've been digging and digging with bare hands trying to get to this tomb's door, wandering its corridors, searching for the corpses I put there---all the people I used to be---and why.
The intermediate me sees this and recognizes that sometimes questions cannot be answered, but accepted; wounds that can't be sung to sleep must simply be let alone, for if they can't be domesticated, should they not be left to their wild natures? This version of myself regards beginnings with detachment, the coldness of a scalpel in his hand, and I understand that I will probably fail over and over again.
The emerging me asks, Why become so bonded to the odds, the darkness? Honor the past for where it has brought you, what it was. Remember that though there are things you may have to accept, you've still got the power to change many other things. Do take failure with a grain of salt. And frankly, the minute you stop carrying around this ego, things improve.
In 2011 and beyond, perhaps another bunch of us might start living mindfully, perhaps a crowd, but sadly I don't think it's in the nature of the world to achieve Collective Utopia simply because this planet carries a history replete with its Darwinian struggles and the vagueness of human complexities.
Many of us have for some time been observing an influx of Light shining in and exposing the dark and shadowy things that have been done to manipulate and take advantage of humanity for so long. For those who have eyes to see, this has resulted in an awakening - an increased awareness and expansion of consciousness that grows and grows each day.
We don't need to understand the cycles of the Kali Yugas or the meaning of the Precession of the Equinoxes to understand what it means. We only have to feel it, and many of us do. Once we've rejected the fear-based thought patterns that have been used to control and keep us separate from one another we begin to see things with a clarity we haven't experienced before. We are experiencing an apocalypse, the true meaning of which is "a lifting of the veils".
A new sense of community is forming, one based upon a consciousness of Unity: the knowledge that we're all connected and in this together, and that together we possess the power to reshape our planet into a world of peace, compassion, and love for one another.
Yes, a new era is upon us and I am forever grateful to be here to witness and participate in it.
I take comfort in knowing the likes of you is "in this" together with the rest of us. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the journey!
Blessings!
Judith
Namaste
I would hope that I am wiser in the next decade. There will be more friends and more time with them. The adversity and lessons of the turbulent decade - that was – will be used as a guide to propel me to new heights. You are so right, there will be no whining and no pity parties. See, I own the remote control to the next decade and this life. So, let’s do this…
Thanks for the reminder - didn't realise either that it was the start of a new decade! All I can say is thank goodness the old one's over.
Take care of urself big guy.
Cherrios...
So glad to hear from you.
Keep stirring, my dear.......
Love and blessings!
I look to you, dear Greg, to fill us in on the mystical stuff. You have ready access....... tell us more!
If the Giants are ever looking for a new manager, I know who they should talk to. That's what a great manager tells his team when they're going out to win a World Series.
I don't know how any previous generation felt about their time in history - maybe every generation thinks theirs is THE time - but I'm going into the new decade with great optimism that we're really going to get it this time. Our generation has gone from one extreme to another: We went from great thoughts and dreams of the 60s/70s to the dark ages of greed and consumption, and drank the underlying spiritual poison that every life value could be objectified as a profit and loss exercise, and now I think we're trying to find a balance between those extremes. When we were young, the best and brightest wanted to become Nasa engineers or research doctors and dreamed of changing the world; then somehow the best and brightest began to dream of wealth rather than worth and they all seemed to be MBAs. No good could come of that.
But today, my straight A student son wants to become an environmental scientist, and he wants it because that's what he was born to do, whether he makes money at it or not. He doesn't care what they make on Wall Street, he wants to know the Earth and how we can take better care of it. That's a good sign.
Blessings,
Sam
Your last message to me last year was the inspiration for this piece. My deepest thank you for helping to birth this message for the New Decade.......
Bows,
Judith
Oddly enough, I'm watching a Biography Channel show about Eric Clapton as I write this, and one of his old friends from Derek and the Dominos was saying something like, "Real art happens when the artists put their own selves aside and lets the art flow out." Clapton's expressionistic gift came from many different people and experiences, and it became empassioned art through that. Your artistry is a gift, and if that artistry finds inspiration somewhere, that's a gift. Living is a gift, a recognition of time and place as a blessing rather than a time/space restriction is a gift. Seeing life move forward, as you are with your daughter's wedding is a gift. And one of these days, when these bodies grow too weak to hold the soul inside and we escape the restraint of time and space that'll be a gift.
If there's anything I want to do in this decade, and if there's anything that would define successs to me, it's the ability to receive gifts when they come and give them when I can. And just like CS Lewis was inspired by a crack in a wall, the giver of the gift can be very insignificant - the wonder of life is that such an insignificant prompt enlivens such great passion. Passion is the stuff of life.
I adore you,
Judith