I was talking today to Queen Elizabeth, my darling British Bulldog, and we were discussing New Year's resolutions. This is a new phenomenon for Elizabeth, because this is her first New Year! I informed her that New Year's Resolutions were promises that we made to ourselves so that we would improve and grow as people or in her case, as the queen, in order to become more evolutionary joy in every moment. Elizabeth's first comment was, "Well obviously, my resolution should be to start eating chicken three times a day instead of two." (Elizabeth is something of a poultry enthusiast) "That will clearly bring me more joy, more growth, and it is the appropriate choice for a resolution."
Queen Elizabeth's enthusiasm began to dwindle rapidly as I informed her that being a slave to her addictions, although providing momentary enjoyment, would eventually result in obesity and skin rashes which in the long run would not enhance her health or increase her capacity to experience more joy in each moment. Instead, she would become a stagnated couch potato. I could see that a flash of glee lit her face ("Mmm! Couch potato! Mmm! Animal Planet!"), but after a few moments, she reluctantly asked, "So what would you suggest my New Year's Resolution should be?" My response to Queen Elizabeth was the same I give to all of my students: to make choices that enhance our experience of inner freedom in every moment.
What choices will you make in 2010? One thing is for sure: if we keep doing the same things, we will continue getting the same results. This year, I propose we make the ultimate resolution: a resolution that in reality we all need to make. Beyond the diets, the exercise routines and the half hearted attempts to give up our bad habits, I propose a deeper decision: an internal choice, a shift in our consciousness that will transform our perception of reality.
This New Year's Resolution is a resolution to make in each moment, to make choices that are not hampered by the subconscious habits of the past. This resolution should be to choose to become more love, more of our true essence; that peace, that joy, that innocence. Why do I say this is the only resolution? Because from the most abundant source flows everything else that we desire in order to to fulfill our need for happiness and completion. When I focus on the love, everything else is a natural consequence.
What is love?
I find that this simple definition describes the love which we can all chose to be, the profound energy that sustains totality, that is ever present, eternal, and immortal.
This love allows me to be myself, beyond all insecurity and fear, and in turn, allows everyone else just to be, without attempting to change them. This kind of love can only occur in the present, when one is fully aware. It sounds simple, but it is not so, because that kind of love must start with oneself. To be able to love others - to truly love, intensely yet unconditionally, one must first find that love for oneself, for no one can give what they do not have. To make this realization is the most simple, beautiful and profound new years resolution. It is a true discovery: to become the love in every moment of life, embracing it as it is, and understanding that in that love, this moment is perfect, and that the bad - or evil - is nothing other than a lack of consciousness.
Praise love for this moment in its perfection, focusing on the heart. You will start to see the "good" and "bad" in the world around you as only a part of the game of humanity, which increasingly affects you less and less, and that simple situations become instilled with vibrance and fun when you become the love. By doing so, you will naturally be helping increase this awareness in those around you.
This New Year, let's not be hindered by the decisions that didn't bring us joy in the past. Let's embrace a new perspective, and challenge the limits of that which we have known, by diving into the silent depths of being, to discover the undiscovered, and reunite with the union beyond discrimination, separation and the fear based control of the intellect.
Happy New Year!
With love
Isha
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Isha's latest book and movie, Why Walk When You Can Fly? explains her system for self-love and the expansion of consciousness. Her website is www.whywalkwhenyoucanfly.com.