1/01/2008

Come Alive in the New Year

Join forces with the dynamic flow of life. The African-American theologian Howard Thurman said: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive."

And so, as the old year changes into the New Year, ask what makes you come alive, and then go do it--for your own sake, and in service of the greater good.

One of five ways to welcome change in the new year from this Beliefnet.com piece. Here are the other four together with a relevant quotation from the article

1. Expect Change

Since we live in a changing universe, expect change. Good change, difficult change, destructive change, transformative change.

2. Make Friends With Change

Try not to fight change. Make unconditional friendship with it, in whatever form it arrives.

3. Relax Into the Mystery

There is so much more to this life than we can ever understand through our tiny brains and fearful hearts. So in times of big change, it's good to be gentle and kind and patient with yourself. And to relax. The best peacemakers are those who are at peace with themselves.

4. Receive Change's Message

Be still and listen deeply for the truth that is carried on its winds--information about the past, wisdom about the present, and direction for the future.

"Walking on the turning wheel of the earth, living under the ever-rotating sun, man expects a peaceful life."

--Sufi master, Hazrat Inayat Khan