It is finally the end of 2021! Many of you may be rejoicing to have such a covid-filled year behind you, but I am going to suggest that we don't rejoice so much, as much as contemplate.
All things on this earthly plane are cycles. This year is a cycle, our lives are cycles, our life lessons are cycles, as well as our days and nights. They are all are part of a greater cycle that we call Samsara, the never ending cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
So this New Year I would like to contemplate the cycles that have appeared for us over this past year so that we can contemplate, learn from and then let them go!
This year let us rejoice in the death of old habits, samskaras (negative habits) and thank them for the lessons that they have shown us. Let them go so we can bring in this new year with lessons learned, sadnesses healed and all things understood. This does not just happen because the year is at an end, no it happens because you have worked very hard to have learned these cycles in your life. Knowing them, you can then let them go.
After this reflection and breaking of cycles, we can now start on creating and establishing better habits and sankalapas so that we can take charge of the next year! That is the exciting part.
Please understand this, that breaking a cycle is so very difficult, it is sometimes impossible to do. That is why it is called Samsara! The NEVER ending cycle! Except it can be broken with determination and reflection. This is that time, the time to reflect on your past year and to look upon the blessings and lessons and to create resolutions to make this year different, better, healthier, happier…. Happier.
Let us let the sadnesses of this past year teach us that we need to strive for the joys of each and every day, of every year, of every life.
We have that opportunity every day and every night. We do not need the end of a year to realize this. Every day that you awake, look upon it as an opportunity for change, for joy, and for letting go of yesterday's sadnesses.
So be it the end of a year, or the end of a day, or the end of a situation or circumstance, let it be more than that. Let it be the beginning of a life not lived, not rejoiced and an opportunity yet again to create paradise on this human earth.
Something Has to End for a Beginning to Arise
For anything to start, something has to cease. This is the universal cycle of beginning, middle, and end. We can find this cycle everywhere. Think of the holy trinity of Brahma (beginning), Vishnu (middle), and Shiva (end) or the sounds of OM: A (beginning), U (middle), and M (end). Or think of our very own life: We have been born, we live, and we will die. Whenever we see something new to blossom in nature, there certainly was something else that ended. If summer begins, the winter has ended. For new plants in some world areas to grow, a fire might be needed to destroy most flora and fauna. If we want to take on a new habit, we will likely give up another one, sometimes inadvertently. We need to especially give up the thought that holds us back from incorporating a new behavior into our lives.
The Fear of Ending
To lose something or someone can be challenging. Most of the time we think and speak about new things instead: A baby that has been born, a partner we married,
the money we made, or any other achievement.
Most of us enjoy these events and happily indulge in them. If you picture the opposites of these examples, it might be completely different. We would rather hide them or bury them deep inside and not celebrate them accordingly. This behavior is true for most cultures. Yet, a party happens in some areas of our world when a soul leaves its body. There is chanting, dancing, and time for praising the deceased.
Where does that fear of things coming to an end come from? It might be our education, something we have experienced growing up, or just a pure survival instinct. In my opinion, finding out the exact cause does not matter, whereas becoming aware of it is the more critical step, and then creating an experience that is different than what we have expected. Look upon everything as an opportunity.
We are so afraid of the ending of a cycle that at times we hold on so tightly that we create so much suffering.
Death is inevitable!! Death is inevitable! I will say it again…. Death is inevitable! It is the one thing that is true and constant and never changing. The death of our physical bodies will happen to each and every one of us!
But…….. listen to this…. But…. Life is not! Life is not inevitable. That is our choice, God's gift to us all. We can not decide on our death, let us stop looking at what we can not change and look upon what we can change, our life! Choose life ! This life! Every bit and moment of this life! Do not let it go… ride that Prana Wave of existence and make it all you wish it to be.
Forget about the end of a cycle of a year of a life and focus on what you will create with the life that you have!! Right now! Now!
Take it, all of it. Live it and love it!
God is great, so are you and so is this life.
Thank you all for your inspirations and your courages, your life stories and your convictions. You inspire me to continue.
Namaste and here is to a New Year!!!!!!!! The best one is yet to be created!
With my love
Berta
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