Change

There is an old saying that the only things certain about life are birth and death. I would add one more certainty: Change. As we start another year we are changing from 2007 to 2008, changing old habits, and hopefully changing for the better. Some of us feel like we’re stuck in a rut, while others are ferociously fighting inner-demons. One might say that a relationship ending, symbolically speaking, death. However, I agree with the philosophy written about in Shakti Gawain’s “Living in the Light”. She writes that ‘relationships don’t end, they just change form’.

When I was on my way home from my last trip, I did a series of prayers and affirmations. I asked God to distance me from and/or remove non-supportive, inauthentic, jealous, competitive, parasitic, toxic people from my cipher. I affirmed that I be surrounded by people who believe in me more than I believe in myself, by people who encourage me not only to dream, but to act on those dreams. I prayed for the gift of discernment so that I have foresight and for adaptability so that I might accept change with ease. I prayed for swift, peaceful transitions. Over the past few years, I’ve paid close attention to my own shortcomings, insecurities, and fears. Over the past six or seven months I did an intensive physical and emotional detox.

Of course, now that people are dropping off like dead flies life feels a bit awkward. It looks like a few folks from the distant past are returning healthy and complete, but then again I guess they never really left. I also notice that new energy is showing up in the form of confident, driven, loving individuals who might be in different fields of work, but are on similar paths. People of various faiths and backgrounds who understand that there is a world beyond America’s borders, people who get that complaining about what’s wrong with the world isn’t enough—action is key.