Set a New Year Evolution.

Every New Year brings a dialogue about why resolutions don’t really work, and many (including me) prefer to simply choose a single word or short phrase, a mantra, to inspire us forward. I call these ‘NY Evolutions’ because I allow them to change as I grow. I also use my mantra to consciously evolve me.

But this year, I noticed something different about the process of choosing. At first, I didn’t even want to choose a word. It seems all the same words are out there floating around, and after a time they lose their impact and meaning.

Then there are all the challenging things happening in the world right now. What can one person really do, especially when the challenge comes in the form of fires spreading uncontrollably, earthquakes shaking our foundations, politic differences disrupting a nation, or silently watching a loved one succumb to the debilitating pain of cancer.

All of these are heartbreaking, and it seems so irrelevant to be focusing on choosing a word to inspire some kind of ‘new’ in the face of these hardships.

So I decided to expand my way of engaging with my “Evolution” by focusing on what the world might need me to bring forth as a conscious evolver, as one who is carrying a torch for grassroots change by shining light on what’s good, even in the face of the not-so-good.

What can I do, from the depths of my compassion, to bring some kind of solution with the life I’m living?

I used to think I wasn’t doing enough, no matter what I might be doing at the time. I know this is sometimes true. I can always do more to turn my focus from the less important & irrelevant. We all can…this is why I’m so passionate about clearing the clutter & distractions from my life.

But when I pause to listen for a word that will evolve the world, all I can think of is LOVE. What I am consistently being asked to do is show up, with an open heart and unbiased mind, to give what I have in any single moment…to trust that I have something to offer.

When my heart is breaking, I am being called to love even more.

Last week, I sat with cousins as they said goodbye to their mom. It was both sad and beautiful as I let the sobbing wash through me at the same time I felt her spirit touch in with a whisper of the ongoing connection of all things.

Today, I will make another contribution to The Waterbearers as they take clean water solutions to Puerto Rico. I will contribute to Together Rising as they shine solutions for a number of worthy project, including the Australia bush fires.

Tomorrow, and every day, I will continue to breathe deep breaths of compassion and plant seeds of kindness as I move with consciousness, treasuring the gift of expanded awareness of life…where beauty and devastation, joy and sadness, calm and chaos, light and dark are all held simultaneously.

Call it God, Spirit, Compassion or Universal Love. Whatever you call it, open wider, let it in, then let it shine into your world in whatever ways makes you feel even more alive. This is the call of 2020 and beyond…an invitation to show up and shine more fully than ever before.

What is evolving through you, this new decade of 2020?

I invite you to think of something that makes your heart sad. Then think of something that fills your heart with joy. Cast the joy around the sad and let your mind create a solution that will evolve you and the world. It could be as simple as a smile or as BIG as launching a new project to end hunger.

Whatever it may be, resolve to evolve as a solution.

#SimplySHINE #SimplyENOUGH #BEtheChange

P.S. My mantra for this month is: Treasure (which is just another word for LOVE). I’ll keep it as long as I need, inviting it to remind me to treasure the moments as I embrace the treasures of life and share the treasure that lives in me. 3 times the treasuring!