  Spiritual
This week: New Year, New Start Edited by: Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline  
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It's the time of year to look ahead and see what we can improve on. However, it's important to ask ourselves why we want that new look, or that new career. Is it because we want it, or because others tell us we should?
This week's Spiritual Newsletter is all about change.
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A new year, a new start. That’s the saying. It’s the time of year when many people work on their resolutions, goals and plans. There are bad habits to overcome and dreams to achieve. That project that’s sat on the backburner for so long is dragged out and given new consideration. And that’s good. It’s good to make plans and to seek betterment. Except that most of those plans are likely to take place in the physical realm – the new look, the new career and that new achievement. It can be all too easy to overlook the spiritual aspects.
If that sounds preachy, I do apologise. As said, it is good to set goals and to follow your dreams. I’ve written about that in previous newsletters and I would always encourage anyone who wants to move forward.
The thing is, though, it’s easier to achieve what you want to achieve if you’re truly following your heart and if you have the right mindset. The first step in that is to ponder the question why. Why do you want to do this? Are you doing it because you feel you ought to, or because other people feel you should? If so, you’re more likely to struggle than if you’re doing it for a worthy reason. If you feel it in your heart and soul, it will be easier to succeed.
It can be worthwhile to pray or meditate on any changes you’d like to make to yourself or to your life. The peace and calm that come from prayer and meditation can have beneficial effects and it helps to focus on that important why, and to envision what life will be like after the changes have been made. What benefits will you see? What are the positives for you and those around you?
Try to picture how you will feel when you succeed. Some people find it helpful to write all this down, or to make a painting or drawing, or to cut out pictures and put them together to create a collage of where they want to be. A visual aid can help focus the mind.
It’s also important to be realistic. Take on too much all at once and you’ll spread yourself thin. Too many promises to yourself and others can lead to disappointment all around. Setting your targets unrealistically high can crush one’s spirit.
I could tell myself that this year I am going to become a bestselling author, and start a new career that will make me a ton of money, and I’ll do lots of voluntary work to help people, and I’m going to lose all those pounds I want to get rid of and make a huge impact on national and international politics and when I have some time left I will swim with dolphins and establish world peace. It would be nice if I could do all of that, but is it realistic? Not quite.
What I can aim for is to write a novel that I am happy with, and to motivate myself to send it out to publishing houses. Who knows, they may really like it and if they do, I could become a bestselling author – it’s happened to others and it can happen to me. The important thing, though, is to write something I believe in. I can do more to find a suitable career, and I can certainly do more to help others, but I need to work out how I can balance all my projects and still have enough time left to be with the ones I love, and to simply be me. I can lose weight, but I have to do it in a healthy manner. And I can write articles about politics and try to change things for the better, but I am only one voice and an unknown one at that. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try, but I can’t expect miracles. As for the dolphins, well, I still can’t swim. That would help.
In reality, small steps are the way to go. It’s fine to have a big goal, but it helps to break this goal down into smaller projects that ultimately lead to where you want to be. It also helps to pause and reflect along the way, and to ask for help when you need it.
Sudden fame and fortune do happen, however, it’s rare. Most of us have to be patient. I’m a rather impatient person by nature, and I know how frustrating it can be, but constant disappointments and setbacks can have a negative impact on one’s spirit and can make it all too easy to give up on your dreams altogether. Moving forward one step at the time and being patient, on the other hand, tends to bring small but exciting victories and that sense of achievement is likely to make a person eager to reach the next level, and the next, until that great big goal is right within reach… and then we can reach the finish line and look back at what we’ve done with pride.
I haven’t actually listed world peace and swimming with dolphins as my goals for this year, however much I’d love to achieve and do both of those things. I do want to finish my novel, and to write more articles. My big achievement for this year will be to pass the first year of my course, preferably with good marks. And I’d like to get out and be more sociable, instead of maintaining my somewhat hermitlike existence.
Weight loss is up there somewhere. I do admit it. And I want to gain a better understanding of my faith, for the sake of this newsletter as well as for myself. That should make for an interesting journey.
I also want to increase my knowledge of other faiths and spiritual paths. Perhaps you can help me with that and share with me what you believe, and why. After all, if we combine our knowledge and insight, we all learn and we’ll all get something from the experience. And we’ll all have something to reflect on this year.
Some goals can only be reached when we work together.
kittiara
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The Spiritual Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! 
Kate - Writing & Reading  - Thanks for an insightful and inspiring newsletter. If I don't try, I may not falter or fail, but I also will not succeed. I embrace success by daring the journey ^_^
Thank you so very much, and a Happy New Year to you! Best of luck in all you do .
~~~
Blink  - thank you so much for inspiring me to keep at it. I'll be back to weep in your inbox from time to time, and hopefully scream out 'hallelujah' at other times.
Thank you so much! Hopefully there will be many more 'hallelujahs' than weeping . I wish you a very Happy New Year!
~~~
Christine Cassello - I lke your encouraging remarks. I am glad that you pointed out the error in the statement that we can do anything, however. We have limitations, as you indicated but we seldom utilize our potential and if we do, our limitations will not matter. After all that is one of the things that make us unique and God designed us to be that way.
Thank you very much! I do agree with you. We are all unique and we are designed to be who we are. Thanks for giving me food for thought, and a Happy New Year to you .
~~~
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Spiritual Newsletter Team:
SophyBells  , KimChi , kittiara
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Spiritual: January 04, 2012 Issue [#4806]
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