Meeting the New Year With Grace

What a fascinating, hopeful and challenging year it has been. From the worldwide outpouring of support for the Water Protectors in North Dakota to a political season unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes, we hover on the precipice of a new year.

No matter where we stand on the political spectrum, the days and years ahead will no doubt provide us with plenty of opportunities, as one famous woman says, we can choose our responses: ‘When they go low, we go high.’

The coming years offer a shout-out to our better natures; a calling that will most likely require us to become ever more proactive if we are to create a world in which everyone can prosper and grow.

Holding that vision in our hearts, we can, in every moment of our lives, choose love over fear, compassion over cruelty, kindness over meanness, and unity over division.

The opportunity to make the best choices shows up regularly in our lives. To make the best choices we need to be informed. Whether it has to do with electing to eat real food—food that nurtures and nourishes our bodies and minds—or grabbing unhealthy processed snacks that fill our tummies but lack any of the nutrients our bodies need. Choosing when and how to exercise, what to wear, what to say; we’re constantly choosing.

My hope is that if or when fear arises, we may all remember that its opposite, the only antidote for fear, is love. To allow the love that is here in our hearts, always, to be our greatest reflection; to remember that may just be the greatest thing we are asked to do on this spinning, shining planet called Earth.

Here’s a thought for the ending of this year and the beginning of the next:

In expression, love is treating others (and ourselves) with kindness, fairness, honesty, compassion, helpfulness, caring, and respect. May we be the recipients and the senders of this expression.

With love,

Lina

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