Resolution
Resolution.
The crystal ball fell closer to Times Square in seemingly slow motion; bright as the surface of an LED sun, dripping with the rain that had been gully-washing unrelentingly all night. I watched from an indoor refuge as the time tick, tick, ticked down, inching closer to the beginning of our new year, 2019.
Long after the requisite festivities had come to their confetti’d culmination, I closed my eyes. I let my heavy eyelids fall like the ball only to feel my mind, my body, my spirit alive with a euphoric buzzing. I could feel myself on the cusp of an incredibly exciting time; my toes curling—just slightly—over the precipice of a new paradigm: Freedom.
Instead of proclaiming any sort of “New Year’s Resolution”—which to me had come to absorb the same, temporary, impotent and ineffective connotation that “diet” had—I made a promise to myself. By any means necessary, I made a promise to live fully inside each and every moment; to be utterly present; to choose enjoying the Now, rather than looking back at the haunting, frustrating, disempowered past, or ahead to the scary, worrisome, disempowered future. I made a promise to check in with myself often and without judgment—to simply breathe, take a beat, and note where I am emotionally, how I feel in my body, and connect to the greater force of that which beats my heart. I have made a promise to continue cultivating, fostering, practicing raising my awareness about the relationship among my own body, mind and soul. As my eyelids fluttered and the cells of my body sung in anticipation on that eve of our new year, Gandhi’s words danced like a conga-line through my brain,
“When what you think, say and do are all the same, you will experience total freedom.”
When how we feel on the inside matches what we say and do on the outside; when we allow our inner being, our inner self, to speak without self-inflicted fear, resistance or punishment; when we allow our heart to express itself, to have an unfettered voice, we come into complete alignment. When we come into complete alignment, we organically embody our authentic self. And authenticity equals total freedom. We don’t necessarily have to tell others how we feel in each moment, but do tell yourself. Say it, out loud, so that you can know how you feel and go from there. Because when you go from there—from a place of alignment—you take your total self with you. It is true progress, true movement, true momentum. Moving, navigating, interacting from that deep authenticity offers an opportunity to connect with one another on a soul level, and consciously co-create from an unparalleled state of awareness. It is the quickest path to exponential expansion. Not having to remember an assumed facade, not having to memorize inauthentic character traits of the person that we have been fronting to be, not having to pick through the little white lies attached to the wardrobe, props and lines of our life’s “role” that we have been trying to play out of fear of judgment, self-consciousness, or unworthiness, equals total freedom. Just being ourself—true to the core of how we feel, of what we know to be true—allows us to be in the moment. It allows us to be entirely in the Now; wholly in our power. Seizing the opportunity, choosing to be fully in the moment—without fear or reservation—is consummate freedom.
We are not handcuffed to the societal, familial, or occupational obligations thrust upon us unless we willingly offer up our wrists. Each moment offers an opportunity to choose what feels good to us. Each moment offers an opportunity to say and do what feels genuinely good; what aligns perfectly with that which beats our heart; with our inner being, our higher self. As long as we keep in touch with how we feel, we have the most accurate guidance system for which one could ever hope. A miraculous rudder to keep us on the path of least resistance toward what we truly want.
Instead of trying to control the details of your entire future right now by make a resolute proclamation about your whole life—or even this next year of your life—why not resolve to enter into each moment with an open mind, a happy heart, an eager spirit? Why not make the decision to take each moment as it comes, each situation as its own, to connect to your body, open your ears, and make each decision at the actual time in which you have the most power…the Now?
…I dare you to join me. I dare you to choose to be yourself, in every moment. I dare you to be totally authentic.
To be beautifully, brilliantly, utterly FREE.
