"Shattering Misconceptions"

As the year draws to a close, I am finding myself in a place of a newly developing vision. I once thought my “job” was to earn a decent salary, put money away for my retirement, have a growing savings/investment plan, have decent healthcare coverage and be a considerate and responsible wife/friend/community member.

It’s not that I’ve decided that these things aren’t important. They are. They make sense for living a comfortable lifestyle and being smart for any potential rainy day.

But this year has been expanding me beyond the logical, past the well-planned and carefully strategized thinking. This year has taught me about magic … about what seems to be impossible falling right into place easily and joyfully. There is an indescribable value in opening my heart to possibility and the energy contained within that which is bigger than me. As humans I believe we often think we have far more control over our own circumstances than we actually do. So if I do what I can to set the stage for the opportunities I desire to unfold, and then I step back and open myself to what can come, I can feel a flow of energy and possibility that is so much greater that I am as an individual being.

As this year closes I feel grateful for my new vision. I feel blessed that I can look at myself and my life as a being of unlimited possibilities. Who knows what lies ahead? And so, with the words of Daisaku Ikeda, I welcome the new year:

“You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. This is not an easy struggle. Indeed, it may be the most difficult task in the world, for opening the door to your own life is, in the end, more difficult than opening the doors to the mysteries of the universe.”