by Yvonne Morris

Created on: January 16, 2009

HAPPY NEW YOU!

In the blink of eye we arrived at 2009! Wow! Have you had time to reflect and possibly resolve to make some new choices in 2009? I spent the last week of the 'old' and the first week of the 'new' year in my home country, Jamaica. I immersed myself in the natural opulence and abundance of my surroundings. A funny thing happened: I found this opulence and abundance not in the "stuff" I tried so hard to find in 2008, but rather in the simplicity of life. As I took my early morning hikes, breathed in the clean, fresh air, listened to the morning sounds that are so typical of rural areas, I was reminded that there is so much power in simplicity. Life does not have to be as complicated as I sometimes try to make it. This re-minder really helped me to put things in perspective as I set my intentions for a new year and a new me living a life of balance and wellness.

As the new year rolled in, I found myself affirming for family, friends and people who I met, "Happy New You". Sounds nice, but I wondered: beyond the words what does that really mean? I had prepared my "resolutions" early and was feeling good about my intentions, but I was also conscious of the fact that I had been down that road before. So what was so new and different about this time? Would January somehow magically bring about a new me? A new you? As I studied, read, contemplated and wrote endlessly in my journal, I received profound answers and found interesting information that helped to put things in perspective for me. What's with this tradition of making "new year's resolutions"? Why do we wait until "January" to start anew? I found out that "January" is derived from the Roman god "Janus", who, as mythology goes, was the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was depicted with two faces - one looking back and one looking forward. Hmmm! This seemingly simple myth led me to contemplate some powerful Truths.

When we make new year's resolutions, or in my case release the old and place them in a symbolic "burning bowl", and claim my good by symbolically "writing my letter to God", I am, like Janus, looking back and forward at the same time. This time I decided to look back not with regrets or self condemnation, but to see what lessons I could carry forward. I look forward knowing that this 'new year' gives me yet another opportunity to turn a new, blank, clean page and begin again if I need to. I can write a new chapter in my life. The thing about our blank pages is

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