Looking back (and ahead), every New Years Eve (and birthday) I make a list of three things I have accomplished that year. I follow this action by listing three things I hope to achieve during the following year. This year it will be different. I am changing the word ‘hope’ to ‘intend’. Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘intend’ as ‘course of action or sense of purpose’. ‘Hope’, on the other hand, is defined as’ a desire for a certain thing’. Both are important, however, it seems there is so much more power and energy with the first one. It isn’t enough to want something; the individual must also ‘feel’ it occurring. They need to know it is going to happen. Remaining open and receptive, allows one’s feelings to indicate us how much in sync we are with their desires. The fact that feelings and desire may not be compatible only indicates the need to shift or raise one’s vibration. Meditation, of course, is one way to do this (it silences the clamoring emotions), another way to do this is by making a list of things you appreciate. Then, when the need to change your mood occurs, you can simply focus or think of one of those things, which can help put you in a more positive, receptive mood. The idea isn’t original or new, but it really works.

Right now I am experiencing a period of growth. Things are challenging, to say the least. The I Ching Hexagram I received, when I threw the coins re this, indicated that I am experiencing a time of change. I was advised to go with the flow and not fight the obstructions. To try to force things in a specific way would be hindering the transformation which is now occurring. I am reminded of the farmer who, impatient with the growth of his crops, went out in the field and pulled them up to see why they were taking so long to grow. My dear grandmother, Fran, used to say ‘This Too Shall Pass’ (it always did). My mother Phyl (short for ‘Phyllis’) handed me a poem on a card once. The poem’s title was ‘Don’t Give Up. So I persevere, realizing that sometimes the hardest shell contains the sweetest fruit, and that this too will pass.