Waking Up to 2012

Greetings and Happy New Year!

I hope it wasn’t too anti-climactic for you. Adam and I spent a nice quiet evening together. We went to a friend’s house for a glass of wine and some hors d’oeuvres, took a walk in the balmy 45 degree foggy night and made our first fire of the season. We were in our “comfies” by 10:00.

As we watched Dick Clark’s Rockin’ News Year’s Eve, I heard something that has probably been said every year previous to this one. Yet I heard it this year for the first time. I’m not sure why this message has escaped me all these years. Perhaps it didn’t have any meaning for me then, and this year it certainly does.

The message I heard over and over again was that NYE is everyone’s chance to make a fresh new start. To clear the deck and   begin again. To wipe the slate clean. To begin with a blank canvas. If that is what you choose to do. It’s possible that having a blank canvas in front of me feels like a great place to be this new year and that’s why this message landed so hard.

The first thing I decided to do to create on my blank canvas was to start the new year with a new daybook. A book that offers an inspirational story, insight, poem each day for an entire year. The book I chose this year is Mark Napo’s “The Book of Awakenings” http://amzn.to/awakn2012. Of course I conveniently forgot about this new year’s intention the first two days. Ooops!

So last night when I saw the book by my bedside, I decided ‘better late than never’, and I read January 1st & 2nd’s inspirations. Like anything else you may pick up to inspire you, some things will resonate, some won’t. The January 2nd sharing really spoke to me. Now what I love about how Napo set up this daybook, is that at the end of each sharing he prompts you with gentle directions for you to go within and create an even deeper experience of the chapter.

The meditation for this 2nd chapter in the book encourages one to look at what we are holding onto that is preventing us from moving forward. Or “opening the door” to the next thing in our lives. During my meditation I clearly saw myself standing at the gates of heaven with my arms loaded with bags and luggage, my back weighed down heavily with a large backpack and my spirit broken due to all that I was carrying.

To clarify, the ‘gates of heaven’ piece – I was not facing death. This was me standing in front of the gates of heaven here on earth. I had so much weighing me down that I was unable to fully embrace and ‘enter’ into the heavenly life that is right in front of me. The baggage was my ego. Not ego in the arrogance kind of way. The ego that keeps me separate from God. I heard Wayne Dyer explain ego as Edging God Out. Holy crap! That’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

I got lost on my way and when I didn’t get the answers I wanted, I got pissed off at God, unconsciously claiming that “this spiritual stuff” must not work for me (separation) and I dug myself deeper and deeper into a lonely hole of resentment. All the while I have an abundance of opportunity just waiting for me to say “Yes!” to. But I can’t, because my ego has cleverly placed a blindfold over my spiritual eyes.

The action I was inspired to take during this meditation is what I am doing right now. The inspiration to share the journey of my experience with this daybook came from this meditation. If you know me at all, you know that I fully trust in the power of divine inspiration. My first thought was to brush this idea aside for many different reasons. I knew that was fear (ego) talking. That was my negative inner voice attempting to talk me out of it and when that voice shows up I KNOW there is something juicy on the horizon that my ego is deliberately try to keep me from experiencing.

So here is what I’m inviting YOU to do – join me. Go get this book. http://amzn.to/awakn2012 and join me for what I’m certain will be an inspirational adventure. My intention is to share in this blog my daily experience of Mark Napo’s “The Book of Awakenings”. What I invite you to do is share yours too. Now I know it’s a big commitment. So right here and now I give us both permission to fail. I might not make it here every day, perhaps you won’t either. However, by setting this public intention, I’m hoping it will help me to stay on track.

Think about it. If you/we take this daily action to stay connected to ourselves and our spirituality, imagine what kind of year we will have! Imagine the beautiful creations we will be inspired to fulfill with each daily inspiration. We can help each other stay focused. Give one another new insights and different perspectives. We can to this together, we can keep each other accountable.

Tell your friends, your mother, your sister and your daughter. Get inspired to create a year of connection and meaning. That’s what I intend to do with my canvas. To create a technicolor picture that flourishes in every area of my life. Spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially and professionally.

Tagged as: accountability, Aimee Yawnick, connecting with self, divine purpose, dreams, Empowerment, focus, inner guidance, inner wisdom, life's journey, Mark Nepo, meditation, moving forward, personal development, personal growth, positive thinking, self care, Spirit, spirituality, The Book of Awakening, trust, Wayne Dyer