The Journey by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice--- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible.
It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do--- determined to save the only life you could save.
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This is the year when a focused concentration will over-ride the crazy makers and those who recommend a path for me that is out of sync with my destiny: This is the year when I don't stray from my own inner and true guidance system.
And what about you?
Have you taken advice from others that propelled you away from what you truly wanted to do?
Have you ever been swayed by opinions and dogma that just didn't represent who you really are?
Have you experienced red flags in your path, and when you ignored these, were taken off course from your dream?
How can you know for sure that your inner guidance is really true and not disguised as the inner tape of your priest or minister, mother or father or some other authority in your life?
What are the spiritual tools that when used, will strengthen this inner wisdom, and when you hear it, you have no doubt of its authenticity?
Your tools are your own. Gather them to your heart and practice using them when you feel confusion and lack of clarity.
Choose your tools wisely and with discernment. When you are led to a particular spiritual practice, and the magnetic pull is powerful and unmistakable, then run with it and call it your own.
An example of one of my latest spiritual methods is keeping a gratitude journal. I write in the journal twice a day, two pages long.
On one page, I write "Thank you, God/ess, for----."
On page two I write "I am so happy and grateful now that---" and write in the present tense that which I wish to manifest in the upcoming months or years.
I notice a lifting of any and all negativity.
For instance, when a person recently said something depressing or negative about another person or about the world situation, the act of writing statements of thankfulness immediately set my mind on a positive track.
Without hesitation, I said something to defend that person or the world, saying it cheerfully and with optimistic enthusiasm.
This surprised even me.
The world is good. All people are good. I wish only good things to everything and everyone.
Wow, an automatic knee jerk reaction that is free and happy!
This is what the gratitude journal is accomplishing for me.
Do you want to add this to your spiritual tool box?
Additionally, here are a series of quotes to fuel your passion for the year ahead:
"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." T. S. Elliot
"Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing." Helen Keller
"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the true meaning of life." Charles Darwin
"There are only two ways to live a life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
"Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal." Anonymous
"The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions." Alfred Adler
"It is better to wear out than to rust out." Richard Cumberland
"Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Goethe
"Life, like a mirror, never gives back more than we put into it." Anonymous.
"And in the end, it is not the years in your life that count, it's the like in your years." Abraham Lincoln
Happy New Year everyone!
Self Improvement 
