Making a New Year’s Intention Rather Than a Resolution

In the Reiki Healing Circle that I facilitate most Sundays after my spiritual community’s service, I have been emphasizing that setting an unconditionally loving intention for healing is more important than concentrating on technique and ritual. If we just allow Life Force Energy to flow through us without causing interruptions by inserting our ego-based will, the outcome will manifest smoothly.

Better health habits are often the subject of New Year’s resolutions. Since New Year’s resolutions are notoriously quickly broken or forgotten, why not apply the same idea of setting an intention rather than a resolution for our annual self-improvement desires?

Intentions are broad thoughts on how you want things to be. They are fluid and flexible, while resolutions are specific and fixed. Resolutions come from a perceived lack; intentions come from infinite abundance. Breaking a resolution can lead to negative self-judgment. An intention creates a daily game plan for your thoughts and actions, allowing behavior adjustments and self-compassion.

On the back cover of my book, “The Art of Radical Self Love”, my stated intention is “…to empower people to rediscover the healer within and integrate that innate knowledge into daily practice so that healing can take place despite dysfunction in the healthcare system”. Well, la de da. Notice any ego-based will in that? Sounds very noble, but it’s other-based rather than personal. A drawback in writing a non-fiction book is that you’re looked upon as an expert. Some non-fiction writers continue to write anyway, ever vigilant for the next lesson in humility.

Speaking of which, around last Thanksgiving, I developed concerning symptoms of a rather intense upper respiratory infection. I continue to have an occasional residual cough, which I assume means my immune system is still recalibrating. These past weeks have been a time of life reassessment. Besides getting sick, a couple of dear friends and a young family member made their transition. The political chaos is very unsettling. My book sales are dismal and I don’t have a clear vision on how to revive them.

Yet right now I feel content and well and grateful. Because I choose to. I have no control over anything other than my thoughts and actions. I renewed my New Year’s intention to express unconditional love to myself and others. And part of that is to be immune to negativity from any source. It doesn’t make reality disappear, it only makes my reaction to it different. I don’t know why bad things happen to good people or vice versa. It’s not my job to know everything. I need to mind my own business. My business, as I see it, is to love the world back to health, one person at a time, beginning with myself, however that looks.

Healing through self love isn’t a one and done – it’s a continuous process. It’s not a resolution, it’s an intention.

Have a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year. Be well giving and receiving all the love the world has to offer.