The new year is often a time for new resolutions, new intentions, or even just hitting refresh. “New year, new you” is a marketing slogan that is embraced or loathed. It could be both. We’re not only new every year, but every minute, every second, every moment of every day. That is not pressure but an opportunity. 

You don’t have one time a year to renew yourself. It can happen every day, many times a day. There is no one moment that is the right moment for everyone. What works well for me may not work for you, and vice versa. And do you need to ever be new?

You are already, in this moment and every moment more than enough. You are Divine, all-powerful, beautiful, intelligent, wise, compassionate, and happy. We all are. Although it’s possible that you don’t feel all (or any) of those things. 

Instead of looking at the new year as a time to change ourselves, why not look at the new year as a time to become ourselves? Let’s make the new year a time to embrace all that we are, and all that we can become. Instead of “new year, new you”, let’s go for new year, new discoveries about who we are. 

In Be More, each chapter ends with action steps. I’m assuming most readers won’t do them all, but I included a variety so there is something that resonates with everyone. Many take less than a minute but are a way to refresh perspective and understanding. Below are a few sample action steps from Be More to get you started on discovering more of yourself, and embracing all that beauty and power waiting and already there. 

1. Remember. Think of what you’ve learned in the last few months. How has the process of learning changed you? What has your effort to learn taught you? How has that changed the quality of your life? With this, notice how the attitude to constantly learn improves the quality of your life.

2. Write. Write a story from another perspective. If you find yourself judging a situation, sit quietly and then write the same situation from the other person’s perspective. What were they thinking? What were they trying to achieve? How can you help them?

3. Admire. “Wherever women are honored there is happiness and joyfulness.” ~ Smritis 

Collect photos on your phone or Instagram of various expressions of women in your life that you appreciate. Why are these photos important to you? What about their expressions reach you? How does this connect to the expression “woman is divine”?

4. Remember. When have you given the gift of love to others this week or this month? How did you feel during and after? How did loving change you?

These action steps are taken from several Threads in Be More, on themes of love, learning, honoring the Divine in everyone but especially in women, and removing judgment. They are small steps that, in even a few minutes, can refresh perspective. What would you love to learn? How do you want to grow in love or remove judgment for yourself and others this year? 

Wishing you a beautiful year of discovery.

In Be More, there are three chapters on love. To some, that might seem excessive. But I have a lot to say on love! Love takes a million different forms, and it transforming ability is nearly unsurpassed. It is a universal principal of religions and spiritual traditions. And quite honestly, the world needs more love.

Love is described beautifully in those texts. Love is patience, love is kindness. God is Love. Supreme unification is Love. Some, like Budhism, describe different types of love, from sensuous love to compassionate love, benevolent love, and self-less love. There are also descriptions of Divine love and unification. 

We’ll touch on all of that more, but first, in this holiday season, let’s talk about love. It is a supreme gift and blessing – both for the giver and for the receiver. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter on love: The Answer to Love, is to Love More: 

“Love is the sweet expression of life; it is the supreme content of life. 

Love is the force of life, powerful and sublime. 

The flower of life blooms in love and radiates love all around it.” 

~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

The flower of life blooms, and when it blooms, it radiates love all around. Love is the force of life. What an incredible power is love! Love is both a path and a goal. Whenever you are loving, you bring justice to life. 

Love is not just an emotion. Love is honored when it makes something right. With loving, life is honored; and the lives of those being loved improve. 

The single ability I am most grateful for is the ability to love. Love makes hard moments beautiful and tender moments divine. Love bridges gaps and gulfs too wide to span and creates unity. Every expression of love at every moment of life expresses the most significant, valuable essence of the life of a human being. 

While it can come naturally, love can also be cultivated and will grow. I’m not talking only about romantic love, although love certainly encompasses romance. This encompasses all types of love: love of friends and family, of the world, of the divine, and of life.

I first noticed the ability to keep loving when I was young. I cared so much about what happened to others in my small town. Of course, small towns are ripe with gossip, and ours was no exception, but I was not just joining the gossip mill. I felt like a silent cheerleader wishing for the success of my classmates, my teachers, my friends, and even other students in school that I didn’t know.

I want them to achieve all they dreamed to be and more. I am so happy when I hear of their successes, their happiness, and their progress. Perhaps some will say this is strange. But I realized long ago that I will always care about the people I hold dear, no matter how our paths diverge.

From a distance, I’m celebrating the middle-school best friend who is now happily married and a well-known sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant. I’m rooting for the now tri-lingual, high-powered NYC lawyer who used to be in my gymnastics class and was one of the kindest people I knew. There are many others with so many accolades that it would be difficult to list here. But even as decades pass, the care doesn’t fade. I am wishing and rooting for the success of people whose paths I crossed on the journey of life. But most of all, I am wishing for their happiness and peace.

 In the age of social media, we can usually discover what the people who are no longer directly a part of our lives are doing, or at least see a snapshot of their highlight reels. Many see that as a rabbit hole of comparison or jealousy, giving rise to feelings of inadequacy. I choose to love the people I am connected with and wish them well. That simple, daily act of loving frees the soul to love more.

Different Currents of Love

We can talk about different types of love based on connection, from acquaintances to friends, romantic partners, and even to love of the divine directly. The answer to all types of love is the same: love more.

What is described above is the first kind of love: the choice to love everyone in your life, however distantly they are still connected, regardless of their behavior toward you. Just that simple act is liberating. It frees you from the trap of comparison and brings simple joy with each new accomplishment. It might not appear like a life-altering choice, but it starts to change your perspective on others and on life.

There is a second kind of love that is more challenging: it is the choice to love those who have consciously hurt you. It is more difficult to genuinely rise to love after being hurt. This is real power and takes a pure heart. We’ve all been hurt, and unfortunately, in most cases, we’ve all also hurt someone, either intentionally or unintentionally. The act of loving those who’ve hurt you is in this way also an act of love to yourself.

It feels good to be kind to someone, even when it is unfair. This act of love takes constant cultivation. There is an ancient Tibetan saying that to hold onto a grudge is like swallowing poison and expecting it to hurt the other person. The only person who is hurt by being angry, upset, or holding a grudge is you. By choosing to love, you set yourself free.

Let go and love. Live life with love. Stop presuming you are the judge or the jury and just be in love. It costs nothing—and yet it means everything. The door is open; let your heart be open to the gift of life and love.

To finding and living more love each day,

Alison

One recurring theme in both Be More and in my life is the idea that anything is possible. In fact, I choose it as the second “thread” because being open to all possibilities is, in many ways, the first step to achieving whatever you desire.

Anything is possible resonates so deeply with me because the concept of enlightenment or “something more” is so enormous. If we were to follow our logic or base the idea of possibilities on what others have achieved, we would be left believing the whole spiritual world of possibilities was more of a fantasy than a reality. But it is reality, and my experience tells me it is more real than what we think of as reality. 

Here’s an excerpt from thread two, anything is possible:

“When I say anything is possible, I mean ANYTHING is possible.” 

~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

What an incredible, powerful vision of reality. If anything is possible, then truly there are no limits. 

Rumi describes this in another way: “This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.”

Who wouldn’t love to fly to a secret sky and step without feet? I certainly would. Who wouldn’t love to make anything possible? While in later parts of this book we’ll talk about how happiness, love, and attention can all transform life, this thread of wisdom is a reminder that what seems impractical could be deeply practical.

Something as seemingly poetic and whimsical as a secret sky and stepping without feet is as real as the love new parents feel when they meet their child. Changing life through love, happiness, and attention is as real as an inexplicable connection in meeting a new person. They are as real as the feeling of pride for a country, devotion to religion, or love of God. What seems impossible is, in fact, possible.

I chose the phrase “Anything is possible” because I truly believe it. I’ve seen it in my life as well as in the lives of others. Miracles are all around us. The impossible becomes possible in both little and big ways daily.

From the miracle of an infertile woman getting pregnant to the miracle of an unexpected recovery from illness, life is full of miracles. Even the sun rising every day, the warm breeze on your skin, and the joy you feel in seeing a loved one are little miracles of living.

The bigger miracle is that humans, with our limitations and shortcomings, can consider, and even experience, that anything is possible. The fact that we can experience the world through our senses and even go beyond our senses is a miracle. The phrase “Anything is possible” means that miracles are possible. “Anything is possible” means that more than our wildest dreams are possible.

When you really desire something, there are ways and means in nature to make it happen. There is no need to plan out the why and how. Nature will have a million ways and paths to bring new possibilities and to help you fulfill the deepest desires you didn’t even know you had.

This thread of wisdom is also for the moments when you want something you don’t deserve or don’t think you could ever achieve. “Anything is possible” is for the person in poverty who wants to be a billionaire. It is possible for the person who feels alone to find love and companionship. The reminder that “Anything is possible” is for the person who is always sad to find eternal happiness.

The Brain Can Create All Possibilities

This reality of all possibilities is seen in the brain in neuroplasticity. Every experience changes the brain. Even with trauma, stress, or PTSD, the brain, with the right tools, can enliven its full potential and become whole.

Dr. Fred Travis summarizes this in his book, The Brain is a River, Not a Rock:

“The understanding that our brain changes with every experience has transformed thinking and research in neuroscience. Twenty years ago, neuroscientists thought brain circuits only changed during critical periods when children were very young. Now, it is known that experience changes the brain from birth to old age. Life can be pictured as the progressive development of brain circuits leading to the progressive transformation of how we see the world.

Our whole life is the expression of changing brain connections that limit what we can experience and understand, and also are changed by each experience. Our current brain connections are the sum of all of our past experiences. The brain connections we wake up with tomorrow reflect the decisions we made today for specific experiences. It’s up to us. We do create our reality; not by belief and affirmation, but by doing. We are in control. We can create whatever reality we want to have in our lives.”

To say “Anything is possible” is not a nice, inspirational slogan. It is a physical reality. With the right tools for transformation, and with focus, we can change our reality, day by day, year by year.

A few more thoughts

With that, idea what did you think was impossible that you now consider possible? What do you want to achieve? Of course, the ability to experience your own pure consciousness will make it easier to open the door of all possibilities. But from where you are now, what do you want to achieve? Knowing that anything is possible, can you see yourself accomplishing it?

To your happiness, and deepest fulfillment,

Alison