New Beginnings that Bring You Freedom

We have a psychological and spiritual need to experience new beginnings because then we can experience two very important states:

1. The state of transcendence
2. The state of redemption

Transcendence helps us lift our awareness above the business-as-usual life that is bound to our sense of local identity. Being caught up in surviving in this material world it is easy to become narrowed down to the extent that we end up just repeating the same old stuff year in, year out, waiting till we grow old and “retire.”

A new beginning enables us to rise above this; to set our sights on a vision or a dream that will fulfil who we are and enable us to live a more dynamic life of value and purpose. It allows us to harvest whatever strength, wisdom and grace we have developed, and bring that to a new path that we now more consciously choose.

New beginnings can also bring redemption.

Who has not done things they regret, or are ashamed of? Who has not messed up in some way? With a new beginning we get the chance to do it differently. We cannot change the past but we can choose to change the present and the future. A new beginning reminds us that our past need not equal our future. We can redeem our so-called mistakes and create a life of conscious value and purpose.

So, what creates a new beginning? Taking a break over the summer holiday period does not necessarily create a new beginning. Hopefully, after your annual holiday you will feel physically rested and psychologically ready to embrace the New Year. But this rest and recreation is very different from a true new beginning, which is a deep experience of release and renewal.

A true new beginning requires a new sense of identity and new awareness. For example, a New Year’s resolution to get fit or improve your diet, or stop smoking, usually comes from a genuine desire to change or improve, but does it spring from a release of the old self that lived with those patterns. If you continue to define yourself in the same old ways, except now a little fitter or healthier, then nothing has really changed. You are still living with the same stale attachments, perceptions, patterns and attitudes. You are trying to force a new pattern onto the old you. It will not work.

The life that throbs in your body is renewing itself constantly. Every day millions of old cells die while millions of new cells are created to replace them. Many of the body’s organs and systems are renewed every few months. And yet do you renew your mind and spirit in the same way? Or do you continue to hold onto the same opinions, judgements, fears and patterns. And then wonder why your life has lost the sense of joy and adventure that you once enjoyed as a child.

If you were able to wake tomorrow morning and see the world as if for the first time, then that would be a true new beginning. If you could let go of your old certainties and be open to what this moment has to offer you, then that would be a true new beginning. If you could regain the enthusiasm for each new day that a child has, that would be a new beginning. If you could be profoundly moved by the beauty of a roadside flower that would be a new beginning.

We tend to think about new beginnings at special times, such as New Year, or our birthday, yet we can live in that state every day. We can learn so much about this from the world around us. See how excited your dog gets about going for the same walk every day. For the dog it is a new moment, a new beginning, a new adventure. Every morning the birds sing their hearts out as though it is the very first morning.

Every moment, and every breath, is a new beginning but how often do we really experience that. We allow time to drift by, sometimes aimlessly, and continue to drag the old into the new. It takes commitment, courage, honesty and passion to create a new beginning because it means confronting patterns and tendencies that are habitual and carry a strong emotional investment. The commitment to a true new beginning requires you to deal with all these unresolved emotions, especially fear.

To be honest fear is the only thing that stops us from renewing ourselves each and every day. Fear causes us to hold on to the same old definitions of ourselves and stops us from making radical changes both in our consciousness and in our lives. But as soon as we start to let go of fear then we start to transform, and that can lead to a true new beginning. Every tradition tells us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. That is a challenging journey, renewing your mind, but it is completely rewarding. And it allows you to experience the full power and liberation of a true new beginning.

It may also seem confusing to transform yourself by renewing your mind but you can start right where you are now. The first step is to understand your mind and its movements. As you understand your mind by watching it in action then you develop the ability to recognise your true identity that exists beyond all the conditioning which drives the mind. You ae then already well on the way to a new beginning that will bring you freedom and fulfilment.

Practise the following meditation regularly and enjoy the results.

1. Sit in a relaxed position with the back as upright
as possible.

2. Take three deep slow breaths, and with each
out breath let go and relax.

3. Gently bring your awareness to your breathing and
simply observe it.

4. Don’t change the breath in any way and don’t try to
create any effect.

5. Simply watch the process of breathing and feel it in
the body.

6. Allow thoughts to come and go without resisting them
or indulging them.

7. As you realise you are following a thought let it go
and come back to your breath.

8. Let go of the desire to experience or achieve
something.

9. Just be the interested observer, without clinging or
resisting.

10. When you are ready become aware of your
surroundings, gently stretch the body, and open your
eyes.

11. Enjoy.