This is, as we all know too well, the time that we make resolutions and set goals for ourselves. It comes along with the new year, it is pretty much what we all do. It can be inspiring - it can serve as a reset to old patterns and certainly it gives us a moment to reflect on what we might need more, or less of. But from what I've read and heard lately the resolution must come from a deeper place than our thinking mind. It is absolutely essential, that in order to achieve our goals, our goals must have a deeper meaning. The meaning is about our hearts desire and how we feel about our goals and the reason we set them. The resolution has to resonate with our emotional and spiritual selves. The simple goals of walking more or drinking less are not about the action - it is about how it makes you feel to think about walking more or drinking less - what kind of sense comes through you when you imagine how you might feel and what you might experience.? Resolution, thereby comes as your heart's desire rather than from will power. It has more depth, meaning and will be more likely to attain since it is a connection rather than a judgment.
Since the root word for resolution comes from resolve and In Sanskrit the word for resolve is San kalpa - we go to the source to find true meaning. San Kalpa is defined as:
San ~ Born from the heart
kalpa ~ Unfolding over time
It seems that with our true heart's desire free to blossom, resolution is a form of sending out rather than chasing after. What sustains a resolution is a willingness to grow and learn rather that the will to achieve. In a sense we must get out of our own way and begin by setting our heart's desire free.
When we know that our resolutions will lead to well being and connect us to our higher selves it sets up a momentum that flows with joy. It is not to become different or improved it is to become what we already are but have not realized yet. I'd say that is a lot less daunting and a lot more inviting...and maybe even fun
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Which leads to the relationship of enthusiasm to resolutions. According to Eckhart Tolle "Enthusiasm is the third modality of awakened doing - it is when a goal is set or a vision is put in place ...connected to, in some way, to what we are already doing and enjoying doing"
"When you add a goal to the enjoyment of what you do - the energy field or vibrational frequency changes. At the height of creative activity fueled by enthusiasm, there will be enormous intensity and energy behind what you do. You will feel like an arrow that is moving toward the target - and enjoying the journey."
If enthusiasm has a high energy frequency and resonates with the universal creative power - that means we can surrender our hearts desire with a sense of enthusiasm and enjoy the ride!
We set the ego aside and allow the heart to expand, while looking to our goals as a way of being more ourselves. Rather than bettering or improving ourselves.
It is, in a sense, a form of conscious surrendering. We surrender our ego to a higher purpose - which is Ishvara Pranidhana...a frequently repeated concept within the Yoga Sutras, as well as the fifth 'Zenith' teaching of Niyamas - on the eight limbed path of yoga.
Instead of the ego working so hard to get its way and fighting to accomplish our goal, perhaps we can focus our mind, connect to our most heartfelt desires, and channel the divine energy within. ! - By connecting rather than correcting we can untie, loosen and release our desires with enthusiasm and an open heart out into the universe while we let go of results and live in the moment - one day at a time.
"Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiam" - Ralph Waldo Emerson