When I let go of who I am, I become who I might be. —LAO-TZU

Welcome to A NEW YEAR!!!

We know that whatever choices we’ve made, we made them from our highest level of consciousness at the time. But in some cases, a lack of purpose has guided those decisions. In fact, there may be many steps you’ve taken where if you could choose them differently right now, you would. If you have regrets over things you’ve said and done, or choices you’ve made that you wish you could take back, you are not alone.

So many people live in eternal pain, because they are incapable of forgiving themselves; many are afraid to follow their hearts, because they can’t bear the pain of it breaking again; others question their self-worth, because they are convinced God or the Universe does not love them unconditionally, and they won’t forgive themselves, because they don’t believe they are entitled to be free from the karma of their actions.

Here’s the reality: good people can make bad choices. And bad choices don’t make a bad person. The late, great Sufi Master and sage David Simon taught me that if you are willing to wholeheartedly own and accept a choice you’ve made, defenselessly without making any excuses, and if you believe in your heart of hearts that with everything you now know you would make a different choice today in that same situation, then you are worthy of forgiveness and entitled to forgive yourself.

The Divine Principle of REbirth teaches that there is redemption in every moment if you are willing to own your impact, forgive yourself, and make a more conscious choice. The Sacred Power of New Beginnings is your permission slip to take a fresh, new, bold step on the Divine Path of REbirth.

We are more aware now than we were as children. We have the experience and ability to derive more of our self-worth from our own self rather than from others. But we have conditioned and reinforced our less attractive traits over and over every day for decades. We’ve conditioned and reinforced our more attractive traits as well.

The New Beginnings Blueprint is a powerful tool to help you reflect on your decisions, better understand their consequences, and make new, purposeful, nourishing choices going forward.

It contains only seven questions, but they require total, pure, raw honesty. Completing this part of the process will act as your formal initiation into REbirth. Begin to write the answers to these questions. Your responses can be as brief as a few sentences or as deep as thirty pages. It may even become the outline for your next book!

As you proceed, you will witness your new beginning unfolding. So allow the process to flow with innocence, and trust that you are moving toward transformation.

THE NEW BEGINNINGS BLUEPRINT

Use these seven core questions to outline your REbirth blueprint:

1. What has been my Winning Formula?
2. When and why did I create it?
3. What has it brought me?
4. What has it cost me?
5. What is my true vision?
6. What are the five steps I can take to move me from where I am to where I want to be?
7. What is the commitment I make right now?

Note for the high achiever: speed is not the goal. Clarity is critical.

We all can bang out answers in a few minutes, but that would be the old Winning Formula taking over. Reel it back in. We are making a powerful shift and undoing decades of conditioning, so take it slow and easy. Asking and answering these questions may take time. Be patient, but begin now and as the days unfold, you will have your new blueprint developed. You will have begun the process of REbirth!

Question seven asks, “What is the commitment I make right now?” Commitments are sacred contracts that we make with our souls. They are the divine agreements that transcend space and time. They are the foundations of our New Beginnings, because they are pure and carry with them the best of intentions.

Embedded in every commitment is the most devotional desire to transform in some way. The ancient Indian text, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, guides us with the phrase: “You are your deepest driving desire. As is your desire, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.”

Our desire to transform is the seed that sparks the process. And then our commitment helps us to lean in the direction of the dream. Our commitment sits at the very edge of transformation. When we push that edge, energy begins to move creating the path to our REbirth.

This week, let’s make the commitment to ourselves… to explore our blueprint, to meditate, and to launch into 2020 with renewed vision, vigor and vigilance toward our goals!!!

In the meantime, I’ll see you in the gap. Peace. -davidji

davidji is a globally recognized mindbody health & wellness expert, mindful performance trainer, meditation teacher & author of Amazon’s Best Seller destressifying: The Real-World Guide to Personal Empowerment, Lasting Fulfillment, and Peace of Mind, Sacred Powers: The Five Secrets to Transformation and Secrets of Meditation: A Practical Guide to Inner Peace & Personal Transformation, & winner of the Nautilus Book Award. Connect with him on . davidji.com Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Image courtesy of Caroline Hernandez.