The gearing of the heart, the Spiritual Home

M.K. – CONTRIBUTOR

Every New Year, all kinds of people set new resolutions seeking to renew their life and fix old habits while building new ones. This new year, like many other new years, signifies a regeneration of the self. This applies for all people who are seeking to grow in their spiritual self, whether they are a Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, atheist, etc. Everyone is looking forward to a new self – a renewed and better self. Hoping for the best but perhaps expecting the worst; hoping to be better but perhaps not expecting any actual change.  

This is the issue with us human beings. We are willing to change, we are willing to get better and we set numerous goals and make amends to get there, but the problem is that we are always prone to failure. Whether we recognize this failure or accept this mistake, it is evident in our lives through the eyes of those around us.  

We set our goals from the beginning of the first day of January, and by the next week, or even by the second day, for some of us, we feel that we are slipping in our willingness to carry these resolutions through. By this time, we might have already given up hope that there will be any new change or renewed self in 2017.  

So, what is the problem? Why is it so easy for us to slip? Why is it that every new year, there is no change? And if that is the case, why should we even set these New Year resolutions in hopes to better ourselves, only to be disappointed with ourselves and the reality of our life?  

This is because the problem of our failings and slip-ups lie in the core of our beings, which is the heart. The heart, or the spiritual soul, is the engine of our selves. It is through the ignition of the soul, when the engines and gears of our soul are fired up, that real change can occur. When the very root of our being is removed from a place of bitterness, anger, selfishness and greed, etc. to a place of freedom, love, compassion, kindness and selflessness then it will show, externally, in our daily lives, as a natural overflow of the change in our heart. And this is how we can affect the world around us, our culture and the society that we live positively.  

If those of you who are reading relate to what I have written, I want to challenge you to reflect on your own self. Be honest with yourself, and see what the root of the problem might be for you in your heart, so that this New Year in 2017 you can be truly renewed in the soul.