My New Tradition for the New Year
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Throughout the ages, people have embraced a myriad of traditions to celebrate special occasions.
We still have traditions here in America, but it seems like a lot has been lost over the ages.
Usually, for the new year in America, we do things like cook special meals, watch fireworks, or make a New Year’s resolution.
I’ve decided to add something special and different this year. I’m going to incorporate my own spin on the New Year’s resolution. I think it’s great to add your own traditions to the important dates in your life.
Here’s my own new tradition
– Start five days before New Year’s Day
– Get five candles – I’m just using simple tea-light candles.
-Get out a piece of paper, and write down an aspect of your life or yourself that you want to change – one for each day/candle – so five total things that you want to change.
-Each day, lay out the five candles, starting on the fifth day from the new year.
– Each day, state one of the five things that you want to leave behind in this new year. Meditate on how this feeling feels, and then blow out the candle – symbolizing the disappearance of that aspect of your life. You focus on only one thing per day.
For example, if you experience too much fear in your life, focus for a minute on how that feels. Feel the situations in your life that have caused you to feel fear. Then blow out the one candle that represents that fear. After blowing the candle out, say out loud the new feeling that will replace that fear – talk about how you will embrace confidence and how that will feel.
-Basically, do this each day before the new year – for five days. The first day, I’ll have five candles lit, and blow out one. The second day, I’ll still have all five candles present, but only light four, and blow the fourth one out…and so on.
– On the last day – New Year’s eve – I will throw away all of the candles after the last candle is blown out.
– On the first day of the new year – 2012 – I will light one big candle, and know all five things that it represents – the opposite of the things I want to disappear.
– In addition to this, I will declutter my home – and get rid of certain things to make room for the new in my life. This will have a physical benefit for my living space, but it will also have a spiritual benefit as well. This must be completed by the first day of the new year.
Put your own spin on it
You can put your own spin on this, and do what feels right to you – even if it’s just writing down the aspects of your life that you want to leave behind along with the new aspects you want to embrace.
For me, this is a form of inner reflection, and it’s an opportunity for spiritual growth. And this can be something that you do alone, or you can incorporate it into your family’s traditions as well.
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