I have never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions, mostly because I make them and then I break them. I’ve never 
quite been able to accomplish what, on January 1, seemed like such a great and noble idea. So at some point, I resolved to not make resolutions. However, I do believe that the human life is meant to evolve, and in order to evolve, one must look at their life and make intentional decisions about what and how to change for the better.
Changing for the better goes deeper than surface adjustments such as losing weight or swearing off chocolate. Rather, it means shaping one’s life to be more in line with the spiritual principles of empathy, generosity, gratitude, alleviation of suffering, patience, service to others and forgiveness. Marnie Hartmann, a parishioner who passed away last year, used to choose one word each year to live by. At her memorial service, her family passed out rocks with one of those words affixed to it. At my seat in the big church sits a rock named Perseverance.
In her book, “Quantum Wellness”, Kathy Freston lays out “8 Pillars of Wellness”:
- Meditation – take even five minutes a day to stop and be still and be silent.
- Visualization – imagine a roadmap for where you want to go or who you want to be.
- Conscious Eating – know from where your food comes, how it is produced, and the cost of your choices to both humans and animals.
- Fun – build levity into your lives, find opportunities for laughter, and have fun!
- Exercise – move your body for the sake of bringing it more alive.
- Self Work – examine your life, be curious about how to be more authentically you.
- Spiritual Work – seek messages of hope, healing, and peace for yourself and the world.
- Service to Others – lend a hand for the sole purpose of being helpful and useful.
Freston points out that the effort need not be a massive change, but can be a “leaning into” each of these pillars, slowly integrating them into our lives a little at a time until one day, we realize we are naturally practicing each of these pillars and our lives are now more well than they had been. Freston also points out that in order to be fully awakened to the possibility of our lives, we must turn towards the darkness that is within us and in the world. We cannot make real change without seeing the need for real change. If we deny or ignore the darkness, then we will find no need or reason to cast the light.
The pillar that most resonates with me these days is number three, conscious eating. Ron and I changed to a plant-based diet almost two years ago. Initially, we did it for health reasons. Our doctor and nutritionist recommended eliminating meat and dairy in order to have optimal inner-health to stave off Ron’s cancer from growing. We started by watching the documentary “Forks Over Knives” (and I recommend this to everyone – it’s on Netflix), and we made the change. While the motivation was health, I have become more and more aware of the darkness of the impact of animal production for food on the environment and on the sensate animals that are killed. With global warming at critical levels and with the increased evidence that animals encompass a full range of emotions, conscious eating has moved from simply a health decision to one also based on the desire to cast a light on the environment and my own ethical behavior.
Reducing or eliminating meat and possibly dairy from one’s diet is a personal choice, but something I encourage everyone to consider. However, this is only one of the eight pillars suggested by Freston. On a wider scale, I encourage everyone to “lean-in” to as many of these principles as possible. Lean into silence, into creating a picture of a life of wellness, into being aware of what you are eating, into laughing and playing more, into taking a walk today, into facing your sin, into turning towards God, into turning towards someone in need.
And in everything, seek the strength and courage of God to guide you along the way to a whole and healthy life.
~Lori+