Greeting the New Year

We need rituals to set times apart. Part of them are celebrations for times past, part is celebrations for times to come. Because rituals are like a coin that has two faces. A full ritual acknowledges both sides of life, the past and the future. Staying right in the intersection is where we find the present moment of life. It is slim, also like a coin, and where value is held. We need rituals to remember that sliver of time where we inhabit the present.

Religions provide rituals; they are full of them. And it is a great function of religion. However, for anyone who leads a secular life, awareness of the need for rituals must be a personal project. For odds, we are in a time when secular life is the way of life for the majority of people. The truth is that in our secular times, religion is a veneer of experience for most.

So, how do we truly celebrate a New Year? How do we acknowledge the past and the future is a ritual that is truly our own? A piece of advice is to set aside time for connecting with the energy that needs renewal. It may be a steady life when everything feels right, and the way forward is to stay in the same energy; it may be a changing life when what talks to us is the need for change; it may be a new life when what we hope is for a makeover. In any form that you envision the future, with love and hope, make room for it in your heart.

Then, awaken your heart. The human heart is where the soul and body are connected. The human heart is a house of hope. The intention to do and have an impact comes from the heart. And hope to stay in life also comes from the heart. For a celebration, we need the heart to be bright and full of desire. My own practice for awakening the heart is to reflect on the gifts that life has brought me and let my heart vibrate with the gratitude of a well-lived life. You may be surprised by the number of gifts in your life. Gifts may take many forms; they may be skills, love, resources, or special messages. Gifts are potent ways in which the universe talks with us and supports us in our purpose.

Then, center your attention on what matters in the present. We tend to drift into what should matter but make an effort to stay in the now you really care about. Just one minute, just a few seconds. Connecting attention to what matters is a way to heal the weeks of busyness that take you nowhere. And the months of scattered attention, trying to do more than is humanly possible. Knowing what I know, I can assure you that none of that truly matters. The only true doings are those that change the world for someone, with a lesson for you, and the time to understand that lesson. A hurried life is the recipe for haste and waste. So, focus your attention and be still.

Then, stay focused on what matters, and invite your intention to join the party. Attention and intention are the doers in our realm. Attention is a substance of the mind; intention is a spark from the heart. They work together to command the action with your hands and energy. And if they are not working together, we may find ourselves stuck in the trenches. One without the other is useless. With a bit of steady loving discipline, they align quickly, for it is their drive. With attention and intention, two parts of the puzzle are in place. Next stop is the actual energy to act in the world.

Doing is our human drive. Doing means anything that is your yearning. It could be writing, building, or steadily supporting someone, or anything that you find moving. Doing is as diverse as humanity, with the added savour that what we yearn to do evolves as we age and grow. Doing is a word to convey the many activities you are able to choose to do, given your skills, interests, standing, resources, and health. Anything goes. Doing is a drive in our life, and the fire that we need to protect from scattered lives or hopelessness. Doing is our drive and our sustenance.

So, with the exercise of inviting each of your parts to join, doing should become easier and easier. When we are not doing what we feel we should, what we are seeing is misalignment in a team where someone is missing. A bit of time is the way forward. Time with intention to find the way forward and greet the New Year. Not with grueling punishment but with the loving discipline that grows in your heart.

With love, from Aurora, Colorado

On the 30th of December of 2025

Alejandro Rodríguez aka Master Ale