“…  one of our great strengths as human beings is our ability to move on.”  — Zainab Salbi,  IN SWEET COMPANY: CONVERSATIONS WITH EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN ABOUT LIVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE

Good things come in small packages. Like the Spiritual Diary, a collection of inspiring thoughts — one for each day of the year — from the writings of Sri Daya Mata’s spiritual teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda. When I first came across this little gem of a book, I was surprised, then deeply touched, that each quote seemed as if it were written just for me. The words I needed were there for me when I needed them most.

So, every year I made it part of my New Year’s routine to purchase another  Spiritual Diary, a sacrament to my fresh start inspired, in fact, by the last entry in the Diary for December: ‘Let us forget the sorrows of the past and make up our minds not to dwell on them in the New Year. With determination and unflinching will, let us renew our lives, our good habits, and our successes. If the last year has been hopelessly bad, the New Year must be hopefully good.”  And though I’ve read these words every December 31 st for more years than I can name, they continue to help me let go of the old, to repeatedly renew my life as if I were born anew each January 1st and hold for Good in the days to come.

I make this pilgrimage for many reasons: to get me moving forward, to reaffirm my belief in Goodness and my power to attract it into my life, sometimes simply because it is a good habit to hold on to. It helps me put my life in the hands of Something Greater than myself, to develop faith, to gain practice in trusting God. As the days pass and I fill the pages with observances about my life, I feel supported.

This little book has become a friend, a partner, a confidant, a fellow traveler and mentor throughout the year. Good things do, indeed, come in small packages.

Your thoughts?

(Quote reprinted from the Spiritual Diary with permission of Self-Realization Fellowship. www.yogananda-srf.org/ )