“Well,” I said to myself, “that’s appropriate. After all, this is
our first newsletter of the New Year 2004. And we’re publishing it
on the first day of 2004.” And so I got to thinking about my life
and about new beginnings. There’ve been many times over the years
when I’ve yearned for a new beginning, a fresh start, a “tabula
rasa,” a clean slate. My “mistakes” would be obliterated and I
would forge ahead unencumbered by my past. (Although, as many of
you know, Joseph always says there are no mistakes.) I just wanted
to forget the past and start anew. Have you ever felt that way?
Here’s Joseph.
Chief Joseph
Dear ones, you often hunger for a new beginning in your lives, a place
where you can start anew, and with no past “baggage” weighing you down. That
desire, that yearning, is a most commendable one. You celebrate the new year in
various ways and at various times in your human cultures. And that also is most
commendable. It always feels good, doesn’t it, when you have a new beginning? A
place from which you can launch all your desires and dreams. A place from which
you feel energized and empowered.
But what usually happens after that new year’s celebration? You know the
answer as well as we do. Often, the desires and dreams gradually fade, and soon
they are but a dim and distant memory, all but forgotten. And then another new
year celebration comes along. And again you feel excited and exhilarated,
positive and passionate about the future. And then, after the celebration —
well, you know how it all goes — you know the litany.
What if we told you that you could feel the excitement, the passion, the
joy of the new year more than once a year? Would you be interested in hearing
about it? Dear ones, your lives were never meant to be static and unchanging.
You did not come to this lifetime to achieve one goal, whatever that may mean to
you, and then to bask in the achievement for the rest of your days. Life is not
a destination. It’s a journey. And you will never be done with that journey.
There is no destination. Not in this life, not in any of your other lives,
physical or nonphysical. Your journey is your destination. You’ll never get it
done. And that is the beauty and glory of you and your life path.
Since you never get it done, you cannot get it wrong. There are no mistakes.
There are no accidents. There are no coincidences. And, most of all, there is
nothing wrong. There is nothing right. It all just is. And it’s all supposed to
be fun. So enjoy the journey, dear ones. You have more chances at new beginnings
than you have ever imagined.
New beginnings don’t happen just once a year. Every day, when you awaken from
your slumber, you have a new beginning. If you awoke every morning and refused
to dwell, even for a brief moment, on anything from your past that did not feel
good, you could launch yourself into the most deliriously happy day you have
ever known. Each sunrise can be a new beginning for you. At each sunrise, look
only forward and feel the joy, the passion your soul, your higher self, feels at
every moment of eternity.
Every time you breathe in and breathe out, dear ones, is a new beginning. Every
breath in and every breath out is a new beginning. You are literally not the
same being from one breath to the next. The cells in your body are refreshed,
renewed, revitalized with every breath you take. You literally die with every
out-breath. And you are born again with every in-breath. Every breath is a new
beginning. It is only your insistence on dwelling in the past that keeps you
there.
In every present moment you have the opportunity to begin your life anew fresh,
clean, and pure as a newborn babe. So do you want a new beginning, dear ones?
Then look only to your next breath. And live the joy of that new beginning.
Immerse yourself in the pleasure and passion of it. Know, beyond all doubt or
question, you are truly and literally reborn with each breath. And you can
create whatever reality you want from that glorious new beginning.
