Renewal Law # 21

...Think of Spring and the great lessons of each new season.  Renewal is at hand in every moment…there are those who can catalyze newness and growth for us all.

Cynthia F. Davidson, excerpt from the Wisdom Wheel Renewal card 

(cards, stones, posters & more available via www.thewisdomwheel.com)

Let's give ourselves the next ten days for some Renewal. 

Will that be long enough? 

How do you renew yourself? 

When has Renewal happened before?

What catalyzes your new feelings and new thinking? 

Some times we must seek Renewal out deliberately, when life gets dull and stale and we know we're in a rut. Taking a 'mental health day' or a vacation can restart your engines when you just need a rest, but genuine Renewal might require big changes. 

When we take too much for granted, tragedy strikes, death or disaster arrives and Renewal is forced upon us. The Law of Choices comes before Renewal on the Wisdom Wheel for a reason. Be wise enough to seize the initiative and make the Choices you are sensing the need for, before Renewal is thrust upon you. 

New projects, places and possibilities can always be explored, as can new ideas, people and different kinds of relationships. Seek out newness in all its forms during these ten days. Renewal can come from simplifying your life. Make time for what truly matters to you this week. Say no to whatever needs releasing. Renew your promises to yourself and your vows to others. 

For these ten days, bring up the subject of Renewal in your conversations with family members and friends. Consider what physical Renewal might entail. A make over? More exercise? Better eating? A haircut? Up dating your wardrobe? What would emotional Renewal feel like? And intellectual and spiritual Renewal? Start something today in at least two of these categories.

Here are some words of wisdom about Renewal from others. 

                                                           

Renewal is the key to survival and passion in all realms of life.

Shmuley Boteach, author of Renewal: A Guide to the Values-Filled Life

So as long as a person is capable of self-renewal, they are a living being.

Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss writer known for his Journals

If you've lost focus, just sit down and be still. Take the idea and rock it to and fro. Keep some of it and throw some away, and it will renew itself. You need do no more.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I don’t know what you learned from books, but the most important thing I learned from my grandfathers was that there is a part of the mind which we really don’t know about, and that’s the part that is most important in whether we become sick or remain well.  

Thomas Largewhiskers, Navaho medicine man

Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.

Marianne Williamson, American author and spiritual leader

The only real hope of people today is probably a renewal of our certainty that we are rooted in the earth and at the same time we are part of the cosmos. This awareness endows us with the capacity for self-transcendence… (this) is the truly reliable path to co-existence in today’s multi-cultural world…(we) must start from what’s at the root of all cultures and what lies infinitely deeper in human hearts and mind than political opinions.

Vaclav Havel, past President of Czech Republic, remarks taken from 1995 speech

Becoming honest is an act of self-renewal.

Angeles Arrien

The way to be new is to be yourself.

Steve Tourre

Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state.  Suffering can be likened to a baptism - the passing over the threshold of pain and grief and anguish to claim a new state of being.

George Elliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) (1819-1880), English author, works include Middlemarch

Retreat: a place and time for you to get reacquainted with you; the ebb in ebb and flow; a solitary sanctuary for renewal; a safe haven; a snug den, a refuge.

Corrie Woods

If you watch how nature deals with adversity, continually renewing itself, you cannot help but learn.

Bernie S. Siegel, American psychologist and bestselling author

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Leo Buscaglia

When tears come, I breathe deeply and rest.  I know I am swimming in a hallowed stream where many have gone before.  I am not alone, crazy, or having a nervous breakdown…. My heart is at work, my soul is awake.

Mary Margaret Funk, author of Thoughts Matter: the Practice of a Spiritual Life

The phoenix was the mythical bird that was consumed by fire, so a new being could be resurrected from the ashes. In true spiritual growth, transformation at core level is necessary to gain access to truth and wisdom. The phoenix represents that capacity.

Delyne Marie

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

Buddha (563-483 B.C.) Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism

In ten days we'll take up the 22nd Law of Purification, until then focus on your Renewal.