Today is the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the day that marks the balance point between seasons, between dark and light. 

As the year draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the shifting tides of our lives and how to align our hearts and actions with what we value most. (It’s the subject of a new book I’m writing, Training the Heart, which I announced in my last newsletter).

If we don’t consciously train the heart, the world will shape it for us. If we don’t choose our own priorities, the forces of our society, economy, and media will choose them for us. And these forces do not typically have our welfare in mind. 

The tides of our rapidly changing world, with its incessant pressures, demands, and desires, can rise up and flood us. Tides of urgency, confusion and fear, of consumption and accumulation can push us around in a frenzy, pull us along in a daze, or spin us around in a blur. They can grind us down and sap our energy.

Like swimming against a strong current, it takes steady, gentle, continuous effort to find our way and to stay true to our hearts in this complex world.

Where we place our attention, how we use our time and energy, is one of the most important decisions we make every moment of every day. 

It’s not easy, yet there are two saving graces in all of this. 

The first is that it’s possible. It’s entirely within our reach to swim against these currents instead of being carried along by them. As the Buddha once said, “If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it. But because it is possible, I say to you: develop the good, the beautiful, let it guide your life.”

The second grace is that it’s a unique, creative, and natural process. Transforming the forces of greed, fear, hatred and ignorance can be joyful. Remembering our potential and aligning ourselves with our deepest vision for life can happen in any moment, and it can be filled with lightness and beauty. 

Sometimes, all it takes is a small moment of connection, of slowing down, or remembering. This morning, looking out our window, my heart lifted as I noticed the light shining on the wet leaves after a night’s rain. Perhaps it’s looking at a photo of a dear relative, caring for a child or pet, or appreciating the living, breathing plants that share the air on this planet with us. 

For so many, it’s been a heavy year. Personally, I feel some relief as we cross this turning point and begin to welcome longer days and more light. 

However it is for you right now, may this season be a time of renewal. May you find the space and clarity to reconnect to what’s most important to you.

With kindness,

Oren

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