It’s a New Year – 2023 – and many of us are turning our thoughts to what we’re going to do differently in the coming year, and how it’s hopefully going to improve our lives. Then when the end of the year rolls around, we’ll probably look back with disappointment, because nothing’s changed much. So then we start to wonder what we can do next year … and so it goes on. Sound familiar?
Well, if the big changes aren’t making a difference, why not concentrate on the little things, and see how that goes? A few days ago, I decided that what I really needed to do in 2023 was to find the joy in the little things, fully celebrate it, and then I would be ready for the next joyful thing, rather than being stuck in an energy of waiting for things to go wrong. I’m generally a positive person, but the last few weeks have been expensive, and it’s not just the cost of Christmas. There’s been a few unexpected items I won’t bore you with, but suffice to say I’ve spent more time than I should have wondering how I’m going to get through the next couple of months financially.
If you work with energy, you know that’s Not a Good Thing, because what you focus on is what you attract into your life, and I could see I would attract more calls on my budget if I didn’t get out of that mindset pretty soon, and something needed to happen before the end of 2022. I didn’t want to start the New Year on a negative note, because the 1:1 energy portal of 1 January is very powerful, and I wanted be in the best possible shape, spiritually and emotionally. The Number 1 is important spiritually, as this article explains. It’s a number associated with new beginnings, self care and manifestation. It reminds us that we should always be the ‘Number One’ person in our own lives, and we should trust our instincts to lead us along the right path. The 1: 1 portal amplifies this, as we have the number one repeated.
I asked the Angels a few days ago for signs that my thinking around this was right, and as usual, they didn’t let me down! The first sign was pretty random; someone on a local Facebook page asked about buying crystals, and a friend tagged me in a comment. There were several responses, but the lady felt drawn to me, and we arranged to meet up, to talk about crystals and other spiritual stuff. We enjoyed a pleasant and uplifting hour or so together, and we’re now firm friends. As a bonus, she bought a few crystals from me, which obviously helped out practically, but the most important thing for me was our newly formed spiritual connection, and she felt exactly the same. Thank you, Universe, for bringing me a new friend.
The following day – New Year’s Eve – the Angels were obviously working overtime, because the signs came thick and fast. I took Luna and Gizmo for a nice long walk, as they were going to be left for quite a while in the evening. Normally Glenys comes along as well, but she wanted to rest up ready for the evening, so I took both dogs and also stopped off for a drink at a local bar. Luna behaved impeccably – so much so that as we left, somebody said the words I never thought I’d hear:
You should be proud of those dogs – they are so well behaved.
It may not sound much, but in the three years or so since Luna came to me, as a street dog who had been abandoned three times in her first two years, used for fighting and chained up in a shed, I’ve had to deal with various challenging behaviours. This time last year, I wouldn’t have even contemplated taking Luna to a bar on my own, let alone with another dog, but here I was, confidently walking the two dogs together, and sitting to enjoy a glass of wine in the sun while Luna and Gizmo charmed the rest of the customers and never gave me a moment’s cause for concern. Thank you, Universe, for helping me understand Luna better, thus allowing us both to enjoy the kind of simple outing other dog guardians may take for granted.
We spend New Year’s Eve with a group of friends at our local hotel, and as soon as we walked in, I was greeted enthusiastically by lots of people. Because of my spiritual work, and running the local website, Around Algorfa, I know more people locally than most, and I consider many of them friends. However, it didn’t register with me just how many people actually felt close to me until the other night. Then at the end of the evening, as I waited to pay our bar bill, a good friend told the cashier he’d take care of it, even though he had no idea how much it was. I remonstrated with him, and said there was no need, and he replied:
I want to pay it because we love you, and we’re so pleased that we’re friends.
I found this especially touching, because it was so unexpected. Another seemingly small gesture that made a big difference. I joked that if I’d known he was paying I’d have had a few more drinks, but I also made sure he knew just how much his kindness meant to me. It wasn’t a huge bill – less that €20 in fact – but the thought that someone would do that gave me the warmest feeling that’s still with me three days later. Thank you, Universe, for the priceless gift of friendship, and for my own capacity to love and support my friends.
This article is about little things that make a big difference, and why we should celebrate them, but I’m going to finish with something pretty major, which I feel is the Universe’s way of confirming that I am on the right track spiritually. In September, I submitted the manuscript for my first book to a publisher who specialises in spiritual works. I spent most of 2022 writing, revising and reviewing the book, and at times I wondered whether it was worth it, because the finished manuscript is nothing like the first draft. However, I heard today that the book is now being edited ready for publication, so all the hard work has paid off.
Sometimes we have to accept advice from others if we want to reach our full potential; my publisher told me my original manuscript had a good narrative and was well written, but was unlikely to sell, so I had to make a choice. I could take umbrage or I could take expert advice. I decided on the latter course of action, and now the publisher is describing any further adjustments I need to make as ‘straightforward,’ and he’s told me I ‘am very close to an excellent finished book.’
I could have persevered with the original, and probably found another publisher. However, I wanted my first book to be the best it could be, and I also wanted to help others who, like me, had come late to spiritual living and needed encouragement to explore the possibilities. You can’t do that if it doesn’t sell, can you? I see now that the first version couldn’t have accomplished that, although using the valuable insights gained from working with a publisher who needn’t have bothered with me, I can turn the discarded sections into a second book that will also be helpful, but in a different way. Thank you, Universe, for guiding me to the person best placed to fulfill my potential, and for helping me to see the wisdom in his words and adapt my manuscript accordingly.
I look forward to more signs that the Universe is working with me to learn, grow and move forward with joy. And I encourage everyone reading this to do the same. We may sometimes feel that nothing is going our way, but life is a balance, and as such, there is a mix of good and bad stuff. If we consciously celebrate the good, that’s what we’ll remember, going forward, and that Attitude of Gratitude will brush aside the occasional negative thoughts that we all get from time to time, because we’re only human, after all! As I said earlier, what we give our attention to is what we attract into our lives, so we owe it to ourselves to focus on the good stuff, and celebrate the little things. Because the little things can make a big difference, and prepare us to celebrate the big things when they come along. Love and blessings.
