Does anyone else feel like 2016 is the overly negative, occasionally violent guest that you never really want to invite to your party?

My family has been whopped up side the head by 2016, just about from day one. Add to that scores of our musical heroes leaving the planet and an on onslaught of global terrorism—sometimes it feels like we are all riding one big hot mess disguised as a calendar year.

Life is challenging at its best, and keeping up with a practice of non-judgment and compassion can feel like an unsurmountable task when the wheels keep flying off the bus in rapid succession.

I write this because many people I’ve talked to are also feeling similarly about 2016. There’s something wonky out there and I’m sure astrologers could swoop in and tell me exactly what it is—it feels like a never ending mercury in retrograde—but my current focus is on getting my zen back and keeping it as clean and shiny as possible.

Since a tiny little book was published 20 years ago—Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, by Deepak Chopra—I have found it a beacon in a storm for me. And to be honest, it’s that constant life raft you can find me floating on at all times.

During the messy times 2016 has brought, it’s a great “go to” for me and I highly recommend checking it out.

It is a book full of truths, no matter what your religious and spiritual beliefs may be. My fundamentalist Christian mother read it, loved it and took it to her Bible study to share. It is truly timeless and boundary-less wisdom.

Today I’m going to share with you some thoughts from the first chapter “The Law of Pure Potentiality.”

In each chapter, a law is explained, followed by recommendations on how to practice that law.

Briefly, the law of pure potentiality is about the fact that we are all pure consciousness, which is a field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. (Yes, thank you for that timely reminder!)

One beautiful explanation in this chapter involves object-referral vs. self-referral. Simply put, in object-referral, our emotions are greatly affected by the situations, the things, the labels, and the mess around us. (Cue: a hologram of 2016 descending in front of you.)

In self-referral, we are centred in a way that 2016 (and the litter it is throwing at us out of its window while travelling 110 mph) can’t really affect us. We notice it—without judgment, without ego rearing its vocal self—and we rely on our true being, which, according to Deepak Chopra, “is unfearful of any challenge, has respect for all people, and feels beneath no one.”

These truths are available in a variety of wise resources. Seven Spiritual Laws of Success just happens to be a succinct compilation and my resource of choice for when the mess is so chaotic that these lessons, as etched on my subconscious as they may be, need to be reinforced.

Rereading these chapters gives me a visceral exhale and glow of warmth, like the comforting voice of a loving grandmother whispering sweet nothings in my ear. (Ahh, yes, this feels like home.)

How do we practice the law of pure potentiality?

Some of my favorite recommendations: get in nature, silently, observing all that is around you, grounding yourself; be still, sit in silence and non-judgment throughout your day; meditate—morning and evening.

Just writing that makes my heart smile. Duh, of course! When we are calm, still and centred, we are given super-powers which we use to take ourselves out of big ol’ clumsy 2016’s field of vision. The debris may still fly, but it can travel through us rather than hang on and take vacancy in our (already tender) hearts. And 2016 cannot pick on us quite so much if we are not in its field of vision.

Let’s pull together comrades. There are beautiful things in 2016 as well, and if we try with all our might to stay in a state of self-referral, we will see the beauty, with eyes more wide open, when it peeks around the corner.

And as we maintain our practices during the messy and painful times, letting go of judgment and looking for the lessons and gifts, we may just watch 2016 develop into a thing of beauty.

Author: Becky Aud-Jennison

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Jonas Weckschmied/Flickr