There Goes the Judge -- The Prerequisite for Making New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Eve -- a time to bid goodbye to the "old" and celebrate the coming of the "new."

Are you trying to get rid of an old, unsatisfactory you and find, with perhaps some New Year's resolutions, a "fixed-up," perfected, new you?

Look a little deeper here -- doesn't it sound as though there's a judge "in there" somewhere, frowning down on you and telling you how much of you needs to be made-over and improved?

So many people, whether they are aware of it or not, suffer under an internal judge. That judge can be subtle, just leaving you with a vague sense of dissatisfaction and stress. Or, it can be so vocal that you are all but paralyzed by the thoughts of "not good enough."

Before trying to make any New Year's resolutions based on that judge, consider bringing in some compassion. Start with acceptance and compassion for the "fixee." Is your performance really that bad? Are you doing your best? And especially, are you identifying yourself as a child of God, an expression of the Infinite Good?

The judge, too, needs acceptance and compassion. What suffering, perhaps in childhood, caused the development of such a harsh critic in the first place? Is the noise of that self-criticism a desperate attempt to erase feelings of pain and shame? Do you suppose that embracing that prickly judge with understanding and love could melt its harshness?

The judge is not really separate from the rest of you; it's another aspect of the ego you were trained to think of as yourself. And you, as you truly are right now, are not separate from Love Itself. The wholeness, the Allness of God-Being is your real Identity, with no need of guilt, shame, or "fixing up."

So, whatever resolutions or intentions you wish to form this year, make them in the Light of Love. And on New Year's Eve, say goodbye to the oldness of the illusory separation from God, and celebrate the Presence of the unchanging One forever new.