December is near and so is the end of the year. All the talk and ideas about this being a great time of change has been interesting because speculation creates expectation and expectations feeds the collective mind to expand.

Can you feel the activation for change in you and around you? A kind of evolutionary call seems to be going across the planet.

Humanity appears to want to rise up and move to a richer more expanded expression.

·      Can you feel the joy in your heart as it moves toward expansion?
·      Have you sensed that you and many others are collectively tapping into this aptitude for compassion, for consciousness and for awakening?
·      What other ways do you sense a call to further express who you are?

There are a number of ways or paths you can explore if you want to feed and grow your expansion. The more you invite your own growth in consciousness and compassion the more you lift those around you. The following are powerful ways to make a positive difference in your life, in those you are close to, and in the collective consciousness of humanity.

1. The Way of Wisdom – this path includes the study of the great wisdom tradition like Buddhism, Western Philosophy, Taoism, Shamanism, Non-Duality and many other rich and wise paths of understanding. This is more a path of ideas and the intellect. This way depends on you having an open and searching mind.

2. The Way of Devotion – this path includes prayer, singing chanting and many practices focused on manifestations of the Divine. This is an experiential path energized by your heart’s passion for the love of God, Jesus, Krishna, The Divine Mother, Buddha, Saints and other holy personifications. Having a guru is often associated with this path.

3. The Way of Personal Growth – this path is one of learning from life’s experiences - both challenging and uplifting. The focus here is on you and you interactions with self, the world and the insights you gain along the way. This is the way of seeing all of life as your teacher.

4. The Way of Awareness – this path is one of self-enquiry into your fundamental nature. It is also about exploring the ways of the Higher Self beyond self. Awareness is always available in each moment; with awareness you are able to clearly and consciously choose the life you want to create.

5. The Way of Silence – this path is about tuning inward to the still quiet wisdom of your higher nature or soul. This is the way of contemplation and meditation, which is part of a large variety of practices across many traditions. This path for you is about quietly tuning in.

6. The Way of the Body – this is a physical path of awakening through yoga, dance, tai chi and other body-oriented forms of self-expression. This way invites strength and flexibility, power and receptivity, and vibrant energy and well-being. The wisdom of the body is called on to assist your expansion.

7. The Way of Service – this is the path focused on others, on giving and on caring for those in need. Serving others includes being supportive, acting with compassion, and giving support to those who serve others. Think nuns, monks, followers and others forms of spiritual communities as an example.

8. The Way of Love – this is a path of loving kindness, of compassionate acts and of caring, It is not unlike the Service path but more focused on love of self, love of family and love of all beings you interact with. Love is a very powerful force and this path is about the manifestation of love in all that you do.

9. The Way of Change – this path is one of being an agent for change. It usually has a high degree of social consciousness and is about making a positive difference in the world. This includes those who are activists in actions, in advocacy, in promoting new ideas and possibilities. This path teaches you by doing.

10. The Way of the Soul – this is the path of inner tuning and listening for guidance. This is the intuitive path of the Higher Self guided by the part of you that infinite and eternal. The Soul manifestations of expansion are endless and are about you beyond the ego.

11. The Way of Feelings – this path is about feelings and emotions as guides to creating the life you want. Feelings are feedback about your life being on track or off track. All feelings are okay, acceptable and informative. Emotions make us feel alive.

12. The Way of Creative Expression – this path is about expressing yourself in creative ways including, art, movement, music, design, cooking, theater, entertainment, and other forms of creativity. This path is one of following your creative urges into full realization.

13. The Way of Dreams and Other Worlds – this path includes lucid dreaming, soul travel (Out of Body Experiences) dream analysis, visualizations, psycho-active induced expansion and other ways to experience life beyond the ordinary states of consciousness. The way of dreams, expanded states, drug enhanced journeys all invite and expanded the view of yourself, the world and your interconnectivity.

14. The Way of Nature – this is the path of the natural world in which you learn from your interactions with a forest, a stream the ocean, and the creatures you share the planet with. This way is about being receptive to the world of nature that is always available to teach you about such things as flow, force, ground, silence, receptivity, connectivity and much more.

15. The Way Of Blending – this path is about a blending of two or more of the above paths. This blend allows you to create the mixture of ways to access your highest and more expanded expression and realization. Many of you choose this way because it offers such a wide variety of possibilities.

With these 15 ways in mind, take the time you need to see if you want to expand your focus on any of these paths or blend a new and unique way for yourself. Avoid the dogma and doctrines of those secondary paths that attempt to put order into what is naturally spontaneous and flexible.

This is about you empowering yourself for the good of your life, those you love and for all humanity. Whatever gets planted or begins to be expressed now will be greatly enhanced by what you do this next year.

Choose your way and explore your own unique expression of that way. We all benefit from you being more fully realized.