Each new year stirs mixed emotions.

There’s always the  prospect of rewarding and challenging new ventures, offset by concerns about the wide open spaces in my calendar. From hard won experience, including my practice with the I Ching, I know patience and perseverance are key.

Waiting is not empty hoping. It has the inner certainty of reaching the goal.

In working with the I Ching, the quiet, reflective time spent considering my situation is invaluable. My thinking improves and is subtly influenced by its sound Eastern principles.

Now I consult the I Ching on many things; my business, my relationships, my self. But it did not arrive in this trusted advisor form. At first my sceptical inner scientist rejected the random access. It made no logical sense to me. I could end up at any hexagram. How could that possibly be meaningful?

When clouds rise in the sky, it is a sign that it will rain. The rain will come in its own time. We cannot make it come; we have to wait for it.

Yet I continued and occasionally the images and information made sense and were helpful. Gradually I noticed the hexagrams gave something of relevance if I played with the ideas and metaphors, used my intuition, observed my associations and reactions. To my surprise, the more open I became, the more often I derived wise counsel.

I’ve come to view the process as an interior conversation I have with my real self.

Do not worry and seek to shape the future by interfering in things before the time is ripe.

Of course there are still times when the counsel is inscrutable, unintelligible or not what I was hoping to receive! I’ve found this often indicates I’m off balance and off track. Still I walk away, do what I thought I needed to do, usually to learn from a mistake.

The I Ching waits patiently for my return.

Thus the superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer.

Sweating on events and outcomes serves no purpose. In this quiet period I am painting our hallway and bedrooms. The year will unfold and I am ready.