This time of year lends itself to reflection. I would like you to keep in mind, in 2017 and beyond, that you have in your possession the most effective tool ever invented for keeping motivated to pursue your passions, and for keeping alive the sense of wonder that adds magic to everything we experience.

The big question is how to make use of it.

Probably you would like the coming year to bring you love, health and money.

I wish you all the love possible, and the magic that comes with it. And above all, may you have that essential love of self without which it is impossible to love other people.

I also wish you good health – physical, mental and spiritual. Never forget how closely the three are linked.

And may you be conscious of why it is that you earn money, because that awareness will keep you free. Money drives both our hopes and our anxieties. The most harmful lies of all are the spurious “needs” created to serve the interests of a minority. The desire for wealth, although not wrong in itself, becomes unworthy if it means selling your soul for the satisfaction of shallow and superfluous pleasures.

In a maxim that still applies today, Rousseau said, “Wealth is not an absolute”. Nor can you have a complete, fulfilled society without appreciating that there are other ways to see the world. And our power has no meaning until it is applied with compassion and love.

2016 reminded us that the need for tolerance is greater than ever. Open yourself to tolerance, to be able to enjoy it when your turn comes. Tolerate otherness, and respect the diversity of the human character and the spirit that it produces.

And remember that you are stronger than your mental barriers, and that your choices count.

We are the co-creators of our reality. The past does not have the power to spoil your present. There are no dreams that are too big or too insignificant, only dreamers paralysed by fear. You have the right to be yourself, to be different, to refuse to give up your own destiny for the sake of conformity.

And why not give belief a chance?

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