We are at the start of a new year. Old things are past away. Behold, all has become new. At least, that’s what it should feel like. Maybe that’s why New Year’s Eve is celebrated so exuberantly with champagne and fireworks. It’s about new beginnings. It’s about letting go of the old year with all its failures and disappointments and embracing the new with hope for all good things.

But sometimes, especially when we’ve endured great disappoints and failures that are borderline fiascos, to hope takes courage.

I think that’s what Emily Dickinson meant when she wrote her famous poem:

Hope resides in our hearts. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune are out there, flying hither and yon looking for where they can lodge. They want to pierce you to the core of your being. Sometimes, even the most vigilant, contend with this canny artillery. But hope is always there. It never stops.

When we tend toward introspection at the start of the new year, it is because we are sifting through what we’ve allowed in our hearts throughout the course of the old. Consider it a innermost being decluttering, if you will. We’re taking up the pitchforks and mucking out our Augean stables. There’s some stuff that just has to go.

At the top of the list: Fear.

This new year, there’s no room for fear. Fear is the substances of things dreaded, the evidence of things not seen. It’s a waste of time. It’s more than that. It’s a dangerous allowance.

There’s one things I’m declaring over this new year for myself, and, because you all matter to me, dear readers, I’m declaring it for you, too. This year we will be fearless.

But how?

To be fearless is a matter of the heart.

Whatever we do proceeds from that with which we fill our hearts.

That’s why Solomon wrote:

The Hebrew word for heart is levav. Levav is commonly translated as heart, but it encompasses our thoughts, our will, our discernment as well as our affections. The levav is the core of your innermost being. Everything that we are comes from the levav.

That is why the wisest man in the world gave us this warning:

Not only does Solomon tells us to guard it, but to do so with the utmost vigilance, placing preeminence on the protection of our hearts above all else.

The core is the innermost part of your being; it is your heart (see Trust Your Core post). This is where we must start at the beginning of the year. We must make sure our core is in good shape. Recall all the New Year’s resolutions out there to get in better shape? Well, if you’re out there physically exercising your core, then you better takes some time to exercise your inner core. Get that heart is shape. And I’m not just talking cardio. Muck out all the negativity you’ve given room to in the last year. Get rid of it.

Let go of all the fear, doubt, and insecurities that have cropped up in your core (see Free Your Mind post). Get out your shovel and dig out those weeds, roots and all. It’s time to do some serious pruning in your heart. Determine where your passion is, and where you want it to take you. Then find out what you’ve given space to in your thought life that is stopping you before you’ve even started. You’re biggest impediment is usually you.

Once you get out of your own way, you’re good to go. Trust me on this. Aligning your passion with your thoughts will get you invigorated to take up arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them (Hamlet, Act III, sc. i).

But none of this is for the faint of heart. To weigh and measure yourself and see exactly where you are wanting requires you to be fearless.

Being fearless is like a two-edged sword. On the one side, you are standing sentinel over your heart making sure that nothing enters it that will extinguish your hope. On the other side, though, you must be bold and undaunted when you exercise that hope in the physical realm. For me, that boldness and undaunted courage relates closely to my writing. Sure, I didn’t see some of the things I was working so hard for last year happen, and the disappoint was real, dear readers. Really real. But that doesn’t mean I stop. It actually means that I ramp it up. I’m on the offensive. I’ve got my spear, it’s tilted in the direction it needs to do, and I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that I can throw for the distance. That’s inner preparedness coupled with outer resolve. Both the inner and the outer hinge on being fearless.

So, wherever you find yourself today- this fourth day into 2019- take some time and listen to your heart. What song is coming out of it? Are you ridiculing the dreams you’re hoping for? Do you think they are too lofty or too extraordinary to come true? If so, know that you’ve allowed negativity into your heart. Take some time this weekend to become circumspect. See what you can change in your life- your heart, your thoughts, your will, your discernment- that will take you one or multiple steps closer to where you want to be in your life.

It is never too late. Never. Like Winston Churchill said:

This year, embrace that courage. Step into being fearless. Say it with me:

2019: The Year I will be Fearless.

If you’re in need of a exterior inspiration, something to hold up before you when you think you can’t do it, then head over here to participate in The FEARLESS Giveaway.