By Rev. Ric Beattie, Senior Minister, Unity Church of Royal Oak, Michigan
The holiday season is barreling toward us, and if you’re like most people, you feel that familiar, exhausting stretch. You’ve given, you’ve planned, you’ve worried, and you’ve worked. Frankly, you’re stretched thin.
As we stand at the threshold of a new year—our 2026—it’s time to realize that the most powerful thing you can add to your life is nothing. It’s time to practice the spiritual power of Elimination and renunciation.
This isn’t about deprivation; it’s about divine engineering. It’s about clearing the energetic clutter so that your next best life can actually find you. We can’t always control the experiences that life brings, but we absolutely control what we allow to occupy the precious real estate of our minds and calendars.
Declutter Your Consciousness, Collapse a New Reality
In New Thought traditions like Unity and Science of Mind, we understand that your mind is a creative factory. If that factory is clogged with old worries, obligations, and beliefs about lack, it can’t manufacture joy and abundance.
The spiritual practice of Elimination is asking yourself: What is draining my energy? This isn’t just a physical object; it’s a nagging thought pattern, a commitment you secretly dread, or a past resentment you keep replaying.
Renunciation, then, is the conscious, loving “letting go” of the belief that these limitations have power over the Divine Truth of who you are. You’re not renouncing joy or life; you are renouncing limitation itself.
This idea is powerfully mirrored in Quantum Theory. Imagine your consciousness as a sea of infinite possibilities—a quantum field. When you hold on to a worry or an old belief, you are mentally “collapsing the wave function” on that limited experience, locking it into your reality.
When you renounce that belief, you deliberately stop observing (and thus affirming) the limitation. You create a void—a pristine, unmanifested potential—into which the universe can rush to deliver a higher, more joyful outcome. You literally open up a new probability for your 2026.
“If you would know your power, you must disown your weakness. You must let go of the limited idea you hold of yourself.” – Rev. Dr. Martha Creek.
Three Steps to a Lighter, Limitless Life
You don’t need a year to start this practice; you need a moment of conscious choice. Here’s how you can immediately begin creating space for your best year yet:
1. Renounce the Obligation
Look at your holiday calendar. Which commitment or request makes your stomach clench? Too often, we say “yes” out of duty rather than joy. Give yourself permission to choose peace.
A gracious, kind “No” to a draining activity is a sacred “Yes” to your soul. This act of self-honor is a declaration that your inner peace is non-negotiable.
2. Eliminate the Grievance
The most insidious clutter is the one we carry inside. A Course In Miracles teaches that forgiveness is the key to happiness because it is the ultimate act of renunciation. When you choose to forgive someone—including yourself—you are simply renouncing the judgment. You are letting go of the heavy belief that the past mistake has the power to dictate your present peace.
In the final weeks of this year, make a conscious choice to drop one old grievance. Feel the immediate energetic lightness.
3. Affirm the Empty Space
Once you’ve eliminated a worry or renounced an obligation, don’t leave a void. Immediately fill that clear, expansive space with a powerful affirmation of Truth.
If you let go of the worry, “I’ll never have enough time,” replace it with, “I am divinely guided and always operate in right time and right rhythm.”
This final step is the spiritual sealing of the deal. You are choosing to affirm that the Presence of God (your highest good) is the only power operating in your life.
As you navigate the end of this year, be a wise curator of your energy. Remember, your greatest power isn’t in what you accumulate, but in what you lovingly, consciously choose to let go of. Drop the weights, make room, and watch how limitlessly your 2026 unfolds.
Rev. Ric Beattie
Sr. Minister
2500 Crooks Rd
Royal Oak MI 48073
Office: 248.288.3550, then option 2 for my office
Facebook:
Unity of Royal Oak: https://www.facebook.com/unityofroyaloak
Ric Beattie http://facebook.com/rlbeattie
