Happy New Year’s Eve, everybody! We made it through another year, and now it’s time to start anew once again. It’s a tale as old as time that the beginning of each New Year gives us the opportunity to reflect on days passed, and make new choices for days to come.
I want to get real with you guys this time, because I know many of us find ourselves in the same place we were last year. We made it through 2012 and the Mayan apocalypse (whew!) and made a list of all the ways we were going to make 2013 our best year with our best self. For some of us, I hope that was true – nothing would make me happier than to know that this was your best year yet! But for some of us, we may find ourselves a little disheartened at 2013. Sure we may have gone to the gym those first few months, we may have tried the infamous Paleo Diet for a few months…maybe we even made some headway on cleaning out the garage or even better cleaning our minds. But after a few months we found that keeping those resolutions was difficult, and we fell back into old habits, old routines, old thought patterns and we’re beating ourselves up having not achieved everything we set out to do.
So how can we really make our New Year’s Resolutions last? That’s the ultimate question right? Well I’ve had a few thoughts on this that I’d like to share with you.
1. Let go of 2013. I’ve come to realize that there is absolutely NO point (zero, zilch, nada) in beating myself up for not following through with my 2013 resolutions. What’s done is done, and no amount of self-pity or self-blame is going to change that. And if I let somebody else down, it’s not going to do them any good for me to feel guilty either. So before we start looking to the next year, it’s time to let go of this last year. No matter what happened, what you did or didn’t do – Let It Go, you can only move forward now. In fact, I would go as far as telling you that you didn’t do anything wrong! You learned valuable lessons this year about yourself, about others, about life…so take a moment to reframe your thoughts and reflect on that.
2. Accept your Now Moment. We’re here at the transitional period now, we’ve reflected on this last year. It’s peaks and valleys, and now it’s time for us to go “ok so what now?”. Before you get ahead of yourself and make a laundry list of all the things you’re going to do better, I invite you to take a moment and just be with yourself and really get a feel for where you’re at right now, who you are right now. Don’t judge yourself, just become aware and accept yourself with love and forgiveness
3. Have faith in 2014. Now that you’ve let go of what was, and you’ve accepted where you’re at now, it’s time to look forward. Remember that the world is on your side as much as you’ll let it. Take each day moment by moment, and don’t look back. The only way is forward, and every moment of every day is a chance to recreate yourself. New Year’s resolutions can be made every day. And when you slip up (which we all will), don’t beat yourself up – it was a lesson. Forgive yourself, and move forward.
A NYE Night: I actually like to make my “NYE Resolution” a 3 part evening, and boy do I go all out. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on the eve of December 31, but I admit I enjoy the symbolism Especially since this year is going to start on on a New Moon, it doesn’t get much more symbolic than that! I sit myself in bed and replace my lights with candlelight, put on some nice music and pour myself a little (ok maybe big) glass of wine . Then it’s time for reflection, and I’ll pull out my handy journal and write down all the things that I want to let go of from 2013 and maybe even before that – any resentment I’m holding towards another person or myself…any choices I made that I wish I hadn’t. Then, I throw the pages in a bowl and toss in a match and watch the pages burn. There is something I find so cathartic about watching the pages burn away, because it feels like it’s burning away within me as well. I shed a few tears (ok if I’m being honest, it’s probably more than a few) and take a nice deep breath and get ready for part 2.
Once I’ve safely disposed of the ashes of last year, it’s time to take a moment and reflect on myself. What did I learn about myself this year? What did I learn about the world and people around me? How am I feeling inside and out Right Now? I like doing this because it helps me be a little more focused in what I want for the next year.
Now for Part 3 – the big finale – what do I want for this next year? Well, rather than making a laundry list of specific things I want to do like making it to the gym 3 times a week and transitioning into a gluten free diet – I go for the “K.I.S.S” – Keep It Sweet & Simple. What do I want for myself this year and how do I want to live this year? For me, this year it really just comes down to practicing Self Lov
e. To do my absolute best in every moment, one moment at a time, and to love myself every step of the way…even if the step means I’m falling flat on my face. Because when I am actively practicing self love, I am getting myself to the gym, I am making healthy nutritional choices, I am engaging in healthy thought patterns and healthy relationships; I am expanding my inner light, and through loving myself within, I am spreading that love to the world around me. And you know what? I’m probably going to stumble and fall from time to time – but that’s ok.
Happy New Year 2014, and may this year be the first of many opportunities to recreate yourself 🙂
