New Year, New Beginnings.

You are either for or against New Year’s resolutions and more and more people seem to be against them. Maybe because we often think of resolutions as things we ought to do, rather than things that we want to do. I think resolutions should be things that excite us and I love them, but I don’t limit my resolutions or the things that I resolve to do to make my life better, improve myself, or achieve my goals to just January 1st. I do this continually throughout the year.
The holidays allow for more time for reflection of the year before. We get a mental checklist of our hits and misses, and for me, it’s the time of year I find the most gratitude. For every hurdle I have leapt over, in 2014 or years before, I am grateful for having survived it and made it through to wherever I am in this moment. In this moment, I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Which does not mean it’s where I will stay or where I will end up – it is completely the contrary, but in this moment…which is all we have, I am grateful for every wave of goodness and every ebb of struggle that brought me to this place.
I am in love with my life so richly and deeply and all of the blessings within it that I cannot allow whatever challenges circle me to rob me of that. Every wrong turn has been corrected. Not without pain, but certainly with greater reward and blessings from it. So as I start this new year fresh, I bring the last month’s reflections of gratitude with me and start setting goals…or making resolutions… with so much excitement. I find peace at Christmas, but so much excitement with the new year.
Most of us are happy to find a metaphorical clean slate. Wiping away what once was and feeling the sense of empowerment with being able to start new. Yes, it’s often strictly symbolical – but we birth creativity in these symbolic juices. The “what if” proposal of a clean slate allows us to dream of all the things we might hope for in the next year that we didn’t receive or accomplish the year before. In that we are often setting intentions and goals that will lead to more fulfillment in our lives. We can acknowledge what we’re missing and start the healthy and important daydreaming to reach those outcomes in seconds. As those neurons fire they jump start the brain and neurogenesis and all the good things our brains love. This act in itself can be a healthy start to preventing the brain atrophy that comes with post-Christmas depression.
My advice to you at the top of this New Year…
Reflect. Practice Gratitude. Wipe the slate and start to Daydream about what you want this year.
Don’t restrict yourself to boring, reasonable, obvious… allow your mind to wander like a virtual vision board without restrictions. You can narrow it down to attainable, strategic goals later if you wish. But for now… allow the spark plugs in your brain to go off and start this new year excited about your life!
My best to you for a happy, healthy and adventurous 2015! Light it up!

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