Welcome to 2017!
For the whole month of January, we will focus on welcoming the New Year. We can use this symbolic time of renewal to discover more meaning and joy in our lives – to last the whole year through!
True health is about embracing life and enjoying our gifts, even amongst struggle or difficulties.
Follow all our January articles to welcome in the new year with a fresh start, beginning with these three simple steps.
The New Year is a great symbol for life’s ongoing process of creation and renewal. One of the best ways to welcome in the new is to let go of the old.
Old habits, old possessions, even re-evaluating your relationships – focusing on letting go can be a powerful way to remind you of what is really meaningful to you.
Watch out for next week’s article on 5 Steps to Letting Go, but in the meantime grab some paper or a journal and make some quick notes or doodles about what you may be ready to let go of.
Now is a great time to focus on things that you love.
Each one of us is unique and each one has particular gifts to share with the world. The things that you love are not necessarily the same as for other people.
Grab a journal and jot down some ideas to these questions:
> What did I used to love doing as a child?
> If I didn’t have any responsibilities, what I would love to be doing right now?
> What do I daydream about?
> What makes me smile?
Spending some time acknowledging the things (and people!) you love will help you to become conscious of bringing more of that experience into your life this year.
Having cleared away the old, and set the tone of love and joy, now take some time to think about what you would like to learn this year.
There is plenty to learn, and some things may be more obvious to you than others.
You can start with hobbies: have you always wanted to know how to knit, to cook Thai food, to sail, to ride a motorbike, to speak Spanish… You don’t need to commit to any classes right now! Just open your mind to all kinds of things you’d love to learn.
Now what about your work life: would you like to learn new skills, discover a new career path altogether, or maybe you’d like to learn how to keep boundaries around work to have more time to yourself, or how to approach your work without stress…
Don’t worry about whether there might be a course or a book for it – just note down everything you’d like to learn in this realm of life.
Parents or carers – you can approach your caregiving in this way. If you’re retired or not in paid employment – what could you learn that will better allow you to share your unique gifts with the world?
And lastly, think about problems that you’re grappling with: difficulties with certain family members or friends, not having a sense of direction in life, feeling stressed, wishing something was different, wanting to improve your health or lose weight…
Note down the issues you’re struggling with at the moment and then see if you can make a statement about what you’d like to learn. For example “I’d like to learn how to deal with demanding family members”, “I’d like to learn how to exercise in a way I actually enjoy” or “I’d like to learn why I feel I need wine at the end of the day”.
For any of these areas, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know where that learning will come from – just becoming aware and making the statements will already start to shift your mind into “solution” rather than “problem” mode, or from “not yet” into “maybe now” for things that interest you.
Watch out next week for our article on “5 steps to letting go”.
Later this month we will explore what the New Year means to you, and how to make resolutions that really matter to you.
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