A New Year Without A Thought

The holidays blew through quickly and are gone again. New Year’s Eve passed incognito, and New Year’s Day was as lazy as I had planned it to be. So where do we go from here?

I am sitting at the end of the first week of January 2019 without a thought to lofty goals. No big dream to kick off or list of priorities to begin. No big deal, right? Just another day, right? Well maybe, but there is something about January that urges me to plan, recreate, redefine, reinvent, and reprogram – but not in the way our popular culture would influence us to do. We are barraged daily with senseless noise exploiting narcissism and grandiose lifestyles that no one but the very rich can possibly attain to. The pursuit of which is killing us, separating us, and keeping us from our true selves. I want to approach this year practically and holistically. I want to rethink my daily efforts in order to be the best I can be in every situation that comes my way. This is the foundation I want to build for my life in 2019 and every year that follows.

Why not take a practical approach?

In my life I have learned that we are so easily distracted from the things that matter most. We are lured by the shiny object(s) that promises wealth, love, fame, speed, comfort and such. We sacrifice our awareness in the present moment for illusions of what could be in the future. It is an art to stay focused on the moment and to give 100% to the task at hand. If it’s time to work, just work. If it’s time to be with the family, put away your phones and BE with the family. Empty your mind of the past and the future and think about what needs to be done right here and now. Give weight to your intentions and do exactly what you need to do. Health and prosperity, love, joy and peace, are ultimately what we all strive for. The possibility to attain these dreams are within you, but if you are constantly looking elsewhere to be satisfied, it’s quite possible you will miss them altogether. Learn to master BEING in the moments you are given.

“If you walk, just walk. If you sit, just sit; but whatever you do, don’t wobble.”

~ Zen saying

This year, I resolve to pay attention and be a better mom, serve my clients more effectively, be my best creative self, learn on deeper levels, build and strengthen relationships, and love more selflessly. I will embrace the four agreements: To be honest and true to my word, to not take things so personally, to not assume anything, and to do my best in all these things. So, even though I don’t have an “official” resolution, my mind is full of ideas, dreams, goals, wants, and desires that will best be attained by my awareness of and participating in the moment. I will bring these things, and more, into reality with me.

Each day I challenge myself to do my very best to create, perform, be charitable and kind, to love, to serve, to achieve…and I know I will. By next year I will have added to my cart of knowledge and wisdom more beautiful gems that I can share with the people in my life and that support the life I have chosen. That is the joy of January’s “blank canvas”.

Pay Attention

Keep your mind in the present moment. Pay attention to what is going on around you and with the people in your life and give it your absolute best. Anxiety comes from staying focused too much on ourselves and our problems and worrying about the future. We will feel depressed when we dwell on the past, so stay in the now. Pay attention to your little ones, do less, BE more.

This year I challenge you to move beyond the resolutions of money, status, likes and influence, and try thinking on the things that have the potential to shape your life – for the rest of your life.