The past week has been a time of celebration and reconnection with people and values that matter most.
It has been a time to celebrate the extraordinary birth and life of Jesus Christ more than 2000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem in Judea.
Yesterday evening people around the world celebrated the end of 2013 and many stayed up to see in the New Year.
How are you feeling today? Fresh and ready to go enjoy yourself on the first day of 2014? Tired from the late-night partying? Thoughtful about what the New Year will bring for you?
I want you to take yourself back to the same day last year (2013) and think about what you were feeling then. Do you remember thinking about New Year resolutions or perhaps why you think they are a waste of time? What were your hopes and aspirations for the year ahead?
Now I want you to run through the ups and downs, the good, the bad and the ugly in 2013. Did you achieve some things that you were especially proud of? Do you feel that you moved forward in life, in your career, in your business? What battles did you have to fight? Did you win? Or, are those battles still to be won in 2014? What was the quality of your relationships? Do you strengthen some? Did you let go of those that seemed to have no purpose in your life?
Towards the end of last year I heard a radio guru talk about some viral idea that involves writing down all the bad things that happened to you in 2013 and turning them all into present tense positive statements. The problem with “cool” viral ideas like this is that not even the guru radio announcer would have done this exercise. It sounds so spiritually deep and symbolical to burn up the piece of paper with all the bad things that happen. But does it work?
Good and bad. Ying and Yang. Flow. Why on earth deny these polarities in our lives?
Instead of drawing up long lists of what you want to do in the New Year perhaps one way to look at your life in the year ahead is the qualities and energies you will bring to it. Not to have a list of things to take from life but a list of what to give.
When you look back at your life over the past year didn’t you give people your joy and optimism? Were there not times when you had to dig deep into your inner resources to overcome hard battles with difficult people, scary circumstances when expenses seemed out of control or when you lay sick in bed feeling like your time had come to die? Did you experience times when your inner wisdom forced you to relax from all the stress and find your inner balance?
It is these precious qualities that you possess that will determine what you accomplish in the year ahead. Not some wish list that you won’t even remember a year from now.
I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.
