A New Year's Revelation

Unless you've been hiding under a rock in the middle of nowhere with no access to the outside world, you would have realised that we've opened the front cover of another brand new year. For some reason this sends so many people into a tail spin of short-lived resolutions , a mindset that they need to change who they are and that the year that has just passed us was "bad" for so many reasons.

A lesson I've learned along my way is that 365 days is a long time to wait before you change anything. Change is possible at any given moment; at any time you choose. You do not have to make radical changes to get maximum benefit in your life. Small ones accompanied by daily deliberate action are enough to get you to where you want to be. Of course if you want to get there quickly, then more daily deliberate action is required.

With all the hype that comes along with the festive season and the impending New Year that follows, it often leaves me drained. I feel a societal push that I must set resolutions to be a better person. Really? Can't I just make a conscious choice throughout the year to make the changes and adjustments to my life as I see fit and where they're required? Well yes I can and I have and I do. But this is not the norm.

Goals are often set then we wait, wish and hope for them to magically appear before our very eyes. Just because you've set a goal doesn't give you any right to have it. You see, the thing with goals is that they are to be earned, achieved, strived for. They're not wishes to be granted.

Even more people set resolutions and then fail to put any action into place that will see them achieving what they desire. Is it any wonder that resolutions and goals don't work?

The other thing that irks me at this time of year is the underlying message that we're not quite enough. That the person we are right now is somehow inadequate.. That the achievements of the past 365 days didn't fill the quota of expectation.  That because we didn't tick off every single goal we set for ourselves, we are a failure.Just because your dream car isn't parked in your garage yet doesn't mean you weren't successful.

We focus so much on what didn't happen rather than what did. Most people don't know how to look at who they are at the end of the year compared with who they were when they started the year and to notice the growth, the challenges that presented some really great lessons and quite often unexpected gifts. Celebrate the small stuff.  Celebrate often. Look for the good - you'll find it.

My message for you is this:

 "You are enough. You have enough.

 You can change at any moment you choose, don't be guided by the calendar on this. 

Last year has been and gone - celebrate the good times, the lessons, the gifts, the laughs. 

Acknowledge the times you would rather forget.

Notice the lessons that were hidden in these experiences. 

Look up and ahead to the path that now lays before you. 

Each morning you open your eyes is a gift. Appreciate this.

 Do what you can in that day to squeeze the most out of it. 

Go to bed at night knowing that you have fully lived your life that day. 

Wake up tomorrow and repeat".