In closing the door on 2014 and welcoming in 2015, we can wave goodbye to everything and anything that hasn’t supported us in living to our highest potential. Looking forward to a fresh New Year, I love to like to spend the days leading up to January 1st, taking a personal inventory. I’ve found this to be so much more effective that dreaming up a list of resolutions, which I will almost always break by the end of January (or February at a push).
This “inventory” helps me take responsibility for all the negatives and positives in my life, and makes it harder for me to blame what I don’t like on others. When I put pen to paper, it helps to to really face up to myself. I like to do a stream-of-consciousness writing exercise as follows: I pull out a fresh sheet of paper and find a pen that glides well across the page. I write the following title at the top of the page:
How am I supporting myself to be the best, most glorious being that I can be?
I set a timer for 3 minutes, and the only rule is: My pen cannot stop until the timer goes off.
This exercise engages my subconscious to bypass my mental editor (who loves to over-think and rationalize things) – when I get a bit of heat and muscle behind my pen I find that surprising things appear on that page. It’s almost as if my “higher self” can begin to get through to me and tell me a few things that I might need to know. In asking myself this question, my subconsciousness will not only search for a few surprising ways in which I am actually doing really well (important that I learn to give myself an honest pat on the back, instead of expecting others to do it), but this question also brings up the things that I am perhaps NOT doing to be the most glorious person that I can be.
Why not give it a try today? I promise that you will uncover a few golden nuggets. And most importantly, this exercise of taking stock will help you to create a spiritual intention for 2015. If my writing uncovers that I have a hard time supporting myself because I spend too many energy-draining hours on the Internet, or allow too many energy-zapping “friends” to take away my precious time, then I begin to understand on a deeper level the things that I might need to change going forward.
New Year’s Resolutions don’t work because we reduce a large spiritual shift down to a few hard-core changes that are really symptoms of a deeper unrest. For example, if we make a resolution that we’re going to give up sugar and comfort eating, we’re not addressing the cause of why we do this in the first place. Maybe it’s because we are not supporting ourselves on a deep mental, spiritual and physical level – then the intent would be for me to learn meditation, carve out time for a daily yoga practice, or take space from people who aren’t completely loving and supportive – you get the drift…it’s all about dealing with the cause, not the symptom.
Of all the major intentions I’ve ever created, the one that has most impacted my life is the intent to do a daily meditation practice. Even 5 minutes a day can suffice to connect me with something deeper, stronger and much wiser than the mostly useless mental chatter than can rather too easily dominate my day.
Ultimately, it’s vital for me to understand that its more about growing and evolving than it is about “fixing” myself. Our society glorifies a quick fix, but whether it’s a weight-loss diet, or crazy boot camp – the results rarely last beyond a few months because all we’re doing is slapping a Band aid on the problem.
So, how do you want to grow and evolve in 2015? Which areas in your life need support, attention and love? How do you visualize yourself at the end of 2015 – and what will it take to get there? Discover these things first, create a few meaningful intentions and then let go.
Happy New Year!
