Ready.. set… wake up and smell the coffee! You probably need it after the celebrating you may have done. Well, welcome to 2019! Since some people like to start fresh with day one of the new year, here is your reminder: Let’s do it! Day one is here!
This year did you come up with some new goals you would like to implement? Vacation plans? New job opportunities? Are you ready to step up and do what it takes to make those things happen?
Sometimes, it isn’t about planning a new career opportunity, or even doing things that you believe are solely goal focused around you but perhaps this year you will be focusing on how you can help a friend or family member. How you can give back to others who may be in a situation you once were in but now find yourself moving forward and in a position to give to others. Perhaps this year your focus is to spend less time working and more time with your kids.
It seems every year, so many people start off with giving themselves a “list” of things that they are going to accomplish. They take it one step farther and share that list with others, and then they feel the pressure of actually having to commit to making those goals happen. Sometimes this pressure is what causes us to fail, and for others, it is the opposite, they succeed because of the pressure.
Why not take a few moments before coming up with your “new year list” and self evaluate? Take a deep breath and just feel yourself breathing for a minute. Stand in the sunshine or if you prefer, in a place you can feel the cool breath of the world around you as it surrounds you. Try not to think but to just be for a moment.
Often we are so rushed as we move through life we don’t take the time to just exist even for a minute. Sixty seconds out of your day isn’t a lot to ask to give yourself. Time to slow down and reflect. Even a five or ten-minute break to give back to yourself isn’t a lot to ask. Yet, it is so easy to find ourselves rushing from one project to another. Trying to find that lost belt, sock, a book that someone in the household needs. We are tethered to our phones as if we left them at home for one moment it would be the end of the world.
We move so quickly from thing to thing. When was the last time you went out to eat and didn’t see everyone around you so immersed by what was on their phones that they were actually having a conversation with the person across from them? or next to them?
I am not talking about business meetings either. I mean, just out for a nice meal. It is rare anymore that you can go any place and find someone looking up to make eye contact. So, perhaps, this year you might consider that to be a goal. Use your phone less when you are out with friends and family.
Spend a few moments just taking a breath of life and energy for yourself. Be kind to who you are and don’t make impossible goals or empty promises. The things you know that as soon as you speak them in the wind you have no intention of making happen. Instead, try to be in the moment. Don’t future trip so far forward that you find yourself in next year and not enjoying the things that are happening this year. Be true to your promises and hold yourself accountable.
I hope this year brings you lots of love, laughter, and joy. That your sorrows are few and your friends are plenty. May the path you choose to embark on this year bring you much adventure and peace. That it begins with a moment of kindness given to yourself as the gift it is and that you deserve.