2014? Really? Where did 2013 go? Are some of you wondering that same thing? I was muddling through the loss of my dad and my dog. Two huge losses crammed into one year. So a lot of my energy was spent just trying to get by in a somewhat effective manner. The balancing factor for me was MY GRAND DAUGHTER (see above!).
Life is like that: good things vs. bad things. I believe it is important to honor our grief; don’t fall into the American Trap of thinking we can move past our sadness if we move fast enough! But, and this is important: if we allow ourselves to feel sad, we can move into feeling happy sooner. Seems weird but it’s true!
So here are some ideas for this new year we have begun:
~ Set goals for yourself. Not new but important. Make them as small or as big as you are comfortable with. Could be as generic as ‘I will find a way to be happier this year’ or as specific as ‘I will lose 5 pounds’. Just take time to think about what YOU want, moving forward.
~ Honor yourself. Allow yourself to sink into what you have been through and be realistic about next steps. When I lost my dog, my knee-jerk reaction was to go get another pet ASAP but I really sunk into the reality of doing that. What was I trying to do with a new pet? It felt like I was looking for a new critter to love but when I really got honest with my heartfelt feelings, what I really wanted was to have Chance back. So I have to wait a while to honor grieving for him. THIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL THING. Some people might do great with a new pet super soon. Just wasn’t right for me.
~ Take some risks! ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always have what you’ve always had.’ Again, not new, but potentially important. I signed up for a huge new training this year that really challenged me in several ways. The classes were early in the morning (for me……..9:00 AM is early!); I had to challenge my brain to listen and attend to huge amounts of information (been a long time since I did THAT!); and it was a new thought system that I had not paid much credence to before. Guess what? It was fun and I learned a ton of cool stuff PLUS met a ton of great people in my field. So……..try something new.
That’s it for this time except to say HAPPY NEW YEAR and here’s hoping some good stuff comes your way!