New Year, New Cycle- Now What? 

The new year, aside from all the festivities around it, it’s just that, a set of 12 months ahead of us entering into a new year. The months cycle with important dates for us to honor and the years, well they leave us with a either a fabulous kick on the ass, or they imprint us with fortune and contentment. A new cycle brings us an opportunity to improve our self and motivates us to actually follow through with the things that provides us with excitement, self-acceptance, and possibly good deeds. It might include ending relationships that just don’t do us right, quitting a job, or deciding that we will never be perfect and that we might as well accept our self the way we are now. Whichever the case, our hope to improve our self allows us to set new year’s resolutions.

But yikes, ‘resolutions’, the word with a literal definition that sends me chills of I’m not interested. When I actually took the time to look up the definition, I understood why I was not interested. It sounds so strict, too serious, and I must be honest and admit that I have no focus for serious, in fact, I need room to possibly screw up and time to accept my decisions at that time. In the past I’ve set new year’s resolutions because it was cool to talk about, and yet it wasn’t something I loved to remember throughout the year. Quite a lot of talk followed with poor actions just to sound cool-oh goodness, I’m glad I’ve grown out of such rediculous expectations! So over the years I’ve stopped calling it resolutions and instead of waiting for the new year to creep up on me, I plan little goals through out the year.

How’s that working? Well it is a constant work in progress. First we must believe it in all of our being that those goals we’re setting are in fact attainable by you, yourself, and you.

Goals- plural, it is more than one! That entails juggling different aspects of our life and time and it really just sounds like a deep sigh of ‘oh shit, I have a lot to do!’. So where does an average person like you and I start? Baby steps- and I’m not kidding when I say baby steps cure world problems! It really does. Most people call it patience but I've decided that it is more about taking baby steps, and one at a time, to creating a sparkly new life. If you’re scared of a ‘sparkly life’ then shoot for a descent life or whatever adjective makes you feel at home. So take yourself some baby steps and gather yourself. It helps tremendously when we sttop trying to coordinate everything at once while hoping to find a vitamin for patience- because I must reveal that you’re just not going to find such vitamin.

So what goals should you address? Well let’s see, what’s calling for your attention the most? Some of us may have a little voice saying (and sometimes screaming) ‘hey get back into this or try that over there’. You will know what it is as soon as you honor that tickling wonder. So then, what is your biggest wonder? A few examples, taking an art class when you can’t even draw descent stick people, crafting a neat project when you know you’re color blind, sharing your sappy little writing in the full of cruel comments world wide web, or driving consciously and actually leaving your phone in the backseat. Wow, see the tickling wonder does add up to a list of awesome and unique projects you can start.

So instead of us getting overly motivated on the month of January, and falling off the wagon on February, and being too busy enjoying the pretty Spring weather in April, why not make space and time to honor our baby-step goals? Again our goals are often those little tickling wonders that often cross our mind but don’t take the time to honor.

Happy New Beginnings today and always!