Leaving it behind

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Today is the one day out of a whole year that is perfect for leaving the things behind we no longer wish to carry along. What that is, is different for each of us. For some they may be burdens of an emotional nature; while others may feel burdened by physical or material ‘stuff’.
New Years Eve is a great moment to reflect on what we want to carry forth into the new year, and what we would like to leave behind in the old year, in ‘old time’; allowing it to become history.

As we pick and choose what to take with us and what to leave behind, we need to be aware that even as we leave things, emotions, attitudes behind ~ they will always be part of us.
The difference is that in consciously leaving them behind we give ourselves the opportunity to unburden ourselves. In essence what we do is leaving the heaviness, the darkness behind which brings a spring back in our steps and creates a space for newness to come into our lives. What we will always take with us are the lessons we have learned from the experiences we have encountered in our lives.

In short, as we leave behind the burdens of that which we no longer want to take with us, whatever situations, experiences, or things they were ~ they will become a part of our personal history. Somehow those experiences have permitted us to grow and to arrive at the point of our path that we are today.

And that is a good thing!

It is also a good thing that as these experiences have served their purpose, to decide that we no longer need them to burden our lives. To release them. To, ultimately, leave them behind.

In doing so we bring a greater sense of freedom into our lives ~ perhaps even a greater sense of peace. Whether it is an old cabinet or an old situation wrought with dark and dank emotions ~ as we leave it behind we are creating a new space, perhaps even a corridor into a new and brighter future.

So, if you have some time in between the preparations for New Year’s Eve ~ perhaps it will serve you to ponder these perspectives… And to decide on three things that you would like to leave behind as the New Year rolls in with a New Moon.
Allowing yourself three spaces into which new seeds can be sown, where these seeds can germinate and over the next year can grow into strong and productive plants that will serve you well!

Happy New Year!
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Circumstances

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It is funny how the circumstances we may find ourselves in can either give us a jumpstart, or stop us in our tracks. We tend to look at a change in our circumstances as a negative. Something that is throwing off our routine; that takes away the structure in our lives ~ in other words, something that makes our lives harder than it needs to be as it takes away the organization we have imposed on our lives. It stops the plans we have made in their tracks, and suddenly we need to adapt to a place ~ and energy ~ that we are not that familiar with.
This seems quite obvious with the ‘biggies’ ~ like relationship (whether they start or end; the do change the circumstances), moving house (for whatever the reason), losing or finding a job… All of those things change our circumstances to such extend that we are forced to adapt.

Yet there are much smaller things we can find on our path, that change our circumstances in such a way that they become ‘life altering events’.

I remember one time long ago when my 100-year old house was being insulated ~ double glazed windows, insulated floor instead of the bare floor boards… It was a sense of luxury that I hadn’t know before. And pretty soon I felt compelled to change my environment from a space furnished with secondhand, cheap furniture into a space that was truly my own. In hindsight something I should have done long before that time; yet living in my own little world, following my own little plans had made it easy to put it off.
Other examples were when I got my first car; when I quit my job. And also when I decided my really long hair; and the time when I painted the walls of my living room yellow.

A change in circumstances can be innocuous ~ like painting de walls of a room in a different color ~ and still have an enormous effect. As the energy changes, whether that is anticipated or not, it can set a line of events in motion that change our perspectives, our experiences. And before we know it, the plans we had made don’t seem to fit anymore. As we change our plans we may not even be fully aware that the dominos have started falling…
After all is said and done, life looks differently.
We have changed.

The curious thing to me is how a tiny change in circumstances can push us to adapt and change ~ and pushes us to take a giant leap on our personal paths…
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Laugh, and the world laughs with you…

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When we are happy, it seems everybody around us is happy also. When we smile, people around us have a tendency to start smiling. In other words, laugh and the world laughs with you!

When we are happy, humming, or even singing and dancing along, chances are that we are in tune with the Universe. On top of being happy, because we are in tune, everything we do seems to fit. There is exactly enough time to do our shopping, and when we are ready to check out, we will find ourselves to be the first in line at the register. When we make a phone call for information, we get the right person on the line right away ~ and this person answers all of our questions to our satisfaction. When we are driving some place we have to get to, all of the traffic lights turn green as we approach…
As those things happen, they can make us even more happy!

In a sense when we get ‘in the groove’ in this manner, it is not only the world who laughs with us; it is the Universe itself that is laughing with us, encouraging us to keep going and to unfold our greatest potentials and our wildes dreams.

The second part of the saying is more gloomy. ‘Cry, and you will cry alone’.
The moments when nothing seems to fit, and the whole world seems to conspire against us ~ it is often a clear sign that we are out of tune. Out of touch with ourselves and (therefore) with the Universe.
When that happens it affects our timing, as well as the amount of energy it takes to get things done. It is something that is all the more frustrating when we look around us and see the rest of the world smoothly moving along, without any problems ~ which in turn can give us a sense of being utterly alone.

Whether we are laughing or crying is ~ up to a point ~ a choice we have. We may not always in control of the situations we find ourselves in; we are always in control of how we react to them. And the more balanced our reactions, the more smoothly our lives tend to move along.
Also it is important to act on the factual aspects of the situations we find ourselves in, rather than there emotional counterparts. Dealing with the facts as we see them at that moment will help us to make decisions in such a way that our balance is enhanced.

All these things together determine whether the Universe is smiling upon us. Whether we are laughing with the world around us…
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I love it when a plan comes together!

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A saying I most remember from the 80s TV series The A-Team. Every time another unlikely adventure had come to a good end it is what their leader, Hannibal, would say ~ cigar, big grin and all…

In life there are always plans we dream up, and make happen. Some plans work out great, while others may not work out quite the way we had in mind. And of those plans that work out differently, can roughly be divided into two groups: those that don’t work out at all, and those that in the end work out better than we could have ever thought!
The times when a plan we put into motion seems to get skewed, move sideways to the point where we almost give up on it, only to find that in the end the results are way better than what we set out to achieve ~ that is when the saying is still so true; ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’

The unexpected things that cross our paths and push the outcome in an ever more beneficial direction, can be things like finding yourself being at the right time at the right place. It can be a chance meeting, or perhaps a meeting that never happens because the person is indisposed.
And yet, miraculously it all works out in the end…

For me the most amazing times when a plan comes together, are the times when things ‘click’ on my personal path. Often without really planning for something, suddenly I find information coming my way from different sources that seems to dove-tail perfectly, and guides (or sometimes pushes) me into a direction I would not have gone without this happening to me.
It does’t necessarily bring new adventures onto my path, yet it always makes the adventures more beneficial, more fun!
When things like that happen it most definitely makes the journey more adventurous.

It does require a certain awareness, a way of staying in touch with the progress we are making while making our plans happen. First and foremost this is important to keep track, to know when we have reached our goals. Yet it is only through that awareness can we pick up on the subtle messages, the shifts in energy, that guide us to the most beneficial outcome ~ the very best way it can all come together.
Whether that is on our personal journey, or in a more mundane setting.

When that happens, be sure to tell yourself and the world with a big grin on your face: ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
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Preparations

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As the end of the year is approaching, there are all kinds of preparations going on…
Preparations for the Holidays; getting the decorations all in place, stocking up on candles; for the big dinner with family and friends… And then there is the New Year’s celebration that needs preparing for. And if you would wish to do so you can even prepare a list of resolutions for that magical date: January 1st.

With all the things that need to get done this year ~ things like finishing up work related items, getting the books in order etc. ~ and the preparations for the year end celebrations, it is easy to find yourself so busy that this other ‘turning point’ goes by almost unnoticed: the return of the light; the Winter solstice.

As far as preparations go, this may be the most important moment within the last ten days of the year. The ‘return of the light’ starts a period of turning inward, of examining what we have accomplished over the past year as well as looking at which things we would like to achieve in the year to come ~ and how we want to go about actually achieving those goals.
Those last ten days of the year, starting with the Winter solstice and going up to New Years Day when we state our New Years resolutions, are without question the best ten days for preparation ~ preparing ourselves for the year ahead.

The things to keep in mind when we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead are:
Choose as your goals the things you really desire, yet keep your goals realistic. In other words, set goals that as you work towards them, you will achieve.
Create a structure through which achieving your goals becomes easier. For instance, if your goal is to finally lose those ten pounds, find friends who will support you in doing so ~ or perhaps even friends who also want to lose some weight so you can reach your goals together.
Come up with a clear ‘milestone’ at which you recognize that you have reached the goals you set out to achieve.

Just like the Christmas dinner shopping list can get bigger and bigger as it is laying on the counter ~ so too can the list of our goals for the next year grow longer and longer. As this happens it is important we don’t set ourselves up for a continuous ‘overwhelm situation’ that lasts a year and makes reaching our goals harder than it needs to be ~ we are often better off choosing three goals: a personal or ‘inner’ goal, a work related goal, and a goal that either has to do with education, or with the way we experience and express our spirituality.

We know that preparing for the Holidays makes them even better!
And it is the same way with preparing ourselves for our next year…
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