Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
This is the time of the year we can really acknowledge everything we are thankful for.
Sometimes that’s hard. If we have had a sudden loss or if we are watching loved ones suffer with physical or emotional pain. Sometimes it’s just because we have more obligations than we have time.
So let’s wipe the slate clean and get back to the basics.
Okay so we don’t always get along with our siblings or see eye to eye with the boss. We can still be grateful that we have siblings and that we have a job. With so many of us losing our relatives for one reason or another, we can be thankful that we still have people that know us and care enough about us. So what if they still push our buttons.
That’s really a gift too. If they are pushing our buttons, that means we still have parts of us that don’t know that they are loved and wanted. These buttons are connected to things that maybe we did or said that we regret and it still haunts us or makes us feel uncomfortable. Let’s get rid of them now in a fun way.
Do this with me now so we can forever be cleared of such tortured memories.
Take a deep breath, close your eyes and feel way down inside of yourself. Round up all the parts of you that are afraid, hurt, frustrated and feeling unlovable. Gather them all into a basket under a huge hot air balloon that is red and heart shaped. Once they are all in the basket, pull the cord that sends the red heart balloon into the sky.
Wave goodbye and blow them kisses as go for a fun adventure to the land of milk and honey where they have nothing more to do than to play and be nurtured.
Now feel the gratitude take their place in your body!
Wow, now you have space for all the wonderful things about winding up the end of the year. Go back through your calendar and see everything you have done the entire year. You have accomplished so much. Really acknowledge and be grateful that you have been able to do so much.
Think of all the people that came in and out of your life in the past 12 months. And the people you have serviced lovingly. Really feel good about all you have accomplished rather or not you received a thank you directly from them.
Take stock of all that you have learned month by month. It’s amazing the growth we have gotten by doing the simple things of going to a birthday party, helping out a neighbor, working at the community garage sale and listening to a friend whose mother died. Feel how that feeds your heart, knowing you were there for them.
Now add in all the things you did for yourself. Even if it was just a few times you allowed yourself the time in the bubble bath, you at least did it and can add it to your calendar for next year. Maybe you started a new diet, exercise program, or took the class you have been hoping to get too. All those little things really add up even though I know you have more on your list.
Once you have completely acknowledged everything you have done for yourself and others it’s time to consider what you want to take into the New Year and what you want to leave behind.
Let’s start with you. Remember if you are going to fill up a jar with rocks, you have to put the big important rocks in first. And you are the big important rock.
So, what do you want to do next year? Make a list.
It might look something like this:
Read at least 5 of the 12 books on my nightstand
Once a week schedule in a bubble bath
Call a different friend once a week
Book one lunch date a week
Meditate daily
Connect with one sibling every 2 weeks
Send my siblings or people I think as sisters something monthly, even if it’s a post card
Try a new hairstyle
Commit to drinking an extra glass of water daily
Call or email people just to tell them I love them
Sit and do nothing for 30 minutes every other day.
Remember this isn’t about being perfect, it’s about planning for your future. ‘Most people’ plan what they are cooking for dinner but never plan for what they want their life to look like. It’s time you move out of being ‘most people’ and become the exception to the rule.
If not now – when, if not you – who.