Looking back at 2013, it's a year of transformations.
For myself, I started in one place with a specific mindset, but somewhere tracks changed and I ended up in a different place. It's definitely better, but not what I imagined in January.
It hasn't been easy since there were lots of dark moments during the year, and one was especially painful as it was related to a young person close to us. However, that traumatic experience too led us to a place of transformation and hope.
Lesson 1 - Believe in the Positive
I attribute a lot of the transformations this year to the power of positive visualization. I finally read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne, after seeing it lying next to me at the library. I had avoided the hype years ago and decided to pick it up.
The biggest message is to believe the desired state exists now. I'm a pretty positive person, but the difference was believing in the change. I was writing down the things I wanted, but the Secret is to believe you already have them. That was something different for me, and felt it was effective.
I learned to dream big too. I remember 20 years ago, I couldn't dream big at all. I was in such a tunnel and couldn't look beyond forwards and backwards. Now, I'm in a place where I could see left and right, but I didn't know there was an up. So, it's a matter of lifting the ceiling and seeing new possiblities.
Lesson 2 - Expect Change
The only thing consistent is life is change. We can't rely on consistency as much as we think we can. Life changing events can occur and we should not assume our lives can't change instantly. We use building blocks to stack pieces of our lives together and it doesn't take much to knock over the tower. However, we pick up the blocks and build a tower again. When that tower does topple, we have to look at which pieces will build the strongest foundation for us. It's not always the ones we think.
Lesson 3 - Look Beyond Your Belly Button
Stop the navel gazing and bemoaning your life. See what you have in your life. There were days when I was stessed, and I was grateful for a colleague who made a funny joke and made me laugh. It's not all bad. Really.
I'm full of hope and optimism for 2014 and know the lessons of the previous year will help ground us.
It hasn't been easy since there were lots of dark moments during the year, and one was especially painful as it was related to a young person close to us. However, that traumatic experience too led us to a place of transformation and hope.
Lesson 1 - Believe in the Positive
I attribute a lot of the transformations this year to the power of positive visualization. I finally read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne, after seeing it lying next to me at the library. I had avoided the hype years ago and decided to pick it up.
The biggest message is to believe the desired state exists now. I'm a pretty positive person, but the difference was believing in the change. I was writing down the things I wanted, but the Secret is to believe you already have them. That was something different for me, and felt it was effective.
I learned to dream big too. I remember 20 years ago, I couldn't dream big at all. I was in such a tunnel and couldn't look beyond forwards and backwards. Now, I'm in a place where I could see left and right, but I didn't know there was an up. So, it's a matter of lifting the ceiling and seeing new possiblities.
Lesson 2 - Expect Change
The only thing consistent is life is change. We can't rely on consistency as much as we think we can. Life changing events can occur and we should not assume our lives can't change instantly. We use building blocks to stack pieces of our lives together and it doesn't take much to knock over the tower. However, we pick up the blocks and build a tower again. When that tower does topple, we have to look at which pieces will build the strongest foundation for us. It's not always the ones we think.
Lesson 3 - Look Beyond Your Belly Button
Stop the navel gazing and bemoaning your life. See what you have in your life. There were days when I was stessed, and I was grateful for a colleague who made a funny joke and made me laugh. It's not all bad. Really.
I'm full of hope and optimism for 2014 and know the lessons of the previous year will help ground us.
