My New Year of Ginormous Abundance
It’s mid-December! Time to cue up New Year’s resolution blog posts and motivational Instagram memes. There’s still plenty of time to gorge ourselves on holiday treats, drown our livers in yuletide cheer and forgo our daily writing so that by the first of January we feel guilty and gross enough to swear allegiance to any transformative workout challenge, restrictive diet dogma or unsustainable daily schedule.
I want to try something different. Instead of starting off 2019 focusing on everything that’s wrong, I want to start with what’s right.
What’s gone right this year? How am I healthier? How am I more balanced? What professional and creative goals have I actually met in 2018? As I think about these successes, I want to focus on how I can build on the momentum I already have as we move into a new year. Last spring I finished my recertification as a 200 hour yoga instructor. I’ve already reached out in attempts to offer affordable, accessible yoga classes in my current community. If you don’t know me, this is a ginormous step out of my comfort zone. Thankfully, I’ve actually had response. Over the last few months I have made noteworthy progress in fueling my body, and I feel really damn good on the trails. While still somewhat discouraging, I’m sending proposals out for writing gigs and guess what, it gets easier and easier, and less and less embarrassing. Sure, I could also list plenty of behaviors to quit and unnecessary treats to stop eating, but I’m choosing to have faith that by filling my life with the good stuff all the bad will be slowly, but naturally, wedged out.
I keep reminding myself of the advice from a therapist over the summer: concentrate on ABUNDANCE. Stop restricting, stop telling myself all the things I CAN’T do/be/have and embrace growth. In fact, I proclaim “abundance” as my 2019 mantra. This doesn’t mean I get to indulge or be wasteful or bite off more than I can chew. I read a fantastic post by Hala Khouri on offthematintotheworld.org that included this gem:
The purpose of discipline is to create more freedom. If your discipline just leads to more discipline, it ain’t workin’ baby!
I’ve written before about my sometimes over-disciplined life, but maybe I can think about that differently now. I’m proud of my willpower, and I think our traditional New Years’ resolutions can be valuable, but only if we think about how our new practices will create abundance and space for more freedom — more life.
What’s gone right for you this year? What fantastic habits are you already following that you can snowball into more Feel Goodness?!
