Photo Credit: Jan Bonner
One of my words to live by for 2021 is radiate. It is my wish and my goal, to shine my brightest light as I honor and recognize those who have shined theirs, and inspired me along my journey back to myself.
In the past year, I have seen many people navigate this unfamiliar world with such grace and confidence, like they didn’t miss a beat when their world turned upside down overnight. Some have even said that about me and moving my classes online, which I appreciate, but know it wasn’t always true. Behind the scenes there was, and still is, a bit of stress when things do not go as planned, which let’s face it, is often.
In some ways I think we all wish for our world to return to “normal”, yet I fear it will never return to the way it was, and I am doing my best to feel thankful for that. I am attempting to worry less about the future and instead look back at the resolve and the resilience I showed in 2020, no matter what was thrown at me. What if we view this new world we find ourselves in as a positive, as an opportunity to change what isn’t working for us? What better time are we going to ever have to make the necessary (but hard) changes to break out of our old negative patterns and begin to feel the happiness each of us deserves?
It is a new world, with new possibilities and opportunities.
I believe that “normal” as we knew it won’t return for a long time, if ever, and I think that we have a choice in how we respond to this. It can leave us in a place where we feel “stuck” and waiting for a past that won’t return, or it could leave us embracing a new world with the attitude that flowing with what “is”, is the best thing we can do. Let’s use this new world as an opportunity to take back the reins of our lives and grow!
I recently held a workshop and experienced the reflections of many who embraced the changes and searched within to find the positives that came from their 2020. Either they recognized personal growth, released negatives (people, routines, habits) that were no longer serving them, or simply realized they needed to make some changes to attract more joy into their lives. I believe we all have a right to be happy, to thrive and be loved, to be appreciated for who we are without conditions, and to make a difference in our corner of the world. When we find life isn’t working for us, and recognize that we aren’t happy or thriving, and are swimming upstream to the point of exhaustion; we have a choice. We can stay with what isn’t working, stay “stuck” in the negative patterns, or we can surrender to what is and let our lives unfold with intention and awareness. I believe we need to give ourselves permission to make things right for ourselves, by feeling our way through the doors of opportunity we face, no matter how scary.
We have the knowledge and power within to do what is right for us.
It takes practice to learn what things are right for us. I’ve spent the better part of the last decade figuring out what fuels my soul, what I need to change to find the “happy for no reason” feeling inside, and how to remain calm on both the inside and the outside. The journey has been up and down, the changes have been huge, and the result was so worth the effort. I consider myself happy from the inside out now, and as a result when I did my end of the year check in, I found I was so on track I need to keep doing more of the same in 2021. That was a relief, as for many years it has been all about recognizing and implementing changes I needed to make in order to grow. Age has something to do with being comfortable in your own skin, but so does time spent letting go of judgment, comparison and expectation. There’s a bit of planning and control I had to ditch along the way, to allow my life to have more creative freedom, expression, spontaneity and play. While there is always a nagging feeling down deep in me that tells me I have “so much to do” and so little time, I keep my actual to do list as short as possible. This allows me to take care of my needs, to take breaks from accomplishing and to just enjoy the present moment and where it takes me. I am so grateful the majority of my personal growth work on letting go of control and perfectionism, was done before 2020 hit, because those adjustments allowed me to thrive in an uncertain time.
During this whole crazy deep dive into me, and then deep dive into 2020’s uncertainty, I have learned some things about myself. I believe if we look closely, we all will recognize 2020 has helped us bring to light our strengths and weaknesses. I now know what I need to be the best me, what I need to say no to, what I want more of, and what practices work to keep me calm and strong. The most important lesson might be, I no longer worry about what it looks like on the outside, or what others think of me. If I live as my best self, with no regrets and no shame, I can shine my brightest. light. This is what the world needs more of, everyone shining brightly.
It is never too late to free yourself from the “shoulds” and figure out who you really are. The collective world needs us all to shine in our own unique way. We don’t have to always agree, but we all do need to work towards being the best version of ourselves, to lead by example, to spread kindness, to remain open to other perspectives, and to live as our truest selves. If I can do it, so can you.
Namaste peeps.