Winter is a great time for self reflection and review of the past year and many times years of your life. As we continue onto January and the new year, it is a wonderful time to create what you want your next year to look like. Take this special time of year to reflect on yourself, your dreams and passions and wonder where you would like to go next. Maybe you have lost yourself somewhere along the way while taking care of your family or career. Or perhaps you are just starting out on your journey through life, what better time than at the beginning to see what you really want to do with your life rather than follow someone else’s idea of what your life should be. While the snow falls or the rain and damp make the days grey and chilly, let yourself relax and breathe, reflect and renew in the cozy space that is your heart and soul.
Sometimes when we are facing new challenges and developing new skills the road ahead may seem filled with unknown dangers and dark hidden passages. Each new challenge to our new way of living seems harder and harder making the old path you were taking look easier and well worn. That makes your own ways look more desirable, easier to do again and again in a cycle that does not end. Until you realize: “Hey, wait a minute! This is how I got here in the first place by making those same choices over and over again. I don’t want to do this any more!!” Now that you are here in this moment, you can decide to quit making those choices and choose ones that will lead you down a better path, even if it is an unknown path. By visualizing your destination, it will make the unknown path easier to take because you know where you are headed. Much like driving your car to a new restaurant or friend’s house, you know where you intend to go, but need to draw a map to get there and new directions to follow. Without knowing where you intended to go, how could you possibly draw a map or choose a good direction to drive your car in, you would just drive around aimlessly until your car ran out of gas or you decided on where you really want to go.
Clearing a new path in life takes perseverance, each new step leads you out into the unknown, into the wilderness where the trees are so tall and the weeds can be so high that you have to whack them out of your way to even make that next step. You may think to yourself that it is much too difficult to go one, much too hard to make new choices but there is a fire within you that can help you push further one. Use the desire you have for a better life, the passion for what you are trying to create for yourself to keep you moving forward. By having a clear picture of what is desirable and undesirable about your present day life and what you desire to create in your new life, you can find the power within you to make it through the rough patches. With a clear picture of where you are headed, you can see over the hurdles that are thrown in your way and know that even though you are struggling you can see the finish line. The destination could be a healthier body, better relationships with others, finishing a college degree, having a greater sense of self worth or blazing a completely new trail in your life that you have never done before. There is no reason to continue down a path that has not satisfied you or has left you feeling less than the best about yourself. Within you is the ability to remove the fear and blocks that keep you from choosing better habits and leaving the old ones behind. Don’t let fear of the unknown stand in your way.
Tomorrow, I will share a visualization exercise to help begin the journey within to start your map towards a life filled with your heart’s desire. Then on Monday, I will offer guidance on how to draw your life map so you can have a picture of where you want to be heading.
