New Year Self Examination

December 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The new year is fast approaching, and now is a perfect time to take a few quiet moments to examine your life’s journey over the past year and look ahead to the promise of the coming year. I try to do some comprehensive journaling at this time of year, and find that self-examination is especially helpful as you look ahead.  I’ve created a list of questions to help you examine the past year and plan for the new one.

I am not a great fan of setting goals for a year at a time.  The reason for that is that life seems to bring changes that I can’t predict 12 months in advance.  But I am a proponent of setting over-arching themes to a year and a few specific goals, such as an overall financial goal, and then revising them every three months or so.  The tendency for life to throw curve balls at you is the reason that some corporations revise their budgets every quarter, to account for mid-course corrections. As an example of a curve ball I received, last December, I set myself a goal of making X dollars per month by September 2008 from my blogsite. I didn’t achieve that goal for several reasons that I couldn’t have anticipated a year ago, but I sure learned a lot from the experience! Interestingly, I did achieve the overall financial goal I set for this year, but in far different ways than I anticipated.  So, I recommend you set overall goals but leave room for God to fill in the specifics of how you will achieve them. Indeed, expecting divine intervention and surprises is what makes goal setting fun and exciting!

As you prepare to answer these questions, you might go back to your calendar or journal and review your activities for each month of the year to remember what you did – memories can be fleeting.

Here are the questions – my new year’s gift to you:

Looking back:

  • What successes did you have this year?  What were your inner successes, such as a change in perspective, forgiving someone, letting go of old hurts, etc? What were your outer successes or tangible achievements? 
  • What were the lessons learned this year, perhaps from difficult situations?  What good came from the hardships you endured? (If you are reading this, one good thing is that you survived!)  From these lessons, what can you remember and apply to the coming year’s activities to make you wiser, stronger, healthier or more prosperous?
  • What were some of the Kodak moments that I want to remember from this year?  (Kodak moments are those times when you want to capture the picture or feeling of the experience forever.) It might be with your family, in nature, with friends.  It might be an awe-inspiring experience on a busy street corner.

Looking ahead to the coming year and beyond:

  • What would you like to do to improve or maintain your physical body’s health and well-being?  This could include diet, exercise, medical interventions and rest.
  • What steps will you take to improve or maintain your social relationships, such as those with your family?  What about the quality of your friendships? Do you have at least one person with whom you can confide some of your deepest thoughts? What can you do to improve or maintain these connections?
  • What is your financial goal for next year?  What are the steps that you will take to achieve them?
  • What are you tolerating in your daily life? In other words, are there minor irritants in your life that, once eliminated, could make your life flow more smoothly?  What five tolerations could you eliminate in the coming 30 days?
  • How can you advance your career this year?  What steps can you take to enrich yourself or your business to take it to the next level?  Are there educational opportunities that you should take advantage of?
  • What can you do to improve your spiritual life?  Are there some practices, such as prayer, meditation, reading or being in nature, that you could incorporate into your daily routine?  How can you feed your spirit this year?
  • How can you be of service to others?  Can you give back to your community in a new way this year?  What would make your heart sing while serving others?
  • Lastly, what one big goal do you have for your life?  What would make you happiest, most fulfilled, most purposeful in the next 10, 20, 30 or 40 years?  What is your plan to achieve it?

Happy New Year!


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The Longest Night of the Year

December 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Today is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere.  Solstice was and still is celebrated by many earth-based religions as the time to embrace and celebrate the darkness while, at the same time, we turn toward the hope and promise of the lengthening daylight and the strengthening of the sun.  Human beings yearn for the sun and the daylight, giving rise to our celebrations of candle lighting at this time of the year.  Even though we turn toward the sun, how can we embrace the darkness and welcome its gifts into our lives at this special time of year?

Darkness doesn’t represent only evil and the absence of hope.  Darkness is gestational, as in the darkness of the womb.  Darkness is the quiet of the night, a rest for weary eyes and limbs.  It is a time of renewal, of looking inward, of preparing for the spring that will assuredly arrive. 

Amidst all the revelry of this happy, holy holiday time, take some time to ponder what you are gestating. What are you preparing for?  Is it your best life, or your best year, or just another good turning of the sun?  Is there music in your heart that must sing?  Is there poetry that you must pen? Is there a dance for your happy feet? Consider all these things and ponder them in your heart. Welcome the blessings of the darkness.

This is not the time to make big plans – that comes next week as we celebrate New Years and consider how to shape the coming year.  Now is the time to cherish your dreams and let them simmer in the giant cauldron of your soul.

Happy Solstice!


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December 16, 2008

December 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Happy holidays! I hope you are enjoying this December and looking forward to the promise of a new year. My family and I are planning a quiet holiday together. My son is back from college and we are going to be home until the day after Christmas, when we make a weekend trip to a relaxed resort outside of Austin, TX. We look forward to a weekend of biking and hiking, good food, tennis and spa treatments for the ladies!

May peace reside in your heart this holiday season!

Blessings,

Kristin


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Look Up and See the Stars!

December 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment

j0438720In everyday life, we tend to notice only those things that are at eye level or below.  Our natural inclination is to look down – to look at our feet as we walk, to make sure we don’t trip, to see where we are going in the next step.  It takes intention and practice to look up and notice what is above our accustomed field of vision. Teach yourself to look up, because there are lights in the heavens, stars to be seen.  To look up is an act of viewing things from a higher perspective, to see not only the details of the moment but a vision of the future.  To look up is a metaphor for the ability to see opportunity in hard times, to hold fast to hope and faith, to realize that change is the only constant. 

During this holiday season, it is especially important to look up and see the big picture.  Many families are hurting from the tough economic times we face; others are grateful for whatever jobs they have and the ability to weather this storm.  Looking up will provide you a broader perspective, and the assurance of brighter things to come.

In December, many religions celebrate the looking-up themes of hope and the promise of the future. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus; Jews light Menorah candles to remember hope and the miracle of the temple lamp oil lasting eight nights; in early December, Buddhists celebrate Rohatsu, the anniversary of the enlightenment of the Buddha and the possibility of enlightenment for all beings; earth-centered religions anticipate the coming of longer days by lighting yule logs in the fireplace. In the Christmas story, the shepherds and the wise men literally look up to see a bright star, a light in the sky, that guided them to the birthplace of Jesus and the promise of the Christ’s message of love. 

It is so easy to get caught up in darkness, whether it is the physical darkness of the winter days or the mental darkness of despair or just dull days.  We light candles and fires to remind us to figuratively look up, to see that there is hope even in darkness, that the light will return just as surely as a new day will dawn.  I derive great joy from the sweet turning and returning of this holy season. My hearts stirs with hope and faith when I observe stars in the winter night sky, Christmas lights in neighbor’s yards, and candles in the Menorah and in Christmas wreaths. I know that the days will start to lengthen and that warmth will return to our world. I give thanks that hope, love, joy and peace are celebrated at this time.

Remember, light always conquers darkness. Love and hope conquer fear. May peace reside in your heart. Look up and see the stars!


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