When we reach the end of a cycle, it is tempting to rush forward, to envision new and better versions of ourselves and our lives. It is tempting to point fingers at what is missing, where we are lacking, and set a date for all of that to be replaced with great things!
And even though there is nothing wrong with intentions and goals, this approach ignores a few important things:
- Change takes time and it can’t be forced or rushed (at least not the kind that lasts)
- Instead of running away without ever looking back, sitting with what is, making friends with it and even learning how to be grateful for it, is the only way we can intentionally move forward and grow
- By setting unforgiving schedules and intensions we are more likely to set ourselves up for failure rather than for success (which in turn will just fuel the feelings of lacking and not being good enough)
- When we finish a cycle without being grounded in kindness, gratitude, and forgiveness, we are more likely to find ourselves repeating the same cycle later.
This doesn’t mean we should sit back and never again aspire to be or do better! It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t spend time in contemplation, taking stock of what we want to move away from and move towards. But we can try to do this whilst still being anchored in the present moment, in gratitude, kindness and in the knowing that this version of ourselves needs no drastic transformation to be enough, to be complete and to be whole!
More than a list of radical changes that have no foundation to sustain them, we should try to work with what is already growing in us. Letting the things that we are moving away from create space so that the things we are already growing, can blossom.
There is no need to become someone complete new, to have the cleanest diet and never miss a training session. What you need, what we all need, is to be kinder to ourselves, to soften our grip on the micromanagement of our journeys.
Chances are that the best version of our lives is already here, that what we are looking for is already here. So maybe Instead of making a list of what to change, we should make a list of what to celebrate, what to be grateful for, and let that lead us forward.
My list gets longer every year, maybe not so much because of what actually happens, but because of how much more I appreciate every part of life.
Long story short:
It has been a year full of amazing opportunities and breakthroughs. I am immensely grateful for every single one on them!
It has also been a year filled with challenges. I am grateful for those and for the lessons they contained!
I am grateful for you! For reading this, for your support and presence in classes, retreats, events and life in general!
I am grateful for the community we are building together
I am grateful to believe and feel that success is measured not by the outward expansion of our lives, but by how they expand inwards
I am grateful to be able to do what I love every day and share it with others
I am grateful for life itself and for each new day I have to live it
I am grateful for being surrounded by kind, good, supporting and inspiring people
I am grateful to know that many of those will always try to keep me safe and well
Above all, and every awaken minute, I am grateful for my wife who's love continues to help me heal and fall in love with life as it is every day
And I wish nothing more than to continue to slowly make my way forward, to slowly live, to slowly learn, to slowly grow. To be kinder to myself and to others. And to always remember to pay more attention to what is instead of what is not.
I wish you all the same, and more, for this year to come!
What are you grateful for?
With love and gratitude,
Ri
“Why start another year, gifted to us on this earth, with demands on our already over-strained humanity.
When we could be learning to accept, that we were always supposed to be imperfect.
And that is where the beauty lives, actually.
And if we can only find that beauty, we would also find peace.”
Donna Ashworth
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