“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better [wo]man.” —Benjamin Franklin
One Gift of the Season: CLARITY
Winter brings contrast to our senses and our experience. Bare branches against the blue sky, Italian lights strung against the midnight blue. Whether it’s seeing the starkness of the news after you’ve shopped for a holiday present, or are just taking stock in your life, it is a time that invites us to notice, assess and reflect.
One Practice: RESOLUTION
Truth be told, I haven’t practiced a New Year’s resolution in years. But I have been actively deconstructing and reconstructing some deep inner behavioral patterns which often includes looking at habits or ways of being which either don’t serve me or worse, blindly work against what I’m striving towards. To resolve means to find a solution or decide upon a new course of action. When am I not trying to resolve?!
I got to the bottom of a less-than-pleasing lunch bowl recently, when I realized that I had half of tomorrow’s breakfast remaining. I love to have eggs on a salad for breakfast. How many times have I tossed out one of these in the garbage? I talked over the whole issue of waste with a few of my guides during meditation. Because it’s much more productive to practice affirmations, behavior, anything in the positive, they helped me examine the flipside of waste. We talked about wasted food, wasted energy (i.e. worrying) and even earworms. You know…the songs or jingles that plant roots in your mind? What we decided upon was that it’s important to take the time to mull over what’s being thrown out, ignored or set aside in our life. When you take the time to look at what you don’t want, you can more easily decide upon what you want to conserve in your life so you can preserve a better way of life.
So naturally, I opted for the low-hanging fruit, so to speak. In an effort to waste less food, I’m going to practice more awareness with my food habits and patterns. My fridge has filled up with small leftover boxes as I’m beginning to box ½ my take-out meals prior to eating them, just as I did back in my Jenny Craig days.
Am I going to track this? Nope (unless you consider a scale in this whole scenario). Am I gonna beat myself up when I throw out something from the fridge that I didn’t get to in time? No. But I will ride this as long as I can, just like any other resolution. Because the picture of the bottom of that salad bowl is frozen in my mind. A little instant karma aha moment. And losing a few pounds would be some nice patterning as well. ^_^
One Reflection:
Which aspect of your being deserves a holiday?
What do you most want to conserve or preserve in 2019?
May we all use the clarity of the season to become better versions of ourselves! Here's a blog post that may offer some inspiration on the days when life seems hard. Sally 206.909.3737 | My Inner Lighthouse | we all house the light ®
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