There’s just something special about a new year. A fresh start. A blank page. An opportunity to begin as you wish to continue.
It is my absolute favourite time of year. As though the entire ocean expands before me, it represents endless potential and fills me with hope.
Beginning is as important as continuation. Placing the first footing, finding firm ground and creating your new intention. Over the past few years my intentions have become less grandiose, less about achieving great feats and less likely to render me paralysed by over-committment. Rather they have grown more modest, they have become quiet undertones, hues that I wish to colour my days. I find with subtle intentions there is less self-imposed pressure and therefore fewer disappointments. My intetnions have become a word, a phrase, or a feeling. A touchstone that reminds me regularly to return to the life I am trying to cultivate.
This year my words are:
Heart-led. Surrender. Grace.
These are intentions in their own right. But together they are ways of living, states of being, guides to feeling, that take me closer to the person I want to be. They are gentle focus points that invite my attention to the qualities I am actively trying to embody. They are not resolving any part of myself that is broken or needs fixing. They are not rules or regulations that require adherence. They are not terms that require punishment if not met.
They are simply a quiet reminder of the rich and abundant life I am seeking.
Something interesting unfolds when our life is free from force. We relax. We realise that everything we have been seeking outside of ourselves is already present within ourselves. When we connect with that feeling our focus is inward instead of outward. And we shift to a place where everything is a blessing instead of a threat. Every experience and encounter is an opportunity to learn, grow and reaffirm our own intention, instead of meeting someone elses expectation of us. When we live from this place we surrender our incessant need to control everything and everyone around us and we embrace what is. Until we can embrace what is we cannot realise that life is actually happening for us instead of to us. And when we learn from each experience and incorporate learnings into our behaviour, we are graciously becoming the person we were always meant to be.
So perhaps this year we depart from the old model of choosing something to fix. Maybe instead of resolving lifes ‘problems’ we choose to tread gently and create an intention to guide our attention in the direction we would like to travel.