Happy New Year! What an auspicious start to 2014 we have, with a new moon intensifying the potency of new beginnings. Let’s seize this opportunity to move forward with everything that we are, holding in our hearts the reality that this is our moment. Isn’t this why we we make our resolutions? With every intention in that direction we enhance our quality of life and optimise our contribution to the world around us.
So let’s make them count!
Here’s a few ways to make resolutions really work, for the good of all.
R – RELEVANCE
E – EXPRESS INTENTIONS
S – SUPPORT
O – ONE FOR ALL & ALL FOR ONE
L – LET IT GO
U – USE THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO YOU
T – TESTIMONY
I – IMAGERY
O – OPEN TO CHANGE
N – NEVER GIVE UP
Relevance
This is your chance to commit to something that really matters to you – maybe for your health or wellbeing or for society, your community or the environment. Picking something that we think is expected of us or going with the masses will likely only be done with half a heart. We’re more likely to see through something of personal relevance.
Express Intentions
Broadcasting your resolution establishes a position of ‘no turning back’. Social media has it’s uses so go tell ‘em on Facebook, Twitter or whatever it is you use. When you see friends and family, too, it’s okay to bleat on about it a little, because not only will you work that extra bit harder to save face but you will also be offered a lot more of the next important component to successful resolutions …
Support
Value the support you receive; it’s your lifeline on this quest. Show gratitude everytime you’re cheered on and allow yourself to feel the encouragement. If your resolution is a fundraiser, each donation will give you even more sense of support – a loving energy which will only grow as it is passed forward to the chosen cause.
One for all and all for one
That means teamwork! It helps to make a pact with others to work on resolutions together. Again places like Twitter and Facebook can help – Cygnus have kindly invited us to use their Facebook and Twitter walls, a well as this blog page, as a New Years Resolution noticeboard where we can share encouragement and ideas.
Let it go
Not everyone will be supportive and we may face ridicule, even from close family. Remember that someone else’s cynicism bears no reflection on you personally and is merely representative of where they in their own development. The key is to accept that fact and forgive them. Wearing other people’s emotions or opinions is not a helpful thing to do at anytime so simply take that jacket off and ‘let it go’.
Use the tools available to you
There’s a vast range of tools that aid positive change – EFT, self hypnosis, visualisation to name just a few. Finding time everyday to use those tools, even if only for five minutes, will not only give our resolutions a boost but will also help us build healthy routines.
Testimony
A daily testimony of your resolution will help to reinforce the intention, keep focus and to identify what’s helping and what isn’t. Keeping a journal, dedicated to this cause, also gifts us with a celebration of our achievements, to look back on, with Self gratitude.
Imagery
Images make good reminders so if there’s a picture that you can associate with your resolution, it would be a good idea to put it where you’ll see it throughout the day. In fact the more reminders the better (for example pictures, quotes or affirmations on post-its around our homes, in our bags, cars and places of work). What would you use?
Open to Change
Along side every ambition to grow and develop is an instinctive need to remain the same. William Bloom explains this aspect of human nature well in his opening letter of this month’s Cygnus Review. It’s good to be mindful of our natural and helpful self preservation and to balance it out with an openness to change – because any time we rise to self challenge, transformation is the inevitable outcome and blessing.
Never Give Up
To move forward means to stumble and fall at times – it is merely a part of the natural order of things. We all fall and it is our choice what we do when this happens. Do we call it quits or do we pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and get back to it? To quote the dearly remembered Nelson Mandela:
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.’
One love,
Louisa
