I just edited this Blog Post by changing the “2014” in the Title, to “2018” and as I revisited my writings of that year – 4 YEARS AGO – it became crystal clear that some of those thoughts, feelings and ambitions from that time are still circulating through me like the Millennial Falcon with limited shielding ability; bouncing off walls, coming back to an easy soar, flying in and out of space with bumps and bruises and lots of warped aluminum left in the wake (Star Wars – The Last Jedi was GREAT by the way).
As in the past year-ending posts that culminated with that 2014 post, I will once again build this one around a common theme – Posts that have emphasized transitions, growth, and adventure. Narratives that have attempted to shine a special light on all the beauty within all of those people that have interwoven their magic throughout this journey that we call life. They have been the people who have led me, who have carried me, and who reside within me in a very deep and profound way. This last post of the year is for you. Queue all the amazing friends (and new friends) of 2018.
So what has gone on in 4 years? Way too much to dictate, let alone, type out in slow and methodical fashion! Suffice it to say that it has been some ride with one very huge undercurrent of a theme; the more that my heart has opened and let people in, the more that it has grown and the more that strangers and friends alike have reached out to me. Kindness has beget kindness. Gratefulness has eased its way into contentment. Love has encircled me, fully and completely. A type of love that I have never known, replete with mutual adoration and genuine thoughtfulness thrown into every minute of every day. Giving thanks is a trite understatement yet I will curtsy down to the amazing universe none-the-less.
Five years ago, I quoted one of my favourite Liz Gilbert’s quotes:
We search for happiness everywhere, but we are like Tolstoy’s fabled beggar who spent his life sitting on a pot of gold, under him the whole time. Your treasure–your perfection–is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the buy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart.
I have realized this Gold. I do not have to go much further than my front door on any given day (although I love the opposite of that too!). Oh sure, we all have our moments, but my ability to “Let-go” of nonsense/words/things/rhetoric is at an all-time high, and consequently only the light shines through. I sleep. I am at peace. I thrive. Yet still I am diligent in this work-in-progress. Still, I get excited.
As I began reading this year’s Xmas book, The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*CK (Mark Manson), page 11 sort of resonated with me:
“Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering IS a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle IS a struggle. The denial of failure IS a failure. Hiding what is shameful IS a form of shame.”
Skip to the moral – stop giving a F*CK and just BE. Run with it like you stole it. Get on that bike and ride! To quote another favourite character, Hagrid, from Harry Potter: “What’s coming will come and we will meet it when it does.” Stop worrying and get out there and live!
My Yoga Teaching is coming in to its 6th year now! Wow. I have realized that this is a part of me now and want to ramp it up, and pay-it-forward more than ever. New adventures are waiting for me in 2018 – it is time to focus and grow baby. An exciting time for sure.
Along those same lines, my Yoga practice has continued to be a huge source of inspiration on so many levels (today is Day 50 of #yogaeverydamnday!), reminding me to find my big deep beautiful breath, and breathe into each and every moment, however uncomfortable some may be. They will pass. Time will heal. Breath will flow. It always has. For this I am grateful. Every morning, I look out my window and give thanks for all those people that have flowed through my life – some lessons, some laughter, many breaths; some quick and shallow, others deep and lasting. Some make my heart sing, others make it twinge – both made me who I am, along with the joy and the suffering. They are a part of me and the experiences are IN me – they do not define me.
Life simply doesn’t happen all around you, YOU happen to it. You choose, you want, you engage, you plan, you implement, and when things work out, you celebrate. When things don’t work out, you stress. This is how life works. YOU are the common denominator to ALL the good and ALL the bad in your life. That is not saying that sometimes really, really bad things occur to which we can assign no blame whatsoever, it is just saying that YOU control the majority of your own destiny! Today is New Years Eve 2017, and my thought that goes out to each and every one of you – old and new acquaintances alike is, “Make 2018 the year that you want it to be.” Get in touch with yourself, your needs, your desires, your creativity, your moxie, your determination and create your very own year for you!
It is about the journey, and riding the waves as they coast up and down beneath us. I hope to do the same in 2018 – hopefully cutting myself some slack, and learning from some of my mistakes and being kind and gentle to those around me (and myself), because everyone is fighting a big battle of some kind. BE THE CHANGE. Each and every single day, change one little thing, and be genuinely surprised when at the end of the year that you are so much closer to being the person that you actually want to be, and there is nothing more sexy or more appealing than watching someone who has that inner swagger going-on! That is beautiful! Namaste. Peace to all with as much love, light and laughter as I can muster. Create YOU, beautiful you!
