It's been a minute on the Amber Moon Blog, but so happy to be back here! How have you been? Happy New Year to you! Welcome 2022 ✨
The new year is such an amazing fresh start, isn't it? There's something about leaving a whole year behind and starting a new one. But… if you think about it, even though the calendar hitting 1/1 and saying goodbye to 2021 feels hugely different, time is really just symbolic. Since every day is an opportunity to begin again, it truly doesn't matter if it's the start of the new year or not. Every day is a fresh start. Now, that being said, if the calendar change to the new year gives you a burst of new energy and a new mindset, embrace that wholeheartedly and let that momentum guide you as long as you can let it.
When we have this fresh new year feeling, symbolic or not, many of us feel guided and sometimes pressured to make New Year's Resolutions. While making resolutions is a wonderful way to "start fresh" and you should do whatever works for you, they can actually do more harm to your mindset than you realize. When we grandly declare, "This is the year I lose weight" or "I'm not going to argue with anyone anymore", while the intention to want to look and feel your best or to have positive relationships with others is a beautiful thing, no one can maintain a 365 declaration, unless there's much daily work and awareness of our mindset that goes into the resolution every day all day. The second we eat something that is "bad" for us, or have a disagreement with someone, we will feel unhappy about ourselves. In essence, resolutions are designed to help us become our best selves, so any negative thought you have about yourself is counterproductive to the original resolution. Resolutions also show us everything that we don't like about ourselves and want to change, and keep us stuck in a negative vibration of energy. Shift the focus to what you do like about yourself. When you feel good and own it with confidence, and celebrate how well you're doing in many areas of your life, what you don't like will start to change. Promise!
The daily work is to intentionally find your alignment with your true self. You do this by finding ways to feel good each day, staying present and focused on your dreams at the same time, only taking action when you're inspired to - and if you have to do something you don't want to do or that you don't feel inspired about, you must practice presence and find something to feel good about while doing the action, or things in your life will not feel good. As within, so without. Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world. Resolutions will not stick unless we are in the consistent mindset of feeling good about them and acting in a passionate and inspired way about fulfilling them.
Instead of setting yourself up to feel guilty about not sticking to your new year's resolutions, have you ever tried setting daily intentions instead? When you make daily intentions, and relish with gratitude the beautiful start to each new day, you create a much easier path for yourself than the expectation of a year's plan. When you wake up each day, take some time in stillness, speak to and think of yourself kindly throughout the day, focus on how you want to look, feel, behave, think and act. Wake up with the intention to feel and do the best you can each day. When we take control of our daily mindset and act with focused intention, whatever resolution we would've made will naturally fall into place anyway as a result of our ongoing daily work on ourselves.
In addition to setting daily intentions, here are some other great things to practice. Celebrate all the things you overcame last year and all the little wins. Give yourself space and time to feel all the feels from last year. Reach out to those who've helped you through the year. Express your gratitude and tell them the impact they've had. Write down reminders of what makes you feel good, how amazing you are and what you're grateful for. Keep the list close and read it often. Lastly, remind yourself that you don't have to change who you are to have an amazing year, and an amazing life. You are already enough and where you are is perfect for right now. You will move to the next stage of your journey when you're ready. If there are things you'd like to work on, do them with joy and appreciation for yourself and trust that anything you want is yours as long as you feel good about it, believe in the possibility and enjoy the journey.
In addition to setting daily intentions, here are some other great things to practice. Celebrate all the things you overcame last year and all the little wins. Give yourself space and time to feel all the feels from last year. Reach out to those who've helped you through the year. Express your gratitude and tell them the impact they've had. Write down reminders of what makes you feel good, how amazing you are and what you're grateful for. Keep the list close and read it often. Lastly, remind yourself that you don't have to change who you are to have an amazing year, and an amazing life. You are already enough and where you are is perfect for right now. You will move to the next stage of your journey when you're ready. If there are things you'd like to work on, do them with joy and appreciation for yourself and trust that anything you want is yours as long as you feel good about it, believe in the possibility and enjoy the journey.
Sending you so much love and gratitude for being here and part of the Amber Moon community! Hope to be back with weekly blog posts, and really hope you'll listen in on the Amber Moon Podcast getting its start very soon! x Stacy