Merry Christmas to my 39 and counting family!

I recently set a challenge to some friends and readers as well as to myself, to set a theme for 2018. In my musings, I came up with a personal theme of Nourish – Body, Mind and Soul. As I mentioned previously – my theme isn’t a resolution, but merely an intention, an umbrella if you will under which any of my resolutions can fall. The definition I found of Nourish that I really like, and which resonated with my new year planning was to “provide with the food and other substances necessary for growth, health and good condition”. For me the theme of Nourish is not only for myself personally but will be the overarching theme for the blog posts in 2017. This means that I will be sharing experiences and ideas, which nourish me, and allow for growth and health in every aspect of my life.

I struggled with my end of year reflection this time around, as well as resolutions. I spent a considerable amount of time stuck in my head, thinking about how best to spend my time and set my resolutions for the coming year, since I felt a bit disappointed this year about numerous plans I had made which had not come to fruition. One of the decisions I made a few weeks ago was to read every day. I didn’t want to wait until the new year to start it (yes – I can make resolutions at any time of year and sometimes I do!!) and so the decision I made was to read at least 1 chapter per day – anything that suits me. In one of the books, I read something that really resonated with me, and it has allowed me to think about how I want to spend the upcoming year. The irony is (as I mentioned in one of my earliest of 39 lessons) it was “advice” that I have heard almost a million times before.

In a nutshell, the advice was – instead of thinking about what I wanted to do or why I wanted to do it, to think about the person I wanted to become, and act accordingly. Once I had heard this, I started to think seriously about what kind of person I want to become. Because – to me that is what personal development in any format is all about. What type of person am I trying to become? For me, once I decided what type of person I wanted to become, it became easier to make everyday decisions. So for example – I might decide that I want to be someone who is energized and who makes the most of their day. For me – someone like that goes to bed on time because she knows how important sleep quantity is. She turns off her phone at night, because she also understands the importance of sleep quality. She makes healthy meals a priority and listens to her body. And so on. In a similar fashion to having an overarching theme for the year, it means that if faced with a new situation for which there is no precedence, a decision can be made about whether any action that I take will take me towards being that person or move me farther away from it. It means that if during the year my situation changes, I can adjust any resolutions or plans to suit.

 This added another dimension to my new year planning, and now that I have a clear picture in my head, deciding how I work towards it will involve assessing my speech, my inner dialogue and thought processes, and my habits. I will elaborate more on this as the blog continues into January. But I want to challenge you – what type of person do you want to become, and what steps can you take today, this week and into the new year to move you closer to that? What theme do you want to set for the new year? For those who don’t want to set resolutions, but still want to add an element of intentional living as we approach 2018, these may be good questions to ask ourselves, and to really think about as we have some downtime over the next few days. Do you want to be more loving? More connected? Closer to God? Do you want to be more adventurous? Do you want to simplify or try something new? Do you want to say yes more? Or no? So many options for little changes that we can all make to bring us into alignment with what we want in life.

I would love to hear about your new year plans, or if anyone wants to mention their new year theme below, that would be great. Alternatively, if you resonate with thinking about the person you want to become and want to elaborate on that, I would love to hear it! In the meantime, I wish you all a peaceful, joyful and miraculous Christmas, with wonderful wishes for 2018. I hope that you all join me on the blog, as I explore the theme – Nourish…

Christmas greetings from a small island!