When
It Is Time For A Positive Change
Traditionally, we tend to find ourselves
reflecting on our goals and accomplishments around New Year's Day. We also look at what areas we can improve upon.
We often resolve to change, make more of our future, and give up old habits. We promise to construct
some changes to make things better for ourselves. But, any time old patterns become uncomfortable can become the
time we decide to create a positive change. The focus may be on personal health issues such as weight control
and stopping smoking, or other ways of making life better, like having the family together for dinner more than just
a couple of nights a week, to not get so stressed out while driving, or to finally save some money just to be used for an
emergency-- a beginning to fiscal well-being.
These familiar resolutions are really
transitions. And, transitioning into a new lifestyle or behavior successfully requires some planning and
self-reflection. When we choose to make such a transition, we need to give up our old definitions of the world, our old ways
of doing things, and we find ourselves challenged by the process of “letting go”. Endings are
difficult for most people, even when we are unhappy with the way things used to be because we are more comfortable with what
is familiar. The unknown can cause uneasy feelings. Once we let go, however, we enter
a period of feeling disconnected from the past but not yet connected to the present—this has been called the neutral
zone. This is when we can benefit from much self-reflection, and assess what we really want out of life.
It is also a time when we can reorient ourselves toward the future.
Embracing The New You
Authentic new beginnings emerge from
a renewal of energy, and a realignment of the ways we look at the world. Sometimes we look for external
signs to guide us, but our inner attitudes toward life, our renewed self-knowledge and our instinct are really the underpinning
of our new beginnings. By relying on our inner voice to tell us where to go in life, we are likely to have
more motivation than if we were to depend on the expectations provided by others. When the path we must
take in life becomes clear, it is then time to take action and make things happen. We identify ourselves
as traveling on a new road and commit to the process by following through with each step.
