E very year at this time I reflect on what has been experienced over the preceding 12-month period. Did I accomplish what I had set as my intentions? Did life unfold as I expected it to? Were there experiences or events that took place that were totally unexpected? Am I different than I was 12 months ago?
As I go through this annual exercise I also consider the upcoming year. What is it that I most want to experience? What is it that I can do to make a difference in other people’s lives through my work, and quite honestly, just being who I am? My thoughts also encompass what I believe others want. Not only in the upcoming year but in life as we continue our respective journey. Yes, I believe most want success in whatever terms that means to them. However, when asked, I find most people say, “I just want to be happy and joyful. I want to be at peace with who I am.” And when it comes to our children we certainly want them to be happy, safe and at peace.
So why is it that every New Year we make resolutions about losing weight, getting into a healthy relationship, exercising more, getting a new job, etc.?When in Truth what we desire is to be happy? What if this year instead of making a resolution about something outside of us we set the intention to be happy? What if we make choices during the year that allow our happiness to be experienced and expressed?
Yes, stuff will happen during the year that present challenging opportunities. However we can still be happy and joyful in the face of adversity. In fact, joy and happiness can stem from the truth that we always have a choice in how we will experience the adversity. We always have a choice in how we will experience life, not necessarily a choice in what happens in life, but most certainly how we will experience it.
What I believe is that happiness is the state of being as it relates to one’s relationship with their Self. In other words, happiness is in direct proportion to a person’s love, appreciation, respect, trust and acceptance of and for themselves. Consider why you do anything that you do? If we are honest with ourselves (another attribute of self-love) we will come to the conclusion that we do what we do because of the way it makes us feel. When we do something on behalf of another person we feel good about our Self. When we have succeeded at something we feel good about our Self and what we have achieved.
Let’s get to the point of setting intentions for the New Year. We can intend to lose weight which in truth is a way of saying that when I do I will feel better about myself and therefore be happy. We can say that we intend to get a better job and therefore better provide for the family, however in truth it is about feeling better about one’s Self because there are providing more for the family and therefore feeling happy.
Happiness is the result of a healthy, loving relationship with our self. This loving relationship stems from self-love, self-respect, self-appreciation, self-acknowledgement, self-kindness, self-trust, self-honor, self-awareness and self-forgiveness. Some will say this is self-serving or self-centered. And yes it is, however honoring and loving one’s self doesn’t mean we do so at the expense of others or that we in any way feel superior to others.
“It has been said that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Seeing how most of people think about and treat themselves, this doesn’t bode well for our neighbors.”
When we are living in a healthy, loving relationship with our Self we are in alignment with our truth. We make choices that honor and respect our truth and the truth of others. We make choices that are in the highest and best good. Choices that empower and expand, not those that would diminish the experience of who we are. When we have a healthy, loving relationship with our Self we are empowered. The more empowered we are the better we can serve and be of benefit to others and the world.
For 2017 I invite you to set the intention to be in a healthy, loving relationship with your Self. Enjoy, appreciate, accept and be Happy with who you are. Know that who you are is who you are intended to be and that all that is required to live in full expression of that truth is always available to you.
“When we are happy and at peace with our Self,
happiness and peace is what we extend to one another and the world.
The more each of us is happy, the more at peace is the world.
The more at peace is the world, the happier we will all be.”
Here’s to the “Happy” new you and New Year!
Until next time,
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