With a brand new year right around the corner, this season is one that often encourages us to reflect upon how far we’ve come in our last 365 days. We tend to think about the things we wish we’d done more (or less) of, and about all the ways we can “improve,” “succeed,” or “fix things” for next year. These New Year’s resolutions can be exciting for sure, especially paired with a glass of bubbles and a rowdy countdown with friends at midnight, but how can we also use this celebratory time of year to supercharge our more introspective and thoughtful goals as well?
The courage to look within… sparks compassion you can extend to others.
You have an impact on the people and the world around you. You are a significant player in the way things move, even if you don’t realize it. The sooner you accept this great honor and responsibility, the sooner you can start using your power for positive change as well. We are all part of the same Universal energy, so not a day goes by that your life is not making a difference in the life of someone else. We get to decide, however, if we’ll be champions for empowering joy for others, or instigators for perpetuating pain. I’ll let you in on a little secret though: extending compassion to others just happens to be a kind of byproduct of pursuing your own best interest! Here’s why:
The pursuit of yourself, if in alignment with your highest good, will innately include empathy, compassion and expressions of love to others, and to all life on the planet too.
When we have the courage to shed light on and explore our own insecurities, we’re better able to move through them. The less we’re burdened by and fixated on our own insecurities, the more we’re able to support and encourage others in their own self-pursuits.
Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s for loving.
Sometimes we start to uncover the roots of our own insecurities, and maybe even a few instances where we might have thrust them upon those around us too (even if we didn’t mean to), and we find ourselves feeling that familiar tinge of guilt, shame and disappointment in ourselves. This after-effect is a very natural human experience, by the way, but it shouldn’t be the defining one. Your past does not determine your value as a person, and it doesn’t get a say in your right to live a happy, healthy, and abundant life either. Here’s where forgiveness comes in, and this is an incredibly important part of the healing process. Inviting self-forgiveness into your life not only helps increase your capacity to love yourself better, but it also expands your ability to love others well too. In other words, forgiving yourself for past mistakes, insecurities, or shortcomings means the people in your life get a greater helping of your love as well. What a treat for everyone! If you’re really feeling on a roll, why not take things one step further, and offer your forgiveness to others too? The same result will be true the other way around, so when you forgive someone else for their mistakes, you release yourself from the burden of carrying the resentment any further. It’s not an act of forgetting the hurt happened, but rather a conscious decision to acknowledge it, reframe it in a new light, and move onto better things.
New Year’s Healing, Hawaiian Style
One of my favorite tools to use in the pursuit of self-healing and forgiveness, and even in times of grief or heartbreak is the Hawaiian’s Ho’opono’pono prayer for reconciliation and acceptance. This age-old tradition and meditation is a great way to offer yourself a little kindness by taking “total responsibility” for our own actions, as well as for our response to the actions of others. Consider giving it a try as a part of your end-of-year reflection time:
Close your eyes and place your hands over your heart. Bring to mind a person you’d like forgiveness from, even if that person is you! Repeat the prayer as many times as you need to feel a sense of completeness, release, and calm.
I’m sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.
This New Year, I wish you love, light, and joy from my corner of the world to wherever you are. I hope you’ll do the same for yourself too, since setting the intention to love yourself better is a profound step on the path to attracting and cherishing love from others. If you’d like to explore all of this even more, please join me for the “21-Day Food, Body, Love Challenge,” beginning this January 2nd. Signups are open until January 1st, and I’d love to “see you” there!