It's interesting to me how we anticipate the New Year, seeing it as a new start, almost as if there's a hypothetical eraser that wipes clean the slate of the past year, and we wake up on January 1 fresh and ready for a do-over. The trouble with this is, in reality we wake up on January 1 the same as when we went to bed on December 31! The New Year isn't a magical start-over, it's not as though we wake up January 1 with everything that happened to us on December 31 being erased. If we overindulged in food or alcohol, our body still has to process that and we wake up on January 1 with a bloated gut. If we stayed up way too late and only managed a couple hours of sleep, we wake up on January 1 tired. If we gained some pounds over the holidays, we wake up on January 1 with those pounds still on us. If we went to bed with anger at a person, or feeling regret, or hurt, or any other negative emotions, we wake up on January 1 feeling those same things.
But must we? Can the New Year be a chance to start over, to re-do that which we are unhappy with from the previous year? Can we wipe the slate clean and start over with a fresh one? I believe we can, but it takes work. It's not magic, it won't just happen. It won't be done for us, we must do it for ourselves. We must also remember that in wiping the slate clean, we cannot actually wipe away the past, we merely can let it go so as not to allow it to hold us back from a better present and future.
We cannot magically undo the overindulgence of food, that must work its way through our system. We cannot magically add extra hours to the night so we wake up feeling refreshed. We cannot magically lose the pounds we gained, or discard the emotions we feel. But we can make every effort to not make those same mistakes; to not overindulge today, to not stay up so late tonight, to begin to work off some of the extra weight, to work through the negative emotions and embrace a positive outlook for today, tomorrow, and the next years worth of tomorrows.
You can make this New Year be the start of a New You. Or, you can sit back and change nothing, do nothing different, and be the Same You living in a New Year. The choice is yours. It will take work to be a new, or simply a better, you; time, effort, a conscious decision on your part to not continue whatever it is that you want changed. It may take some difficult changes; cutting unhealthy foods, excessive alcohol, cigarettes, etc out of your diet; cutting negative people who do nothing to build you up out of your life; getting yourself to a gym, or finding a workout partner, or any other means of making yourself accountable to a healthy exercise routine; turning off the TV, phone, computer and going to bed at a reasonable time. Whatever you find is holding you back, whatever is causing you to be unhealthy, or negative, or just plain unhappy...change it. Pull out of your comfort zone and make a positive change today for a better, brighter tomorrow.
Whether this New Year finds you being content to remain the Same You or striving to become a better New You, never lose sight of the True You. The elements of You that make you unique, your talents that are begging to be shared with those around you; your strenghths that you must never stop developing; your weaknesses that you must never stop improving upon. Surround yourself only with those who appreciate and love the True You. Put into your body only good, healthy things that will nurture the True You. Be mindful of the words and thoughts you are speaking, sharing, and allowing into you. Get rid of the negativity in your thoughts and attitudes, and focus on being a positive force in this uncertain world. The world needs more positivity; be what the world needs.
May you have a truly blessed, peaceful, simple 2014 full of what makes you happy!
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