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How do you greet the coming Year?

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How do you greet the coming Year? Do you welcome it with joy and excitement, or fear and anxiety, or perhaps a little trepidation? Maybe it’s just another date in the calendar and doesn’t hold much meaning for you, or feels like just more of the same?

I greet each New Year with Hope and anticipation. I have no idea how the year will unfold, but I have plans that I want to instigate and dreams around things that I want to achieve. I also have hope that it will be a good year. A year filled with health and happiness, time with family and friends and time with my Reflexology clients.

Over the past two years, I have written a book which I am self-publishing. It will be available late March and it’s one of the dreams that I want to make into reality. Creativity is a passion of mine that I have only recently rekindled. So this year I hope to make it a huge part of my life.

I have not made New Year resolutions for some time now as they always felt a bit forced and hollow and made just for the sake of it. I now choose a word each year on how I would like my year to unfold. I must admit, it doesn’t always work, but it provides a guiding light for my plans and ambitions.

This year I chose the word, ‘Release’ because there’s a lot of things I want to let go of. Release of fear and anxiety about the unknown, release of others expectations, release of feelings of ‘not doing enough’ or ‘not being enough,’ release of doing things because I ‘should’ and release of things that I cannot control. I want to allow more acceptance into my life, of events and people who bring me joy.

How do you greet the coming year? Do you keep doing what you have always been doing or do you want to make changes? If you are happy and contented, that’s great, but if not, what can you do differently? I believe we all have opportunities for growth. None of us are infallible. We are humans with all the wonder and frailties that come with being human. We create and we make mistakes and that’s how we grow.

What can you do differently this year? What do you dream about and want to achieve? Write down your plans as this makes them seem more real. Then take action. Having lovely lists is a start, but we need to take action on them if we want to achieve our goals and dreams. Perhaps you want to learn a language, or join a gym, or start dancing or painting. Perhaps you want to write a book or start a new career. The possibilities are endless.

Do your research then book into a class or make that phone call. Nothing is set in stone, so if it doesn’t work out, you can always leave. Be open to the potential of finding something that fuels your Soul. Yes change can be scary and most of us don’t like to leave our comfort zones, however as Garrett Gravensen wrote, “Life happens outside your comfort zone.”

How do you greet the coming year? I hope it’s with plans and dreams around bringing more happiness, great health and contentment into your life. Remember unless you believe in reincarnation, we only have one life, so make it an exciting, glorious, creative and fulfilling one.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year.

With warmest wishes,

Judy xxx

References: “10 seconds of insane courage” by Garrett Gravensen.

Disclaimer: Please note that all information in this article is the opinion of the author and obtained through her research and knowledge and the above references. It is not meant to replace medical advice and a medical opinion should always be obtained for any health condition.

Wishing you a truly Happy New Year.

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Wishing you a truly Happy New Year.

These words may sound a bit trite as the new year dawns and we repetitively greet those we meet in a similar way. But my wish for you all is to have a truly happy New Year ahead.

The past two years have been really difficult and have brought up huge fears and much uncertainty. We have had to reassess the way we live and adjust to unfamiliarity and constant stress. Even though life remains unclear, it is important to give closure to the year that has passed and start the new year afresh.

One way of doing this is to acknowledge what has been and then give thanks for all the positive things that have happened over the past twelve months. Even though there have been difficult times for me, with closing the clinic, loss of income, cancelling holidays and coping with the everyday stress of lockdown, I too, found lots to be grateful for.

At first glance, I decided it was a pretty horrible year, but when I looked back at my photos and memories of what had been, I found so many occasions to celebrate and give thanks for. You can do the same. It could be birthdays, chats with friends – even over Zoom, walks in nature or time with family. Giving thanks for the good times helps to bring closure for the year and provides an opportunity to enter the new year with hope and optimism.

A New Year brings with it new dreams and plans for the months ahead. It gives us an opportunity to reassess what we want to bring into our lives and what we want to leave behind. It also brings us hope. Hope for an end to the pandemic, hope for great health, hope for holidays that actually take place and hope for the things we want to create in our lives.

What do you no longer want to do this year? Do you want to leave a job you no longer love? Do you want to end a relationship or friendship that brings you distress and unhappiness? Do you want to let go of playing small, being perfect, trying to please everyone? The New Year is a perfect time.

What do you want to bring in to your life this year? Do you want to spend more time in nature and do more walking? Do you want to learn a language or start a new craft? Do you want to commence a new career or finally do something that you have always wanted to do? Do you want to have stronger boundaries around your time and availability? Do you want to have a healthier lifestyle? A New Year is the perfect opportunity.

Many people do vision boards, pasting pictures or photos on a board, of what they want to do over the next twelve months. I have done this myself, on many occasions and it has always been rewarding. I put together a collage of images from the internet, of holidays, food, experiences that I want to bring into my life, and then print it off. I stick it on some cardboard and put it up on my fridge, where I can see it everyday.

This works to remind me of my dreams and plans and if I get sidetracked as I inevitably do, this grounds me and brings me back into creativity. I also choose a word to embody what I would like to do or be in the new year. This year I have found it hard to do and have felt conflicted. How can I choose a word when so much is uncertain? I decided that as my mind is always wandering into the future and what might happen, I need to focus on the present instead and on what I can do and achieve now. So my word is to be Present.

You might like to try it too. You may have other ways of planning for the coming months or you may prefer not to plan and just wing it. Neither way is right or wrong, so long as you continue to have dreams and act on them. Having dreams is the first step but unless you take action, they remain dreams only.

Book dates in your diary to start the ball rolling. Book in that reflexology treatment you have been promising yourself. Sign up for that art or language course. Buy yourself some paints and pencils and start drawing and creating. The world awaits you and your unique gifts and talents. A New Year is your time to shine!

When so much is out of our control, focus not on what you can’t do but on how you react to change. As the quote says, “Sometimes in the waves of change, we find our true direction.”

Wishing you a truly happy New Year. May it be a really magical one for you.

Warmest wishes,

Judy xxx

References: Photo by on  Ester Marie Doysabas on Unsplash. Quote – author unknown.

Disclaimer: Please note that all information in this article is the opinion of the author and obtained through her research and knowledge and the above references. It is not meant to replace medical advice and a medical opinion should always be obtained.

New Year, hopes, dreams

How do you Welcome in a New Year?

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New Year, creation, dreams

How do you welcome in a New Year?

Do you see it as just another day, do you celebrate quietly or do you party all night? We all have different ways of acknowledging the year that has passed and the new one just beginning.

Last year was a very challenging year for so many of us. It brought up fears and insecurities, hopes dashed and work circumstances altered. It also brought up unexpected opportunities for us all to slow down and re-evaluate our lives.

A New Year brings with it hope and the opportunity to plan what we would like the unfolding twelve months to look like. Yes there is still uncertainty and a lot is out of our control, but we can still plan and put in place structures and dreams to guide us forwards.

Many make New Year’s resolutions, but these are often forgotten by the time February comes. I, now choose to find a word that describes how I want to feel this year and my word for 2021 is Fearless. To me, this is a Bold word. I am a worrier and fear often presents in my life. My Mother was a worrier too and whether her anxiety had an impact on me or experiences in my life brought this up, I don’t know. I expect, a bit of both and perhaps it’s also part of my nature.

So I’m acknowledging this and seeing it as an opportunity to grow. I am allowing myself to be vulnerable and not play small. I am allowing my creativity to shine and continue spreading my message about the benefits of Reflexology. I am speaking up and sharing my thoughts and creations. Yes this feels scary, but it also feels empowering. As Marianne Williamson said, ” Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. ………Your playing small does not serve the world.”

My Mother was once praised for a painting she did as a child. However, it was an art she never pursued and when she was very old, she said she had wished she had painted a rose. I encouraged her to do it then. It wasn’t too late. But she never did.

Do you have dreams and ideas about what you want to change or bring into your life? A new career, great health, writing a book, creating a sculpture or some unique jewellery, taking up a new sport or hobby? We all have dreams, but how many of them remain just that. We lose focus, ‘life’ takes over and we move on. We never accomplish our dreams.

So how do we get started? I suggest sitting quietly and thinking about what you loved to do as a child, or thinking of something that you would love to explore or bring into your life. Write it down to make it more attainable, then set goals as to how you can bring it into reality.

If it’s great health, then start by looking at your diet and including more healthy foods and exercise into your life. Set up a regime, even if it’s just a walk around the block each day. Start having treatments such as Reflexology to reduce stress and help balance your body. If it’s writing or painting, then put aside some time each week and stick to it. If it’s finding a new career, then sign up for a sample course or taster session to see if it is something that you want to seriously pursue.

Keep a journal or diary and refer to it to keep you on course. Be focused and take action. It’s all very well to have ideas but unless you take action on them, nothing changes. Action doesn’t have to be big or scary. Just one step at a time. That’s all you need to build momentum.

How do you welcome in a New Year? Is it just another day or is it the beginning of something exciting and new? Make each day count. We all have it in us to be ‘powerful beyond measure.’ I know that when I become very old, I don’t want to say, ‘I wish I had painted that Rose’.

Warmest wishes,

Judy xxx

References: Marianne Williamson, ‘A Return to Love’.