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| Starting anew can be hard. What will 2014 bring? |
Happy New Year! Everyone is talking about moving forward, starting anew, embracing the upcoming year. All good stuff, but how do you let go of past baggage? Here are a few suggestions that might help:
- Acknowledge the negatives without dwelling on them. Fixating on the bad stuff doesn't do any good and, in fact, can lead to a host of physical and emotional ailments. Bad stuff happens to everyone; I find that fact really helpful because it means that others have gone through what I've been through and they've moved on, just as I will. Acknowledge the issue or circumstance, evaluate it to see what can be learned, and be prepared to go forward. DO NOT give yourself permission to wallow in the negatives. Overeating, drinking, etc. will not benefit yourself or anyone else.
- Figure out what you need to do to move on and what you hope
to accomplish. If you're getting over someone leaving your life
(and it doesn't have to be a lover – it could be a family member
or friend), maybe you need to expand your horizons and meet new
people. Losing a job means finding another job or, perhaps, finding
another vocation. Look at what others have done if you can't figure
out what the next step should be.
- Get busy. There's a saying that “idle hands are the
devil's workshop” and that goes for idle minds as well. Take a
class, meet with friends, volunteer, exercise, or even clean the
house. Just make sure you're active.
- Don't complain. Or just complain once, briefly, when you're
alone, then stop. Keep things positive, not only with those around
you but in your head. Every time you find yourself thinking a
negative, replace it with a positive. There's a lot of value in the concept “fake it till you make it.” Be grateful for what you
have.
- Be realistic and cut yourself some slack.
You didn't gain a ton of weight, build a relationship, or hit a
roadblock in your career path overnight, so give yourself some time
to get back on the right path. Be patient with yourself, but still
make progress. Step outside your situation and look at yourself as
you would look at a friend.
I found some really good quotes, not the touchy-feely kind that make me want to barf, here at GoodReads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/moving-on. And my family has found a lot of wisdom in the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People book y Stephen R. Covey. You don't have to buy this book, however. Just go to the site https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits.php to find out what the habits are and how they might be of value to you.
Please check in with me in a day or so when I'll be reviewing, in depth, some of the best presents we received over the holidays. I was surprised that some of the least expensive were the best. And as always...
THANK YOU FOR READING! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Note: The photo above is of a sculpture done by the brilliant artist Nathan Sawaya. To find out more about this incredibly talented guy, visit http://brickartist.com. You'll never look at Lego the same way again!
Change is hard. Thanks for the tips!
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