Common consensus seems to be that the best thing about 2011 is that it is almost over… but 2012 lies just around the corner, filled with hope and possibility.
Each year around this time I take some time to reflect on the year past and project into the year ahead.
2011, was a tough year for many of us: the double dip in the global economy resulting in massive job losses for thousands of employees and the closure of many small businesses left many families in a desperate situation that was exacerbated by the continuing credit crunch, with a ripple effect through their lives and the lives of everybody that they touch.
Yet somehow we are still standing, bruised but not beaten; a little more resilient and hopefully a little wiser.
So what did I learn this year?
I learned the value of family: of loving arms and reassuring words, of mutual support and strong convictions.
I learned the value of simplicity: that money is not the same as success, and that self worth is not dependant on bigger, faster, flashier stuff.
I learned the value of innovation: that there is always another way, and finding creative solutions is not only a stretch, but fun as well.
I learned the value of trust: that believing in oneself and in one’s dream can make all the difference between folding and flowing; between just surviving and thriving.
So what about 2012:
The economists predict a slow recovery, but hey recovery is recovery and the ‘slow’ part is just part of the journey. Then again… it is just a prediction, and when last did the weather guys get it spot on? It may happen faster than you think.
Just before midnight tonight, before the count-down and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and the champagne and the hugs and kisses and the well wishes; before the old year bows out and the New Year breezes in, I have a little ritual…
I slip away somewhere quiet; light a candle, say a little prayer and burn my list. The list of all the old, out-dated, obsolete stuff that no longer serves me. I set it alight and watch it burn and release it.
Then I take out my new list: my list of all the stuff I choose to take with me into the New Year; the habits and values and commitments … all my hopes for 2012. I hug it close and slip it into my wallet and carry it with me wherever I go.
What is on your lists?
2012 will be whatever you want it to be… you decide!
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As a Life & Business Coach, my quest is to shift people from being the victim of their circumstances to being the creator of their own solutions.
