Can you hear it? It’s the sound of the chapter closing on 2012. I’ve been yearning to take stock of the past 12 months and do some big-picture planning for 2013, but had been finding all kinds of excuses to put it off. You know the drill – emails to return, calls to make, noses to wipe, Homeland season finales to watch.
I know enough to know that all the excuses are a sign of resistance. Here are some old ideas that were conspiring to keep me from outlining my calendar:
I’ve never been much of a planner – I’ve leapt from lily pad to lily pad most of my life, jumping from well-paying corporate jobs to non-profit gigs with meager earnings, from yoga teacher training to freelance writing. I liked to think that it was just because my mind-body practice gave me a hotline to my gut, which was mostly true. But the flip side of that is that I had a long-held belief that plans just never came true.
Growing up, we moved a lot. Marriages ended, new ones were started, step-families were formed and then fell away. By the time I was 13, I’d lived in California, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, and Alabama—jumping cultures, time zones, and climates (hello, allergies!) every couple of years. One of the things I took away from that experience – in addition to having no detectable accent so as to better blend in, and friends from all over the country – was the idea that plans were for suckers.
A more recent belief I was butting heads with subconsciously had to do with our home renovation. We’re waiting for bids from contractors to finish the job, and have no idea how much money we’re going to have to come up with in the next couple months. My rational mind couldn’t think past it – it was like a brick wall.
And yet, I had an unmistakable urge to sit down with a paper calendar and a pen and give names and dates to the new and exciting things I want for myself, my family, and my people (that means you) in 2013. The conflict between wanting to do it and not wanting to do it was getting old.
Then, a lovely email arrived in my inbox from my friend and fellow coach/yoga teacher, the incredibly lovely Julie Zeff. She was sharing a free audio with a year-end ritual to celebrate 2012 and give shape to 2013. (You can download it here, I highly recommend it. Julie’s the schiz: FREE Audio/MP3 Download Here). That very morning, I cleared my schedule to do some yoga (to get quiet), listen to the audio (to get support), and do some major visualizing and journaling (to start getting the information I heard in to the world in a tangible way).
Taking the time to get quiet helped me remember that when you let your circumstances or your past beliefs dictate your reality, you’re making it highly unlikely that what you want to happen will actually happen. On the flip side, when you tell the universe your plans, you’re blazing a trail that draws what you want toward you.
Which would you rather have: a jumble of things some part of you knows you want that never come true, or a list of bold and exciting developments that have their own momentum?
Yeah, I thought so.
That’s why the theme of my next retreat is Manifesting Your Butt Off. Tell the universe right now that you’re giving yourself a day to get clear and dream big on January 20, and watch how many clues and insights you get between now and then on what you truly, madly, deeply want for yourself in 2013. This stuff works, people, and when we all get in a room and do it together, our collective power to bring more awesome into existence is turbo-boosted.
Here are all the details, as well as the link to sign up:
http://www.katesyogaplayhouse.com
Spots are filling, but there is still room for just the right people to show up (you know who you are)!
Wishing you heaps of rest, peace, deep breaths, and insights this holiday season.
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