Honorable Completions

December 31, 2009, 1:20 pm
Filed under: Practices

Here we are at the end of another year and another decade. Ten years ago we were girding ourselves for a Y2K meltdown that never materialized. I can’t help wonder what things we fear now (collectively and as individuals) that will also come to nothing.

Someone once pointed out to me that fear, as an acronym, stands for Fantasy’s Appearing As Real: F-E-A-R. The mind can run amok with dreadful visions not grounded in reality, but the more we think about them the more they feel real and cloud our experience.

Humans are masterful visionaries. Why not use that creative flair for painting gloomy scenes and train it toward thoughts of love and appreciation? Perhaps we can dare to imagine our highest aspirations for the world and ourselves, focus on positive possibilities and take action to support our vision.

One way to do that is to honor the fuller picture of what is by acknowledging all the good that has come to you in this past year.

What did you learn about yourself this year that you didn’t know before? What gifts and strengths emerged from the hardships you faced? What risks did you take? How did you surprise yourself? What did the difficult people in your life teach you? What helped you find (and keep) your center? Can you acknowledge your resilience?

How have these experiences strengthened you and revealed what matters most? Who do you wish to forgive? Who do you need to thank? Imagine absolutions and gratitude flying from your heart toward your intended recipients.

Now you are freer to set your intentions for 2010. What do you want to be celebrating at this time next year? What fun stories will you be telling? Who are you with? Writing this down is powerful. It becomes the first tangible expression of your dreams, taking them out of your head in placing them in physical form.

Earlier this year, as one of my clients sorted her belongings for a corporate relocation from San Francisco to London, she came across a list of goals she’d written four years ago, tucked inside her favorite book, long forgotten. She couldn’t remember looking at it since writing them and was surprised to discover most of her goals had been realized, except this: to live and work in Europe. That one took longer to achieve than she expected, but hindsight gifted her with an appreciation for all that unfolded to bring it into her current reality.

May the New Year bring you dreams realized, passions unleashed and joy rising.