This time of year people look to change as their mantra. Encouraged by the national pastime of making a New Year Resolution, we often pay lip service to our failings and for a couple of days at least, attempt to be resolute in our steely determination to make good our foibles. But as we all know, failure is often the outcome. This inability to make a permanent change can set us back even further than before we began. So why do we do it?

A fresh start can happen to anyone at any point in the year. The turning of a page into a new chapter is not limited to new year, but it is the wave of collective consciousness that picks us up, takes us on a rollercoaster ride and ultimately spits the majority back out on the sand, with little to show for their efforts apart from bruised pride.

Life is like a domino rally. You can set out each domino of life – home, job, family, romance and keep adding to your dominos one by one. You can look back at what you have achieved with a sense of pride. It has taken a steady hand to position all the achievements in such a way that they can be appreciated and reflected upon. Yet, it takes one, just one rogue outcome, to topple this rally.  And this is where the makeup of the individual shows. Who looks, cries and thinks that this is the end? Who looks, sighs and begins again to restack in the same way. How many look and really see what has occurred? Who stops, takes time to reflect, learn from those mistakes and rebuilds the rally in a slightly different way?

I would urge anyone who has that chance to stop and look, to really think about the lessons we are being given. Is our pathway the right one for us? If not, what can we do about it?  There is nothing worse than a repeating pattern. It can often take those closest to us to show us that we are in an ever-decreasing spiral of decline and for those lucky enough to have people with a supportive helping hand, that reversal can be stopped.

In this time of need, try to avoid a bandwagon and find your own vehicle to steer you through.

And if it all becomes too much, do not beat yourself up over it; treat it as a chance to recollect. We learn through failure. Failure drives us. Pick up the dominos one at a time, but apply space, time and energy to the gap between them. Give yourself time: to grow, to heal and to remerge. Make your rally the best yet!

 

“ Change is the end result of all true learning.” Leo Buscaglia

Happy New Year!

Dream BIG, Sparkle MORE, Shine BRIGHTLY