A New Beginning

Today is the beginning of a brand-new year. How do you enter into 2016? With hope and good intentions? With dread and worry, feeling already weighed down by last year’s baggage? Or are you just indifferent, because you don’t expect much to change?

Although in reality not much changes on January 1st, the transition from one year to the next offers us an opportunity to reflect on the past and create goals for the next 12 months.  This day also invites us to remember the impermanence of life and the preciousness of every moment.

Imagine you had $29200 to spend for the rest of your life, without the possibility to increase that amount? What would you do? You probably wouldn’t carelessly waste your money, but instead value each dollar and deliberately choose how to use it. You may also be more mindful on what you are able to purchase and savor those things with greater appreciation. An average life-span of 80 years consists of 29200 days, which to me doesn’t seem like a lot. But how mindful are you with spending this most precious commodity in life, called time?

Most of us prefer to ignore the fact that our lives have an expiration date. Rather than considering each day as a gift and a privilege, we go through the motions often driven by stress, anxiety and obligations. Overwhelm and over-stimulation makes us want to shut down and become numb. The fear of not being good enough or fitting in, makes us focus more on other people’s expectations than our own dreams and desires. As a result life becomes a matter of just getting through it, rather than taking ownership of it. Or as someone once said: “Everybody tries to kill time, but no one wants to die.”

So today, on you could ask yourself these simple questions:

• How can I bring more joy and purpose into my daily life?
• What am I putting on hold or not allowing myself to do, have or be?
• If my life would be over tomorrow, what would I regret the most?
• Which aspects of my life need more attention to make it more meaningful and fulfilling?

Be kind and compassionate with yourself; these questions aren’t meant to beat yourself up, but to inspire you to make 2016 the year where you started to reclaim your birthright to live and embrace YOUR life.

I have decided to make some significant changes in my life, which I will tell you more about in the near future.

My team and I wish you a blessed new year, with an abundance of health, joy, peace and love.