Day 84 of 365 - Here We Go

Ugh!  It's already started, the end of year mania.  First, our consumer culture tries to convince us that what we spend and buy for loved ones for Christmas will insure our happiness and theirs.  Then, in case we missed out on something, there are the Boxing Week sales, compelling us to get more, more, more at a price not to be missed.

And then, before the week before Christmas and New Year's Day is complete, our email inboxes are flooded with messages to incite fear, inadequacy and panic.  The New Year is coming!  Your life will be incomplete and unfulfilled unless you buy this product, sign up for this course or program, etcetera, etcetera.

This is SO irritating to me.  For the most part, I'm deleting those emails without even looking at more than the title of the message.  The only ones I'm going to look at will be about shifting from that mindset of panic and urgency to trust my own inner knowing and guidance about what to pursue in the next year.

In large part, it's marketing strategy.  However, the sheer glut of dumping these pitches to us is mainly overwhelming and, in my mind, counterproductive.

Honestly, how many people do you know who can claim they have achieved all their plans and goals from this time last year?  Realistically, most of us sense a direction we want to move in, and we do what we can over the course of the year,  while continually dealing with whatever compelling life events occur.

It's a process.  It takes time.  We try. We fail.  We pick ourselves up and try again.  We're human.  Sometimes we have a great run of making progress towards how we want to live our lives.  Sometimes life events smack us down hard and we need to retreat for a time.  There is no one right answer or solution which is going to be bought for three easy payments.

I am not saying we should not seek guidance or support for making our lives better,  I am saying it can be a more natural, intuitive process.  Life will show us, when we learn to pay attention.

Already, I know what my primary interest is for the coming year, and it's the same as it has been for probably the past several years.  I want to experience better health and vitality so I can enjoy life.  I continue to be open to what will guide me towards that.

For now, I'd be elated if I found the magic bullet to consistently give me a good night's sleep, since that's a persistent and ongoing issue for me.  I've made some inroads, but I'm not there yet.  Maybe that's partly why I'm so cranky about this topic of making it your best new year.  I'd happily settle for just feeling well rested in the new year.  There, I'm done with my rant, for now.

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