Monday, December 31, 2012

Reflections of 2012

On this eve of the 2012-year and the beginning of a new year in 2013, you may find yourself meditating on your history, thoughtfully reflecting upon your past as I am doing today.  My reflections began early this morning as the sun rose over the tips of pines and I contemplated how I would design this day for myself. This past year has been one of the more challenging in a string of challenging years and I am preparing myself for a glorious new beginning for 2013!

If you are anything like me, you too may be evaluating your past year and contemplating the coming one. In this philosophical frame of mind, you may be able to discern patterns and gain a greater understanding about your path to this point. We do the best we can at any given moment, so looking back doesn’t mean to invite blame and regret. If we find that such feelings come up, we can apply loving forgiveness to ourselves and to any who we feel have hurt us. They were doing the best they could with the information they had. We can look instead with gratitude at the way our lives have unfolded and learn how to make the journey more consciously from this point forward.

By reflecting on your history today, you gain insight into the patterns of your life and in so doing, have the opportunity to shift and align yourself with the life you seek for the coming year and beyond. It may be useful throughout this process to continuously ask ourselves how we created each situation in our lives. On an energetic level, we are responsible for everything we bring into our experience. With this in mind, we may be able to change our concept of certain life-changing events from negative to positive. Perhaps something that seemed to randomly happen to us was a result of our longing for an opportunity for growth or a chance to prove our strength to ourselves. It may have been subconscious or from our higher spiritual level, but if we can take responsibility for these occurrences, we can release any negative hold they may have on us. Looking back today helps you create more consciously for your future. What do you think? What are your intensions for the coming new year?

Whatever they are, I hope you allow yourself to bask in the glorious new beginning of 2013 and perhaps most of all, remember to Dream BIG! 

 Blessings,
CiCi

 © Cynthia “CiCi” Stewart is an international speaker and the author of non-fiction books, which include Dream Big! and Creating Wealth on The Web. Through many challenges that she has fought and won, Cynthia knows first-hand how to dream big and has dedicated her life to empower other’s to stand-up, step-out, and reach their dreams. She can be reached at www.CynthiaStewart.com

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May good fortune smile on you today!

“Things turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
– John Wooden

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Peace vs. Perfection

We experience numerous disappointments each and every day. Our expectations go unmet, our plans are blocked by circumstance, our wishes go unfulfilled, and we discover that our lives are subject to a myriad of forces beyond our conscious control. In some cases, our response is powerful because we must invest ourselves and our resources to overcome genuine hardship. In others, our reactions are far more passionate than our circumstances likely warrant. The tension that permeates our bodies and minds when we are late for an event, interrupted at work, or sitting in traffic is not inappropriate, but it can interfere with our well-being in profound ways. When we stop worrying about relatively unimportant matters, we can be at peace and devote so much more of ourselves to what is truly important. The small frustrations and irritations wield such power over us because they rob us of the illusion of control. But every problem is a potential teacher—a confusing situation is an opportunity to practice mindfulness, and difficult people provide us with opportunities to display compassion. There is a natural human tendency to invest copious amounts of emotional energy in minor dilemmas and frustrations in order to avoid confronting those more complex issues that are largely outside the realm of our control. The intensity of our response provides us with a temporary sense of personal power that helps us cope with challenges that might otherwise overwhelm us. But it is only when we let the little stuff go that we discover that the big stuff is not really so devastating after all.
In the stress of a singularly tense incident, differentiating between an inconsequential annoyance and a legitimate challenge can seem a monumental task. Ask yourself whether the emotions you are feeling will be as vivid in a year, a day, or even an hour. As focused as you are on this moment in time, your reward for letting go of your emotional investment may be the very happiness and harmony of being whose loss you are lamenting. Needless aggravation is seldom worth the cost it exacts. You cannot distance yourself from life's inconsistencies, irritations, and upheavals, but you can relinquish your desire for perfect order and gain peace of mind in the process.