As 2011 draws to a close, we are looking ahead to 2012, setting goals and resolutions for the new year. For many of us, those resolutions will be discarded with the wrapping paper, forgotten before the kids are back in school. Consider that one reason resolutions are so hard to keep is that we are trying to add something new into our already very full lives.
There is nothing wrong with living a full life – but a full life can often inhibit our growth if we aren’t careful. The new year is a good time to make space for something new in your life.
Ask and answer the following question honestly: Where in your life do you need more space, and what do you have to let go of in order to create that space?
Literally clearing space for something new is cathartic. When we move physical things we can see the results very quickly. Get rid of the clutter and notice how much more free you feel with new space in your space. When we are clearing things out, we don’t necessarily throw everything away. We may just need to rearrange things to make more space, or perhaps we have to find things a new home. What can you live without? What can you let go of? Making space for something new allows new things to come to us.
On an emotional level, we occasionally need to make space in relationships or partnerships as well. Just like with physical things, we don’t have to throw these people away. We just have to rearrange the space or power we give them in our lives. We may not need to clear certain people, but the emotions surrounding them. If you are in conflict with someone in your life, what must you give up? Anger? Fear? Resentment? These emotions take up more space than happiness. Can you let them go?
Sometimes creating space is simply carving out more time for ourselves. Our full lives can be exhausting. We make sure kids have recess every day, but do we take recess? Take a walk. Meditate. Attend a yoga class. Turn off the chatter in your head and just be. Give yourself space.
As my teacher Baron Baptiste lays it out in “The Twelve Laws of Transformation”:
Seek the truth. Be willing to come apart. Step out of your comfort zone. Commit to growth. Shift your vision. Drop what you know. Relax with what is. Remove the rocks. Don’t rush the process. Be true to yourself. Be still and know. Understand that the whole is the goal.
And be happy. Happy New Year.
