December 2011 …  Your End-of-Year Invitation

As we move into the last days of 2011, I invite you to take an extra hour just for you…sit with pen in hand and reflect on this past year.  Go through each of these questions as a way to celebrate your achievements and ponder the question, what’s next?

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” — T.S. Eliot

Step 1:  What music or sounds reflect this past year for you?

Move to your favorite chair or place in your home. Start the music. Get comfortable with a warm drink and this year’s calendar at your side. With notepad and pen, begin your Year 2011 Reflection.

Step 2:  Starting in January of 2011 and through December, month by month, list what you are most proud of .To help you add to your list, consider:

**Actions taken** who you have become** gifts given** gifts received** shifts in thinking** items acquired or released** risks taken** opportunities grabbed on to** attitude changes** movement through transition** support you have given**projects completed** projects started**  goals identified** goals completed**…. Remember, nothing is too small or too great to add to your list.

Step 3:  Identify 3 guiding principles that guided you in this year. Some new ones for me this past year were:

“Do it a different way!”

“Celebrations aren’t the party – they are the events in my life that honor tradition, gratitude and the blessings I have received.”

“One moment can change the entire course of my life”

You might also think of your guiding principles in terms of a theme for the past year. Another way to think of this step is to identify the 3 beliefs that guided you to a sense of pride for all your accomplishments?

Step 4:  Now look back through the year and consider what didn’t work as you wanted or hoped it would? Give yourself the gift of compassion as you compile this list. Try not to focus on the why, but only the realization that life is an experience and you are in it. Consider the unrealized expectations, unexpected circumstances, challenges, gifts given and gifts received but not planned for nor expected, interruptions…

Step 5:  Please, email (Marybeth@wholelifecoaching.com) a copy of your completed lists.  If you’d like to talk about it, we can arrange a one time session and all you need to do is make a donation, in any amount, to my PayPal account.  You can always add to it later and as we speak! Share what you are comfortable with. We will probably not have time to look at each item on your lists, so highlight your choices for discussion.  Sometimes it’s just nice to be witnessed.  Wait you’re only half way there.

New Beginnings Year 2012

The answers to these questions begin the basis for your focus for Year 2012.

“You have done what you could — some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”   Emerson

1:  What’s the theme you’d like to have for 2012?

“The year of CLAIMING AND HARVESTING WHAT I’VE SOWN”

“The year of peace, prosperity, and purpose”

2:  As you stand on one of the peaks looking forward, what future is calling?

3:  What is the essence of what is next for you?

4:  How will you nurture the relationship with yourself?

5: What other relationships will you nurture and how?

6:  What changes do you anticipate or hope for in the next year?

7:  What self-lies (e.g., “I am not powerful.”) are you ready and willing to end?

8: Is there unfinished business, goals, or intentions from 2011 that will carryover into 2012?

9:  Picture the energy you will have in 2012 – what does it look like (shape), what color is it, is there sound?

10:  What gift(s) will you commit to giving yourself in the next year?

11:  Are there gift(s) you will give to others?

Know that I celebrate you this holiday season as I reflect on the many blessings I am grateful for in my own life.  Happy holidays ……. Much love, Mary Beth