Lost and Finding Joy

There’s just something about the turning of a new year that reminds us time is slipping away — another year gone; but still a new year awaits. We usually have something poking at us to set new goals, whether we choose to listen to it or not. Sometimes it feels easier to just say, “I’m just going to let this year bring me whatever comes my way.” That’s the voice that doesn’t want you to change anything. That’s the voice that kills dreams. When we decide to change our bodies (which is 95% of our minds), our bodies will try to confuse us or block what we truly desire. This year we are not going to let that happen. Let’s demystify what you want to be, do, or have in your life, because the truth is, there will come a day, that your time will be up. Grab this life by the reigns, and get busy living your life – the way you know, deep down, you want to live it.

Before we talk about what your dream is, let’s understand why we aren’t where we want to be already. First, it takes energy to think about what we would love to be, do, and have in our lives. It requires doing something other than the day-to-day stuff we’ve been doing the past year or two or 33 1/2 years. Second, we must become the observer, observing the thoughts we are thinking and the behaviors we’ve become addicted to. If we pay attention to our own thoughts and our own behaviors, we may find that we’ve been spending our energy thinking about what we don’t want, and spending our time on behaviors we’re not exactly proud of, i.e. laying in bed until noon, watching t.v., feeling depressed, feeling anxious, feeling bored, or staying busy just to be busy. All of this takes energy. When we become the observer of our thoughts and actions, we can redirect our energy and thoughts to what we would love in our lives by using our imagination.

The new year is such a gift! We get to choose whether or not we are going to be the same person as the last year, or if we are going to be someone better. If we want to be better, it begins with a decision. The word decision comes from the Latin word, decidere, which is a combination of two words: de = ‘OFF’; caedere = ‘CUT’. This means when we decide to do something different, we must cut off (away from) the lesser for the greater. How? We simply take our attention away from all the things we no longer want to be or do by PUTTING OUR ATTENTION ON the things that we do want to be or do. *If we resist what we don’t want, we are still putting our attention (energy) on those things. Therefore, we keep attracting what we don’t want.*

Become the observer. Begin to notice what you are thinking about, notice what you are doing and pay attention to how you are responding to things. When you notice or observe that your thoughts aren’t moving you in the direction of your dream, you can self-correct. You can redirect your attention back to your dream and practice feeling what it would be like when you are that new self. When your body practices feeling those feelings enough times, it will begin to agree with you and that’s when taking steps in the direction of your dream will begin to feel more natural and become easier.

To become the new self, we need to first define your new self. What is your dream? If you could see yourself as the person you’d love to be, what would that person look like? Put the “how” on hold, because you are not going to know every step of the way. You just want to take a step and then another step will show up. Your first step is to define and then decide this is what you would love in your life in the area of your health, your relationships, your job/career/business, and your time/money freedom. Some questions you could ask yourself, (and take a moment to really think about these questions) are: If you could be or do anything, what would you be doing? Who are you with? What are you doing with that person or those people? Where are you living? What are you doing-accomplishing in your job/business? What would you love to experience? What does a typical day look like for you? Define what you would love and then write it down, and/or create a vision board. A vision board is good because our minds think in pictures. Just put pictures on a poster board that show the things you would love to be, do, and have. Hang it up in a place where you will look at it every day. The secret is to feel the feelings as if you’ve already accomplished or acquired what’s pictured on the vision board. The more you can teach your body the emotions of having the desire, before it even shows up, the faster it will appear in your life.

Dream without limitation and decide what you are going to focus on this new year. You may decide to focus on making healthier choices in your diet or exercise; taking your business to the next level; starting a business; getting an education – it doesn’t have to be college – it can be anything you desire to learn; writing that book; spending more time with your family; investing in real estate or some other investment; buying that dream home; going on that vacation; …whatever it is… define it. By the way, you want your dream to stir some emotion inside like, “I would really love that!”

Write it down or create a vision board. Look at it every day and practice being it before it shows up. You can feel the feelings of already having or being something before you see it in your life. That’s the part people sometimes miss, until they truly understand that our thoughts and feelings create our reality. The thought sends the signal out, and our emotions or feelings attract the experience.

To help things move along harmoniously and efficiently, we must allow ideas to come to us. We don’t want to force an outcome. We want to let it unfold, all the while making choices that move us in the direction of our dreams. If we truly believe in our vision, we are automatically going to make choices that lead us in that direction. Simply put, we want to let our intuition or gut tell us our next move, and we want to be willing to follow that guidance and take the step.

Once you define your dream, and begin to feel the feelings of already achieving those dreams; things will begin to show up that will aid you in achieving your dreams – people, circumstances, things. It will amaze you and you will then understand that you are not doing this alone. The desire of your heart is your destiny — your purpose. De-Sire is Latin for “Of God.” Follow it and you live a life you absolutely love living. Here’s to our brand new year 2023! Cheers to the new YOU!

“Dream as if you’ll live forever…live as if you’ll die today.” ~ James Dean