By Tara-jenelle Walsch
If January could talk, what would it say to you?
a. Ok kid, fun’s over—gotta get back on track now!
b. Alright now, what can you do better this year?
c. That’s right, another year under your belt!
If it’s any one of these answers, you’re not alone. For most of us, our perception of January was crafted when we were young. The month of June was always long-awaited for summer vacation, and December—for Christmas break, but when January rolled around, the fun was all over and we were sent back to school. In a sense, we’ve gotten used to starting off our year with a bit of disheartened energy.
Not much changes when we hit our twenties. Substitute school out for work-slash-general responsibility and we’re in somewhat of the same emotional boat; just kicking rocks around for the first few weeks.
BUT THEN SOMETHING ASTONISHING HAPPENS as we get older and start to evolve. We realize that we are the creators of our own life. That no one is ‘putting us through’ January, but that we are lucky to have arrived, full circle, back at January once again.
We rev ourselves up for the new year and get genuinely excited for a fresh start. We meet with friends and devise ways to make ourselves “better.” Then, inevitably, the question, “So, what are your New Year’s Resolutions?” comes up towards the end of the year. Resolution contemplation used to be a somewhat sacred process that we each reflected on privately, but has since made its way to the causality of Christmas parties and phone conversations.
The very act of pondering the question, of course, brings us more clarity to who we are currently representing ourselves to be and if our path needs some adjusting. But the response, of which, when given offhandedly, tends to clothe itself in shame and fear.
“Oh gosh, I’ve got to lose this extra weight. Geez, I’m getting so fat!” AND IT DOESN’T STOP THERE, the energy then ignites right back to the inquirer, “I know what you mean—I’m so disgusted with myself! I need to start making some money, too. Sometimes I don’t know how I’ll make it through the month!”
Suddenly, all of the elephants we’ve been able to keep tucked away without addressing through the year, come out of hiding. Correction, stomp out of hiding. And it unexpectedly begins to feel like a three-ring circus to our heart.
The thing with resolutions is that they invoke anxiety. Over and over, we reshape and drag them with us through the onset of each year like an emotional hangover. The anticipation of knowing that beginnings with promises behind them require us to suit up, shift in gear and take action, all of which involve stepping out of our comfort zone, well—this pretty much throws our nerves on a hot grill.
BUT WHAT IF we moved some of those pieces around and shifted our view of January entirely? Imagine if just altering our outlook of the perceived pressures that January carries activated a shift in the ultimate view that we carry of ourselves. Instead of starting the new year with resolutions (even those spoken silently to ourselves) that are born from feelings of gotta do, gotta be, gotta have, we could keep the momentum, just turn it inside-out.
Now they would be “resoulutions” that are born from our clarity within around who we are, why we are here and how we can love. A resoulution would carry the same objective as a resolution, but not be based around that objective. It would be based around ways in which we could nurture our soul that would bring about that objective.
By going within and feeling the familiar essence of who we really are, we gain instant clarity of how we can love ourselves more to achieve personal goals.
If our resolution was to lose weight (for example), our resoulution would be to create the intention to love our body as if it were our child or beloved pet. We would wrap that intention in nurturing activities that resonate with our soul, like eating nourishing food, taking walks in nature, soaking in hot baths. All the while, feeling love for ourselves and gratitude for our physical body during these activities, instead of feeling shame and disappointment for being overweight and focusing on counting and burning calories.
Where resolutions may feel like a chore or mild punishment, resoulutions would feel like a gift or gentle reward, all with the bonus of giving us another opportunity to align with our soul.
Where resolutions separate us from our true selves through an illusionary story about who we ‘should’ be, resoulutions connect us with our soul in nurturing ways that also support our highest vision.
If we’re making this all up, let’s make it up good. Let’s listen and follow our inner guidance—moving forward and staying right here in the moment at the same time. Feeling, expressing and connecting with ourselves at the purest level. Opening our hearts so wide that it closes our minds to quiet, giving us access to our soul.
WE CAN BEGIN by increasing our self-loyalty. Being true to ourselves in the highest sense. Being supportive and available for ourselves And keeping an awareness around if our mind is urging us to “do” something or trying to talk us out of listening to our soul.
So often we just jump into making plans based on what we think “needs” to be done in order for life to be “better” with no sense of regard for ourselves. By asking within how we will be affected by the choices we make, before we make them, we are placing ourselves on our own team, which paves the way for love, which paves the way for victory.
This is one of the key differences between creating a resolution and a resoulution. Once you have become more available to yourself, you will begin to hear soul more clearly. You will begin to sort out resolutions from resoulutions and feel what is best for you, as it comes to you.
Others may challenge you when you demonstrate such self-loyalty and dedication, but only because it is difficult for them to do so. This is where it will take commitment to stay with soul and not shift back to please them or fix the moment. In doing this you are not only gifting yourself, but ultimately gifting them with the unspoken permission and encouragement to do the same for themselves.
Living your resoulutions, you will notice yourself feeling more and being more present. Your heart will soften into the freedom and joy of self-love. Staying in this zone without faltering back to the rules and make-wrongs of resolutions is what will keep you on track. And you will soon notice that you are taking the application of this concept past the average January resolution and expanding it into the grandest form of resoulutionary living.
And yes, it will take courage…but you deserve it. Happy New Year and Happy Rest of Your Life.PS – If your soul could talk, what would it say to you?
Yes, yes, that’s what it’s saying.
…Listen to your soul. xo
