Uniquely, unashamedly YOU (Archived)

The end of one year and the start of the next is a magical time for me. I am a big believer in New Year’s resolutions, but I am not a believer in drunkenly squinting at the sky and telling the person next to me some vast and shiny dream, burping it off in the first hours of the new year.

If you were are ambling along in a park and someone asked “where are we?” most of us could answer that. If they asked (in a non-creepy way) “where are you going?” most of us could point in the general direction we’re headed. We need to be able to orientate ourselves: where we are, where we’d like to be, and the general direction we need to travel. Otherwise we’d have our eyes closed, spinning drunk circles in a park, sprouting vague, untethered nonsense.

I am a big believer in starting a New Year on the right note. One of the most important learnings for me at the start of 2019 was the fact that your note is different to every one else’s.

There’s a lot of pressure to ‘do’ New Years in a certain way. Some people like to stay up until midnight. Some people like to see the New Year out surrounded by friends or strangers. Some people need music and noise and alcohol and confetti.

Do you?

The most empowering thing I did in 2019 was claim New Years for myself. For me the magical moment is not the midnight count-down or the blast of confetti and drunken roars — it’s the sun rising on that first day. Another day, another year, another chance to re-calibrate my life, to let go of the things that are not serving me, to set my feet on an intentional path.

I watch the sun rise and write down not only my intentions for the New Year but the specific steps I intend to take. This is more powerful for me then waiting blurrily for midnight to come and go, rolling out of bed Jan 1st tired and hungover, wondering where my earring went.

Perhaps a morning walk would help you decide which path you would like to take this year? Perhaps a jog would help you release the things that don’t serve you? Perhaps a fresh sea breeze would wash away the old energy and make room for the new? A swim? Meditating in a forest? Spending time with your child or fur-baby? A relaxing wine on your balcony at 8pm? A deep restful sleep? Cleaning out the linen cupboard?

2019 is your year to let go of. 2020 is your year to welcome in. Take a moment to turn down the volume on the pressure of friends and cultural expectations and contemplate a new angle to New Year’s Eve — an angle that is uniquely, unashamedly you.

How will you welcome in the New Year? What will you release as you step into 2020? What new experiences, adventures and energies will you welcome into your life?

(Posted 29 Dec 2019. Follow me at: https://nicolewalshauthor.com/)