December is a wild card month. Spiritual celebrations of Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah and Winter Solstice represent one aspect of the month. December is also when – as a global family – we celebrate the collision of endings and fresh beginnings.
Approximately 7.3 billion people around the globe share our Gregorian Calendar. Calendars are a means of tracking time. This calendar runs on a 12-month cycle. December constitutes the 12th and final month. Reflect upon its sheer immensity – millions unto literal billions of us across this vast globe are synchronized to complete the same time cycle at the exact same time!
-T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
On the heels of a year’s close-out, January follows to embrace a fresh path to approach another year of living. How then to harness the universe’s energetic push to dissolve the old and tired and invigorate our vision forward?
Do Not Underestimate the Power of December!
Besides daily distractions, we busy ourselves with preparing holiday celebrations. It feels as if we cannot possibly take on added responsibility. How then to acknowledge the sacred passing of time? This is a mighty interlude for the conscious clearing of negativity to make way for its forward-leaning replacement.
Exercise 1: Purge 2018.
On paper, write out each month of the year. Observe your personal calendar where you have itemized the activities and commitments you made to yourself and others.
Which activities seem heavy and offer you no fuel?
Which commitments do not contribute to your personally chosen values?
When done, look at what you’ve written. Are you ready to purge? If you need more time to decide, post your work in a place where you can say goodbye to this tired and expired energy. Remind yourself you intend to open your eyes and experience a higher version of yourself.
Erin couldn’t wait for 2018 to be over. She had a financial setback because of a medical issue. Her dog of ten years passed away. Work didn’t hold the same excitement as it did a year ago.
Upon completion of exercise 1, Erin better understood why she needed to purge distress sources. Because of constant focus on what had been going wrong, she had lost sight of potential things going forward. Her purge list:
1. To consider her financial setback as, instead, financial investment in her health. Erin has decided her health is more valuable than money. Today this gives her the strength to participate in activities she was for years unable to do.
2. Donate her dog’s belongings to an animal shelter or give them away to another owner.
3. Clean out her office and put up a bulletin board with uplifting messages and positive images.
Exercise 2: Emerge into 2019.
Close your eyes and imagine fully releasing the activities and commitments of 2018. Are you able to breathe deeper? Smile more? Worry less?
While inside your imagination, tap into your intuition and seek clues to how to play with new energy. Are you able to connect to a dream? Discover another part of yourself? Feel strength more than stress?
On another sheet, draw or write what 2019 looks like in your imagination. Be sure to include a holistic picture of your Self including your body, mind, spirit and emotions. Take a photo of your drawing or words and post them in places to build new energy in and around you.
Erin believed it worthwhile to build on her commitment to health. She joined a local gym and started walking outdoors. She also asked a friend to join her in volunteering at a children’s hospital twice a month. To spruce up the house, Erin added live plants and colorful artwork.
Exercise 3: Reward your efforts.
What is the benefit of investing time and effort into the purge and emerge exercises? The answers:
Clarity
1. It’s such a great feeling when we become clear about our choices. Our feet appear to walk on more solid ground. We spend less time comparing ourselves to others. We are empowered to take on deeper challenges.
Freedom
2. Once we free ourselves of emotional attachments, physical hang-ups and spiritual struggles – we may become like animals without a leash! We run and roam around knowing we are safe and able to face the world with an open heart. We gain the momentum to boldly step into our divine selves. We reach for opportunities to lift ourselves higher, and commit to inviting our fellow travelers along for the ride.
By building upon what she values (health and wellness), Erin’s quality of life gradually improved. The volunteer work mended her broken heart. She felt less lonely. Erin especially enjoyed listening to the heartbeat of her home, thanks to the addition of living things and artistic beauty that surrounded her.