December is closing up quite quickly, don’t you think? Suddenly we sprint around, making last minute decisions on gifts, picking up extra shifts to make a little extra cash, go to all the holiday parties, and burn the candles at both ends, hoping to see everyone and please everybody.

But then there’s this pending date that looms overhead and a question that inevitably follows: Here comes January 1, 2016, and who am I going to be in 2016?

Some of us make resolutions throughout the year. Some of us write them down and check back. Some, still, decide on our resolutions at whatever party we end up at around 1 or 2AM after things begin to wind down. And others say, “screw resolutions, I do what I want!” Let’s be honest, most of us have been each of these people at some point or another. 🙂

I have found myself already preparing resolutions for the new year for about a month, which is much earlier than I normally do, simply because I came across my resolutions for 2015 in October  and realized I hadn’t totally stuck with them…. not very well at least. I figured, hey, its not to late too get re-focused, or “simply begin again”, as I always like to quote Baron Baptiste. So when I saw a post on Facebook about 100 Days of Meditation, I decided that putting off the start date was quite silly, and that if I wanted to do something, I needed to start it then and there. Not on Monday, cause it’s easier to begin at the head of the week, or New Year’s, cause it’s the natural time to set those goals. Just a measly old Thursday, November 4, 2015.

Today I will have meditated 41 days. And I’m pretty damn stoked about it.

I won’t pretend each day was super easy, or even that I feel like now I have such a handle on my life, BUT, I can absolutely say it has already changed me. Given me the opportunity to breathe when I want to scream, acknowledge when things are hard rather than stuffing away my emotions, and often treat people a little better because I am more likely to take a bit to process if someone said something that hurt–rather than reacting and being hurt and staying there, I have found that meditation has given me the drive to hear it, feel it, note the real intention behind the words, and move on or address it based on the intention.

I won’t pretend there weren’t days that my meditation was my lying on my side with my eyes closed right before bed and repeating mantras because I was too tired to sit up. I won’t pretend I didn’t count a gentle yoga class as a meditation once. I won’t pretend I’m perfect.

However, I AM GROWING.

This has become one of my favorite mantras and is likely going to be my main resolution for 2016: to simply grow. We spend so much time in our comfort zone, which at times is absolutely necessary as a means to recharge and take on the world another day, but in order to actually grow, to change, to morph into something greater, we have to let go of where we are right now.

“There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis

I was given the amazing opportunity to lead a workshop for the 40 Days to Personal Revolution, by Baron Baptiste, and while my instinct was to say no, I took a step out of my comfort zone and said yes. (Ironically, one of Baptiste’s Laws of Transformation is to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone—didn’t make that connection immediately.) We begin January 2nd, which obviously is the perfect time to get people set up for who they want to be in 2016.

I participated in this workshop at the beginning of 2015 and took the time to go over my journaling from that time and have already loved seeing the differences in my answers then versus now. I cannot believe the emotional growth I can identify in myself, simply because I feel like I look like the same person. My yoga practice is stronger, but I don’t necessarily see the same physical changes as I do the emotional–and we often neglect our capacity for emotional growth. We talk about it here and there, but rarely set goals because they are hard to measure. “I want to be less reactive” is not the same as “I want to lose 10 pounds” or “I want to do a handstand”, right? But shouldn’t we still include that first resolution? Arguably it is the most important one because it is the most likely to last until our old age. Physical beauty and strength will naturally fade, but the ways we deal with others, the legacy we leave with our loved ones… No one says at a funeral, “I loved that she was skinny” or “My favorite thing about him was that he could do the coolest backbends”.

I ask again, Who do you want to be in 2016?

It’s scary. It requires effort. It requires failure.  We will say the wrong things, react rather than respond, revert to old habits. But we will also make better choices. We will get better at choosing positive responses, loving more, being kinder to ourselves and others… isn’t that worth the risk of failure along the way?

So as you come to the end of this year, maybe reflecting on what went right, what went wrong (whether or not these things were in your control), or maybe just dying to start anew, what will you choose? What would it look like if you set some intangible goals along with those a little more concrete in nature? How might the end of 2016 feel, knowing you put in the effort and time to simply grow?

I would love to hear about your reflections and resolutions for this year and the next, and if you are in the Tucson area, maybe you can join me at Om Yoga for the 40 Days workshop.

Wherever you are today, may you choose joy, live generously, and demonstrate love. Namaste.

 

Jenna