Is it Time for Your Fresh Start?
2012 is right around the corner. I love this time of year – reviewing all of the crazy and amazing events of the past year and letting myself dream of the new year to come. It’s an exciting time… full of possibilities and potential.
2011 was a wild year for me… a combination of great memories and soul-searching challenges. Many incredible highs and some painfully difficult lows.
I’m a list person (I get it from my mother). I wanted to get the full impact of 2011. So I sat down and made a list of every significant event that had happened in 2011 and the list was much longer than I realized. 2011 was a powerful year! Some of the things that happened were because I was very clear about what I wanted to happen and I went to work to check off all of the items on my to-do list. Other things happened because they needed. I didn’t necessary “choose” to have them happen but they did impact my life – ultimately in a positive way.
Quite honestly, before making the list, I thought 2011 had been only so-so. I even had the thought that I had let 2011 pass me by. I thought about what I wanted everyday and worked for it a little at a time. I didn’t realize how many successes and accomplishments I had created. It happened little by little and the “wins” of the year almost passed me by. With some different perspective and my list as evidence, I realize that 2011 was an incredible year. It was the year of my re-birth. Here’s part of my list:
* Got divorced
* Started volunteering at Make A Wish
* Began teaching wellness and health classes in the community
* Created my hypnosis website
* Took many business and personal trips to New York, Toronto, San Diego, Alamosa, Bozeman, New Jersey, Nashville, Las Vegas, Denver
* Planned my family’s reunion this summer
* Had a blast during spring break at Disneyland!
* Enjoyed Thanksgiving in Montana
* Moved – an exhausting task!
* Started reading Akashic Records professionally
But of everything that happened in 2011, the absolutely MOST IMPORTANT is that I learned to love myself. I had never experienced the feeling of total love and acceptance of myself before. There will be a whole post about that another day. For now, I will just say that this one thing changed EVERYTHING.
Now I’m looking forward to 2012 as a fresh start. I have momentum going into this year (something I did not have last year). I am ready to LIVE again with PASSION. Did you already guess I have list for 2012? If so, you’re right! 
So here’s the start of an evolving list of what I want to create in 2012:
* Take voice lessons
* Enter the dating world again
* Take some cooking classes
* Grow my hypnosis website
* Drive a race car
* Continue volunteering at Make a Wish
* Reach out to women who have been (or are) in an emotionally abusive relationship
* Go to Greece
* And I’m sure many more business and personal trips throughout the year
Here’s the kicker – it doesn’t matter where you start. In 2011, I started from scratch (actually, probably more in the ditch than from flat ground). All I knew was that I needed a different direction and I had to create a different life. The old life never worked for me. But it didn’t even matter because it had been shattered. I had to have a fresh start.
We all have times when we need a fresh start… sometimes it’s just in one area of our life, sometimes it’s a complete tear-down and remodel. In that fresh start we learn so much about ourselves, our relationships and our way of living life. What I learned was that nothing else matters (no success, relationships, accomplishments, goals met) if I don’t love myself enough to feel good about me and what I’ve done. If I’m beating myself or criticizing myself, the joy will never be felt.
What matters is where you end up and how you feel about yourself when you get there.
What fresh start do you need? What will you do TODAY to move in that direction? It’s the little steps that lead to the greater successes. Start today with one step that will bring you closer to the life you desire.
Until next time friends,
Tara
