Bye Bye 2016

2016 has got to be the year the world will happily wave “bye bye” to.

In what has been described like the year when life as we knew it came to an end, I can’t help but notice how fast and tumultuous it’s all really been.

And as I sit here wanting to share my thoughts with you, I have a little confession to make:  I don’t mind 2016!

While I could have done without the whole political dramas, the media clearly playing with our minds, the lives lost to some improbable ideology, and the frustration at not being able to help all those in need, I find myself feeling more grateful than ever.

Isn’t it funny? The world around me is crumbling and I’m talking about gratitude.

Before you ask, no I have not lived in a fairy tale for the last 12 months nor have been wearing rose tinted glasses.

My year started with a funeral, family dynamics have been challenging and upsetting at the best of times, and we suddenly realised life ain’t waiting for us as she is too busy doing her own thing.

So why am I grateful?

Because 2016 has to be the year when I woke up to the fact that no matter what’s happening around me, I have choices.

There is a wellness in me and in each one of us that is always present and never goes anywhere.

No matter what’s happening out there, that well-being is what we can all come back to when our mind & heart have settled.

And so while life will always unfold, sometime pleasantly and most of the time not so, there is a kindness to this system which will always take us back to harmony.

And the best bit is, there is nothing for us to do.

While we all may want techniques to stop our mind from thinking and our heart from feeling, the intelligence that moves us through life will also ensure that thoughts and feelings will continuously come and go.

This is our God’s send.

So rather than worrying about the thoughts we have or what we feel, we can choose instead to let it pass and surely it will.

It always does, and if it doesn’t look that way, it’s simply because we are in our own way trying to stop our mind from what it does best.

Does it all sound too simple?

That’s because it is.

There is no mystery to the fact that we are thinkers and feelers.

What I like to call “the human condition” is simply the fact that we can only experience this life through our thoughts and feelings.

And these thoughts and feelings will change moment to moment, allowing us to always have new experiences and look at the world with fresh eyes.

This incredible ability is what always takes us back to that inner calm and joy which come with being alive.

Isn’t this amazing?

Isn’t it great that we don’t have to take whatever we experience so seriously because surely enough it will soon change?

And isn’t it incredible that well being is always and only one thought away?

We lost quite a few creative minds this year, the whole galaxy lost Princess Leia, many died and many were born and politics has been at its very worst for many unhappy voters.

But I thank this remarkably screwed up year for I realised that I’m only alive when I can think and feel and suddenly life doesn’t look that scary anymore.

I wish you all a joyful new year.

 

I’m the founder of Evoking Grace, a coaching program designed to inspire others to be their very best while bringing ease and balance into their everyday life. I can be contacted by email for more details on the work I offer or to schedule a free “Wisdom Within Session“. Follow my mumbling & musings on  Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest to be part of my “online tribe”.