Happy New Year! Today I wish you all that happiness means to you! I pray for 2015 to be the year that your heart soars, your talents grow, and all you need to achieve your dreams arrive! I ask that every challenge reveal an even greater gift and that every joy give you the opportunity to share your blessings.
Happy New Year such hopeful words: think of the cheer that comes as the ball falls, glasses clink, voices rise, and kisses connect. In these moments humanity comes together. Every person celebrating, wanting, and wishing for this to be the year that everyone on this planet is happy. What a wish!
I wonder is there a way to make humanity’s New Year’s cheer come true? Can we make 2015 a Happy Year for ourselves, those we love, and those we serve? Are our resolutions the answer? Maybe. There is a happiness that comes when we keep a promise that we make to ourselves. A joy that we get to feel when we accomplish a goal and with so many of our resolutions being to improve ourselves. When we actually do them…well, they are not just for ourselves.
No matter the resolution, when we keep them, the joy and satisfaction we receive multiplies. If we resolve to get healthy and we follow through, our bodies thank us and those we love have one less worry and maybe a glimmer of inspiration to do the same. When we resolve to save more and we do, we receive peace of mind and those that depend on us are even more able to do so. Every time you succeed in giving up a bad habit or taking up a good one you show yourself that you love and value yourself, and that love is what can empower you to love others even more. Whatever our resolution, when we keep it those in our world also receive the benefits. My problem, and I bet I’m not alone, is that I tend to fall off the resolution bandwagon before January ever leaves the calendar.
If we fall short of our own resolutions, the ones we believe will make us happy, how can we help make 2015 a happy year? My first thought is that we can show ourselves compassion and forgive ourselves. This does not mean let ourselves off the hook. We make our resolutions for a reason. It means: stop beating ourselves up when we fail because the more we beat ourselves down the harder it is to get up. Stop listening to that internal voice that says: I cannot do this. I am not able. I need to give up.
Let’s start seeing failure for what it is. Failure is a sign that you are going in the wrong direction. Every time we fail the path to success is screaming, “You’re going the wrong way!” Failure doesn’t mean give up. It means it is time to take a breath and ask yourself: What is working? What needs to change? How can I improve? Who can I ask for help? What is this failure giving me that will help me become a better me?
The world is in this together! I look forward to hearing how you are making 2015 a Happy Year. Please give me a ring at 781-331-5308, email me at Kristan@mooneytunco.com, or even better join the conversation on the Let’s Chat blog.