The Magic of 2018

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning” - Meister Eckhart

There’s a different energy around this new year, something magical; yet pure and gentle. A month ago we all made new year goals and decided that 2018 would be OUR year. The year that we will grow, the year we become more. The year that we get to spread our wings and feel alive! Here’s the thing with new year’s resolutions. We put so much energy into them, so much pressure to be perfect in a society that expects more from us, so that when we make a mistake or trip up we ultimately decide that we have failed. However, this isn’t what I believe. You are meant to make mistakes as part of your growth, in fact it means that the Universe wants more out of you so you can evolve.

Resolutions can be made at any moment

As long as you are mindful and aware

Aware of how you are feeling

Aware of how you are living out your life

Aware of what makes you tick, what makes your soul hungry; to the point that you become so curious you want more out of life.

Please don’t feel fearful or put yourself down without recognising that tomorrow is a new day. There are 12 months and 365 days in a year for a reason, so use them wisely to learn something new, to expand your mind and refuel your energy source because the first person you should always show up for is yourself. One of the reasons we can become sidetracked is that we create meaningless resolutions such as “lose weight” or “eat healthy” which don’t fuel our soul up with light and happiness. Side note: There is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of your mind, body or soul, but words are powerful. Choose words wisely - instead try writing down the following and notice the energy shift; “I want to feel beautiful and confident in my body” or “I will choose nutritious foods that give me energy”.

So what if you miss a day at the gym, or you choose the chips instead of the side salad when you’re out with your friends on a Friday night. There is so much more to life than restricting your choices. Do what makes you feel good because when you feel connected to your higher self, you’ll be a happier person to be around and you will feel confident knowing that you are making choices that support your life.

So let’s put those new year’s resolutions aside for one moment, go into your heart space and breathe deeply. How do you want to feel this year?? Here’s a little bit of guidance to having a wildly magical, insanely creative and an overall positive sunflower type of year.

1. Smile

Smile at your best friends, your loved ones, smile at strangers as you pass them on your way, smile at your own reflection as soon as you wake up in the morning. When you smile it makes you feel alive and happy because - but I know that when I smile it’s hard to feel any type of negative emotion and all of a sudden I forgot about what I was anxious over. This may feel harder to do in some circumstances, but just give it a try and smile more often.

2. Be Grateful

There are so many wonderful reasons to feel grateful. For starters, you’re breathing, you’re alive, you’re healthy. You’ve been given an opportunity to live your life how you want to. You have access to food, water, an education (there’s so many opportunities every day to learn something new), cars, public transport, music that lights up your soul, T.V shows that can comfort you on a Friday night (aka. F.R.I.E.N.D.S), sunshine, rain (you can’t have a rainbow without some rain). The list goes on and on. There are two magic words in life that we are taught to use from a young age. Please and Thank you. Say them often to yourself, out loud, and you’ll be surprised at what life rewards you with.

3. Find a moment of stillness within the chaos

Yes, there are some days when you are running around, feeling like you’re going to fall off your feet at any moment. Your thoughts are frazzled and you’re unsure of how to pull your focus back. Sound familiar? On these days please promise yourself that you will go home, stop for a moment, block out the noise, disconnect from social media (sometimes you need to disconnect from the outside world in order to connect back to your soul), throw on your face mask & candles, put your hair up in a messy bun - Audrey Hepburn style and just breathe in every calming vibe that surrounds you. This is also where mediation can become extremely helpful. Meditation doesn’t need to involve you sitting like a Buddha chanting sounds and words - if that’s what floats your boat then that’s amazing, but from personal experience I know that this can be hard to achieve for everybody. After all we are all different. If you only have five minutes then use them to sit still, feel grounded and focus on your breathing. After those five minutes you’ll feel calm, centered with a clear quality of mind again.

4. Surround yourself with uplifting, empowering, vibrant souls who will love, value and support you in all of your dreams.

These type of friendships make you feel like you’ve won the lottery and there is nothing else that compares. It’s important to focus on things that you can do for yourself and one of these things being that you get to decide who you want to be around. For me this year, it’s all about energy and focusing intuitively on how I feel around my inner circle. Take a moment to sit in stillness and think about all the qualities you like about yourself. Maybe it’s your heart of gold, the way you listen to others, the way you are able to laugh at the silliest things in life or your quirks. Now look for those good qualities in the people you spend time with. It’s true what they say “you are the average of the top five people you spend time with”. Who do you spend the most time with? Let me give you a clue, it isn’t your best friend, your mother, father, siblings, co-workers. It’s you!!! 24 hours of the day, 7 days a week, you are with yourself which leads to another point: learn to be your own best friend.

Let 2018 be amazing. Let it be the year you take a risk. Let it be the year you get out of your comfort zone and into your heart space. Let it be the year you learn to put yourself first every once in a while. Let it be everything you ever dreamed of and just remember that you will get where you want to be, after all…

Rome wasn’t built in a day.