The New Year and Caring for Your Soul

The new year is a time of new beginnings when the slate is clean and we get to start over. It's the time when people are making goals, going on fitness programs, and deciding to start the year in a blaze of activity. 

Yes and...

It may not be that way for all of us. 

Some of us are in slow mode.

If you're like me, you don't want to do anything except take a nap, lie down, be quiet, and read a book. Raise your hand if you feel like this. 

It’s stormy and rainy in northern California right now and all I want to do is go slow and not think about what I "need" to do. 

Normally I have loads of energy and I'm ready to start the new year full-on with goals for what I want to achieve and do. I've usually figured out my word for the year to remind me to stay on track.

This year, not so much. I'm not motivated. At all. 

I decided to ask my future self (something I do every morning) about why I feel so slow and she said, "well, think about it, Jo."

The holidays just finished, you had a lot going on last year which you've barely processed and it's winter.

We're not supposed to be rushing around. 

Look at the bears, it's their time to hibernate, rest, slow down and sleep. 

We're not supposed to be detoxing and increasing our exercise and cutting our food level down. It’s counterintuitive to the body and maybe that's why we start out with a bang and then fizzle out before February. 

"You’re not listening to your body or your soul," my future self said to me. "This is the most important time to listen and dream."

She made a lot of sense. Yet my normal driven self didn’t necessarily want to hear but needed to hear it.  My FOMO (fear of missing out) self wants to do everything and consequently, I take on way too much, thinking I can do it all. 

I end up exhausted and overwhelmed. 

What does your body want?  

Do you feel on fire, ready to start new projects? Ready to go, go, go? 

If the answer is yes, congratulations. 

But what if you're in slow start mode? 

Give yourself some grace. Listen to your body and your soul. 

REST.

Savor healthy meals without stressing about it. 

Let yourself read that book, just putter around. 

Slow mode is really okay. It's the way to take care of your soul. 

Go to bed early and sleep late. 

It's the time to be, to dream, to recover, to rest. 

Look around you at the trees. They've lost all their leaves, they’re standing in the deep cold, and they are still. Their roots are getting all the nutrients they need from the earth so that they can bloom in the spring. 

We need quiet now and rest so that we can bounce back and put things into action when it's springtime and we feel that extra energy. 

Maybe you’ve just been to hell and back last year and feeling like you can’t gear up for anything big. Honor it. Be with it. Feel all the feelings. And then listen to yourself for when to let go. 

This is the time to dream. Dream about what you want without going into action...YET. 

It’s time to ask: is your life going in the direction you want? 

Are you resigned to thinking that your life is just good enough? Are you saying to yourself, it's not perfect, but hey, it's okay?

Why can’t we have terrific, splendid, sensational lives? 

Whatever your dream is, allow some time to sink into it. 

Allow, absorb, be.

Let yourself have it. 

You don't have to commit, you don't have to know why you want it, and you don't even have to fight the inner critics that say, that's ridiculous, you can't afford that or you can't make that happen. 

Because the truth is you can. 

But first, it starts with dreaming of the life you want. And listening to your soul. 

Over to you:

What will you do with your one precious life? 

Where do you want to go, what makes you happy?

What are your body, soul, and heart saying to you now?