Dreaming of a New Year

I read quotes to end many of my yoga classes. Some of the quotes for the New Year that I have read in my classes in the past:

New Year, New You.

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” Brad Paisley

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” Rainer Maria Rilke

“Write it in your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.” T.S. Eliot

Ah, but this one:

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential.” Ellen Goodman

Let us look for our potential instead of our flaws this new year. Looking at the talents, the beauty, the things that only we have to offer the world.

I hope for you to see your own uniqueness this year.

I hope for you a year of believing in you.

I hope for you to find your strengths that you may have hidden away.

Often when I end a yoga class, I ask my students to think about a dream they had as a child. A dream they had as a teenager. A dream they had as a young adult. And maybe a dream they have now. Why did they not pursue some of these dreams? What stopped them from going after those passions, those desires, their dreams? Many times, in my life I have felt like I was not smart or educated enough to attain a goal. Not pretty enough and of course we must throw-in, not skinny enough, to follow some of the dreams that I have had in my life. When I now look at the dreams I did not pursue, I realize it was more fear than anything else that held me back. Fear of failure. Fear of being judged. Fear of what others may think.

Often when I end a yoga class, I ask my students to think about a dream they had as a child. A dream they had as a teenager. A dream they had as a young adult. And maybe a dream they have now. Why did they not pursue some of these dreams? What stopped them from going after those passions, those desires, their dreams? Many times, in my life I have felt like I was not smart or educated enough to attain a goal. Not pretty enough and of course we must throw in, not skinny enough, to follow some of the dreams that I have had in my life. When I now look at the dreams I did not pursue, I realize it was more fear than anything else that held me back. Fear of failure. Fear of being judged. Fear of what others may think.

I like to make a list of things I want to accomplish. I make the list and prioritize it then decide which things I want to pursue. Then I go after them. I may not achieve them all but what I learn on the journey is priceless. I encourage you to make your list of things you want to achieve this year. The things on your list can be anything. It can be something simple, like reading a book a month. It can be something big like going back to school. Make your list. Post it somewhere that you can see it. Work on the things you can achieve. Check-in. I would love to have you share your lists with me.

This is a new start. We do have the opportunity to write this year of our lives. We can’t control all that happens around us but we can control how we react to what happens around us.

Happy New Year. I hope for you a year of discovering and following your dreams.