It’s easy to stand at the gates of the New Year with your focus on what’s coming instead of what you’ve been through. Especially, for many of us, after 2018.
It was one heck of a year, that’s for sure. With all of the energy of the Kavanaugh thing bringing up repressed, stuffed down, frantic and wounded energy (#metoo), to the instability of the very foundations of what we’ve taken for granted in terms of economic and political… peace.
This year threw me off center and forced me to examine how my actions and habits have taken me somewhere I don’t want to be—but I know that and I am making changes. Those changes will be more obvious in the coming year. For now, I’ll return to my center and work from there.
And right now, I want to sit in gratitude in the moment I am in. 11:05 am on Saturday, the 29th of December, 2018. I have a LOT to be thankful for.
This list is not at all complete. In fact, it’s quite simple. But it is an acknowledgment to the Universe of the things in life that I truly value, the things that make me smile, the things that I am glad I learned.
I encourage you to sit in the moment and make your own Gratitude List for 2018 before rushing off into 2019. As you know, the power is in NOW, not the future; always remember that.
So, what am I grateful for?
1) My little family. The one in my house and my daughter who is on her own now. These four human souls and two doggie souls are the core of my existence. They are my reason. They teach me so much about love, acceptance, patience, redemption, and evolution. They enrich my life and I am thankful for them.
2) Me (with a capital M). I am grateful for myself, the life I have been given, the journey and the mission. I am grateful for my body—that I can move freely, that I am healthy, that I am curious and bright. I love who I am, who I am becoming. I have to remember to honor myself more and really CENTER in myself because that’s where the magic is. It’s in me. In my energy and my life.
3) Friends & Extended Family. There are too many to name or call out individually. I have been gifted a cast of wonderfully delightful, soulful, honest, divine souls to share my time with. I am grateful for each and every one of you and hope that we have more time to spend together in the future. (P.S. Florida, February 2020).
4) Spirit & Magic. This one is HUGE for me. I am grateful for all that I’ve learned, where it has taken me, and the wonders it’s opened up for me. Every day is a profound experience. I’m thankful that the Universe has nudged me to pay attention to the little things, the messages it sends, and the directions it gives.
5) Stability. Another huge one. Seriously. We have a home that we’ve lived in for the past 12 years. We have food. I can usually pay my bills without issues. That stability gives me the space to explore my world a little more. The kite that is my Spirit is firmly anchored to the ground. I don’t have to worry (so much) about the ground beneath my feet crumbling.
6) Learning experiences. This year, I didn’t honor my time and energy as much as I should have, and it resulted in me being overwhelmed. I’m actually grateful for coming to a full stop because it really made me look at and evaluate my life and the decisions I was making. I had to come back into my center and I also learned that I had to honor my worth or no one else would—and that was a blessing.
I’m going to leave it at that. I could write about how thankful I am for the sun shining, for the trips we took, for belly laughs, for art, for sensuality and even orgasms. But I’d like to move on with my day. My boys are laughing and playing and I want to enjoy the life that is going on around me.
I hope that you can find a moment to be grateful for what happened in 2018 before you slide into 2019. As they say in Austria, Guten Rutsch!