Happy 2014! It's hard to believe that the first week of the new year is already behind us. If you celebrated any of the many festivities in the past several weeks or indulged in taking part in all of them, you must have done a lot of planning, preparing and celebrating. Whew! Sounds exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. Did you ever stop to wonder what could happen in your life if you did just as much planning and preparing for the things that you want or celebrating the things you have achieved? Just imagine what your life would look like at the end of this promising new year if you were filled with excitement and took the same amount of initiative to map out your goals, take decisive action and top it all off with a celebration that is solely meant for you and your achievements.
So as you continue to adjust and redefine your resolutions for 2014, why not renew and refresh your inner spirit to manifest your outer life? The truth is that without celebrating big and small accomplishments along the way, your inner spirit takes notice and slowly but surely becomes depleted. Generally, you can see what a depleted and discouraged spirit looks like as it reflects itself in your current circumstances and comes through loud and clear in your daily behavior. Although the objective of renewing and refreshing your inner self is intangible, over time it will fill you with inner strength, power and guidance. Although most of us are filled with high hopes and renewed motivation in the new year, as you throw in your resolutions and the weeks progress, the "to-do" list instantly magnifies by a thousand-fold. This often sets us off and running in many directions that quickly leads the "to-do" bandwagon down the path of abandoning our efforts. Remember, 2014 is the year of the horse, so before you start your race to the finish, set yourself on a slow and steady pace, gracefully galloping to where you need to be. (More on the year of the horse and color in an upcoming post.) Before you dare to feel a bit overwhelmed in the first few days of the new year, stop, take a breath and refocus your attention for a complete renewal of your inner you. And we're off...
Step 1
Break down your hopes and dreams into attainable goals.
Key word: attainable. Although taking time to forecast your life for the upcoming months helps you map out what you want within specific time frames, attainable feats also set you up for success. For example, if one of your resolutions is getting healthy and shedding unwanted pounds, instead of committing to a demanding workout schedule 5 days a week, commit to one workout, gauging how you feel before and after. It may sound small to avid workout aficionados, but if you haven't exercised in quite awhile, just making the effort and keeping the commitment to yourself creates the recipe for self empowerment. It also gives your inner spirit an internal boost when you consciously start your workout with the intention that you are taking time to take care of you. Even if its 5 minutes to stretch. Once you keep your commitment to yourself, your inner spirit will gain a renewed sense of accomplishment, automatically nurturing your inner self as it begins to crave that feel-good vibration by gently nudging you to recreate it again. (If you keep a workout diary or calender-don't forget to give yourself a sparkly star. And yes, I love all things glitter and stickers.)
Step 2
Develop inner patience.
Now here's a step that requires full introspection. Although setting tangible goals generally does not include taking stock of your feelings or the thoughts that run through your mind, without patience you often lose the inner strength and endurance that is necessary to complete your goals. If you've ever started a new project and found yourself wanting to accomplish it at the speed of light, this practice generally leads to losing interest if it doesn't immediately bare results within a designated time frame or perhaps you finish it without the attention it deserved. In previous posts, I've written about how the universe chooses how, when and where to speak to you. Although I generally keep this blog focused on the subconscious and color energy, I generally do not discuss specific religions out of respect to all readers and their beliefs. I came across a lady by the name of Joyce Meyer and her ministry. In between cooking and baking over Christmas, I indulged in a bit of TV and discovered I had more channels than I could possibly watch. As I relaxed, I found an answer through this unexpected source. Joyce Meyer touched on the topic of patience. She pulled specific quotes from the Bible to express the many pitfalls of impatience, such as discouragement and even depression. She went as far as to explain how impatience stems from your pride and ego. This led me to re-evaluate how destructive impatience can be to anyone's inner spirit, including my own. Once impatience takes root, in one full and dark swoop it can dissipate our excitement and derail our efforts towards our most desired goals. This opens the door to distrust as we slowly relinquish our dreams by convincing ourselves that it just wasn't meant to be. She went on to say how important it was to remain in a state of joyous patience. Hmmm... If you have ever reveled in the land of impatience without even knowing it, joyous patience seems radical. How many times do we give up because impatience convinces us that our efforts will not bare the results? So how do we get rid of this pesky and unwanted character flaw? Trust. Yes, pure and utter trust that the goal you want was sent to you by the universe to manifest because of some unknown reason that belongs to the invisible plane. Trusting that each step or action you take -- though slow and steady --will give you the strength, grace and patience you need to see your goal through to the end, leading you to run the race to win.
Step 3
Build your inner confidence.
This step is crucial to your inner spirit. Without it our state of mind is in catch up mode. Either you find yourself trying too hard to force something to happen, leading to unwanted mistakes that often create a setback. Confidence helps you stamp out the fear that makes you feel insecure, less than and simply not enough. This feeling clings to you and your subconscious causing you to self-sabotage and derail your efforts towards what you want for your life. All of these self-defeating emotions inevitably lead to squashing your inner confidence into smithereens. Even if you do not feel good about how things have gone for you or are just seeking adjustments in certain areas of your life, repeating affirmations that connect with your inner spirit will begin to shift your outer life. Remember, words have power. Even if you feel out of sorts, repeat your affirmations out loud with the conscious knowing that this practice will cause your outer circumstances to shift. Take decisive action by speaking words of victory over your goals, using words as the food and fuel you need as nourishment for your inner spirit to manifest your dreams. Sit down and write out words that make your inside leap with hope, joy and confidence. You are worth this effort. For example, if the new year still has you facing hardships, repeat out loud as many times as you need "I have comeback power. My comeback is victorious." Repeat it before you step out of the house to your next pitch meeting, interview or present job as you continue setting your sights for a promotion.
Step 4
Let go of daily complaints.
Joyce Meyer touched on this issue with a catchy phrase "When you complain, you remain." Here was a pill I did not want to swallow. She mentioned that grumbling and mumbling under your breath are other forms of complaining. For example, think of a job you didn't like and then lost only wishing you had it again and the paycheck. If you had always dreamed of travelling for business and now find yourself stressed about hotels and long flights, you're complaining. This state of mind plays havoc for your inner spirit. It slowly strangles and depletes your energies, reminding you of how much further you have to go and creates scenarios of how uncomfortable it could get. Complaining shifts your perceptions and wipes out the joy accompanied with the steps you've already accomplished as well as the rewards you will experience once completely achieved. Complaining shifts your conscious attention away from your progress and begins to embed your subconscious with a lack of interest in your endeavors, which eventually creates another detour in your life. Celebrate your victories, regardless of how small. It doesn't mean you have to throw a catered party. Do something for yourself that you love like listening to your favorite song and dancing a solo in your bedroom. If you've been out of the job market for quite some time and have become discouraged in your pursuit, shift it. Focus on how well you did on your job interview, how great you looked and feel proud of the attributes you listed on your resume that created the meeting. Hold on to this feeling until you attract the right place for you. Don't desire "a job" because then any job will show up. Attract the "right job" for you by allowing the universe to assure you that the right job is filled with satisfaction and fulfillment.
Step 5
Gratitude.
Now I'm sure you've heard of gratitude from every self-help book you've read. However, it truly is key to your inner spirit. Gratitude makes you stop and think about all that is good in your life right now. It forces you to evaluate and be aware of the goodness that surrounds you in the present moment. I know it's easy to get lost in the future and how happy you're going to be when your dreams are manifested, but the truth is that when you manifest your desire, your inner spirit will dream a new and bigger dream for you and the process starts all over again. It's called growth. Isn't that what life is all about? Growth, expansion and prospering in whatever you choose to do. I know we all experience different levels of hardships that when you're going through it, the hard moments seem unbearable or insurmountable, but place the knowing in your mind that
there is something so spectacular that is meant for your life that even the unwanted negative forces that currently feel like strong-holds can not keep you from what your inner spirit wants for you, which is the best life on earth right now. Take a slow breath. Be grateful you were able to do this now. Take a day to be grateful in all things that you do and give it your best. This action propels you into a different state of consciousness because once you put your whole heart into doing every activity, you shift your mind away from problems or stress and remain in the now with heightened awareness. Ideas generally come through in these moments of complete absorption because you tend to let go of your daily worries and anxieties making room for your inner spirit to communicate with you. This state of gratitude generally induces intuition and creates situations, circumstances and desires that you want to manifest to recreate the feel good sensation of gratitude all over again.
So how does this all relate to color energy? As you realign your inner spirit, choose the color that has given you a sense of peace, stillness and calm. If you have a blanket or shawl that have the same color hues, wrap yourself with it as you take a few minutes every day to pay attention to what is going on within. Listen to the feelings that come up. If you feel calm, joyous and excited when you meditate on the things you want for 2014, your inner spirit has begun the realignment process. If you have a sense of discouragement or fear, that's ok too. Your inner spirit is speaking by asking you to pay attention now so your life can get back on track for 2014. When your renewed and refreshed inner spirit emerges, your inner and outer life synchronize. This is where manifestation occurs as your goals and dreams come to pass, creating your heaven here on earth. Give 2014 a different chance this time. Take care of you, renew your mind as you reconnect and realign your inner spirit so that this year becomes about manifestation at every turn and that every subsequent year is filled with resolutions of love, relationships, growth and prosperity, not just for you but for your light to reflect itself in your family, friends and business. Run to win your race this year of the horse as your inner spirit chooses. Run free, focused and determined to finally cross all the many finish lines you know you are capable of accomplishing. Remember, the dreams you seek are seeking you.
