New Year's Resolutions

January started out with sunshine and blue skies, and I feel like that’s a great sign for the year ahead. It would be easy for me to call 2014 the worst year of my life or to give it all kinds of other negative adjectives, but that would be ignoring all of the good that has and will come out of the rubble. Nevertheless, I am excited to enter a new year as it creates at least the illusion of a new beginning. I’m ready for that.

I’ve certainly grown a lot over the past year. Some of that progress may have just been rediscovering parts of myself that I had forgotten, but the rest is fresh green at the tips of my branches. I also learned valuable lessons about what it takes to make a relationship work and how I can be a more mindful partner in my next one.

Perhaps my biggest realization was that I am worthy of love just the way I am. I don't have to do anything to earn love. Accepting this simple statement empowers me to be myself without pleasing people or feeling obligated to meet their needs. If I think that I need love from others in order to be whole, it takes away my voice. I end up running in circles trying to make other people happy at the cost of being true to my own needs. Believing that I am worthy of love makes it easier for me to voice my opinions, be kind to myself, and be an equal partner in relationships.

All things considered, it's harder to feel like the sky is falling. I may not be in the place that I envisioned, but I am right where I need to be. My goal for the coming year is to nurture myself and see where that takes me. I want to strengthen the friendships I have with people who are positive, respectful, and trustworthy. I want to take care of my body and stay active, feeling the grass under my bare feet as much as possible. And of course yoga school will be my primary catalyst as I develop habits and practices that will serve me for the rest of my life.