Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2014.

We've had a busy Christmas ... it has passed in a blur of activity.    Why is it that when we’re having fun, someone seems to press the fast-forward button on our lives but when we’re having a tough time, the button is pressed for half speed?  Nonetheless, we were able to spend lots of time with friends and family … I feel blessed that we are surrounded by such special people.

I think it important to count our blessings … to remember that there are always people worse off than us.  Yeah, it can be tough sometimes … I know what it is to be bogged down with responsibility and to endure stress generated by another person’s actions … most of us have experienced hurt, pain, rejection, anger and humiliation at some point in our lives.  However, I would rather use my experiences to make me a stronger and more empathetic person … than to wallow in self-pity, making myself feel worse by dwelling on the rotten things in life rather than the good.

To this end I am going to count my blessings on a daily basis this year.   I am going to acknowledge not just the big things, like a roof over my head and food on the table … but the little things too: a sunny day, the perfection of a flower, a smile on a stranger’s face.

I recently saw a post on Facebook: it showed a picture of Jean-Luc Picard, with the caption

 “Don’t just wish for a great 2014 … make it so!”  

I intend to ‘make it so’.  I am not going to just have dreams but I am going to chase those dreams:  I am going to do everything I can to make those dreams come true.  I am going to actively do something each day that my future self will be glad that I have done.

When one leaves youth behind, it is easy to grow complacent … to accept one’s lot in life.  However, can one really be happy with just acceptance?

Two quotes from the wonderful film “Shirley Valentine” come to mind as I write this:

“I've allowed myself to lead this little life, when inside me there is so much more and it's all gone unused . . . why do we get all this life if we never use it?”

"… because we don’t do what we want to do, do we? we do what we have to do … and pretend it's what we want to do"

I know so many people that feel just like that … they find themselves living a life that they never planned to have and escaping their situation seems impossible.  It is true that sometimes we have responsibilities in life that we cannot escape but we can strive, to the best of our ability, to make our own lives … and by extension, our loved ones’ lives …  happier. 

To this end, I am not going to allow people to have power over me:  Eleanor Roosevelt said 

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” 

and the more that I think about that statement, the truer I believe it to be.  There are too many people in this world that can only feel good about themselves by putting others down … however that is a reflection of their own poor self-esteem, as a truly confident person doesn’t base their self-opinion on the acceptance of others.    We need to love and accept ourselves, in addition to loving each other. 

We also need to learn how to let go of the negative things in our lives … as clinging to them will only make us feel worse.  I saw a quote recently that was accredited to Buddha … 'though I truly don’t know who said it ... but I thought it a good thing to remember: 

‘Holding onto to anger is like grasping a hot coal, with the intent of throwing it at someone else … you are the one that gets burned’.   

Whether or not we are able to forgive wrongs done to us, we need to develop the ability to let the bad feelings go:  bitterness and resentment can simmer away inside us for years, preventing us from really enjoying our lives … holding us back in so many ways.  

However, letting go of negative emotions can bring us peace and tranquility.    I have never been a worrier as I believe it to be a wasted emotion, dependent on too many variables … I worry if and when I know that I have a genuine and concrete reason to be worried … and even then, I am more a woman of action than someone that sits dwelling on things. 

In 2014 I am going to count my blessings daily, let go of any negativity in my life and enjoy the life that I have been given with the people that I love.  I am not going to ‘settle’ for a life half-lived but I am going to go out there ….  and to quote a friend of mine,  I am going to …

“Grab life by the balls and give it a good shake”.

Happy New Year to you all … may 2014 be the year that you grab hold of your dreams and turn them into your reality.

Best wishes, Lizzie xx