New Year's Resolutions…?

Do you know the phrase "that which you resist, persists"?

Well, it's true. So if you make New Year’s resolutions from the frame of mind that you are going to change all the things that are wrong with you, guess what? You are resisting - yourself! So, it’s no wonder that resolutions can fail. It's kind of a law of nature. Like gravity. You can't fight it. 

Does this mean you are destined to live out your days exactly as you are right now? 

Yes...and no. 

I think the reason each of us is on this planet is to become the truest version of ourselves. Not of someone else, not of some ideal that can't be reached, but the best version of YOU, the truth of you are at your core, your most essential. 

So, yes, you will continue being you, because that’s another law of nature: you can’t be anyone but yourself. 

That said, we are all perfectly imperfect. We are flawed. We have layer upon layer of survival and distress patterns heaped on top of our essential selves. Patterns from childhood, from society, from our ancestors etc. 

So, yes, you will change, because that is what you are here to do: shed that which is not part of your true nature. 

Here’s the tricky part: the way that happens is by loving yourself exactly as you are right here, right now.  

Wow - talk about a challenge! Running a marathon or getting six pack abs sounds much easier than loving myself completely. No wonder we opt for the resolutions. 

Consider this: instead of writing that list of things that are wrong with you, just write one word: LOVE. And do your best to bring that energy into your mind/body/spirit each day. And love yourself when you fall short, which you will, often, because we all do.

The irony is that the more you can love yourself exactly as you are right now, no reservations, the more you will find yourself shedding those patterns and behaviors that don't serve you. You stop resisting the patterns, they stop persisting. 

Love what is.