Awakening, Habit Change, Health & Fitness, Massage Therapy, Mindset

The Rabbit Manifesto

So.  It’s 1-1.  That time of year where we usually set goals and figure out what we want the next year to bring.  What I’ve learned from my health coaching class and from personal experience is that goals are meant to be unreached.  Well, not really.  But goals often have a way of setting us up for failure.  Or maybe more accurately put, we have a tendency to set goals in such a way that we set OURSELVES up for failure.  We are too restrictive, we take on too much change too quickly, we set goals based on “shoulds.”
 
How can we improve our chances of effecting the changes that we want in our lives?
 
How about instead of setting a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal), we set a topic?
 
Yes
 
A Topic
 
A topic that we would like to focus on for the upcoming year.
 
How does that feel?  As you look forward into 2023, think about a goal you might set.  Maybe your goal is to save $2000, or to lose 20 pounds, or to travel to a place you’ve never been once/month.   Envision yourself taking the steps required to get there.  How do your insides respond to the prospect of executing on those steps? 
 
Now, think about a topic for 2023.  Maybe your topic is Learning, or maybe it’s Self-Discovery, or maybe it’s Connection.  Think about what you would do, how you would live, what choices you would make in service to that topic.  How does that feel in your body? 
 
I’m not saying that having goals is wrong, or that having a topic or a theme is better than having goals.  I’m just saying it’s different.  And sometimes trying something different can make all the difference!  Our brains and bodies thrive on novelty.  We are tremendously adaptable, so we have to keep switching things up in order to keep our minds and bodies awake and alive.  If the idea of determining a 2023 topic gave you a little burst of curiosity/interest/expansion, you could check out One Word That Will Change Your Life. I also have a worksheet you can use to identify your values, and that would be a good starting place.  Shoot me an email if you want a copy of it.
 
My topic for 2023 is:
 
Listen
 
I want to become a better listener in 2023.  I want to listen to my Self better.  I want to listen to my body.  I want to listen with my whole being (my eyes, my ears, my intuition, my nervous system, my hands) to my loved ones and clients.  I want to listen when someone talks to me and decipher the feeling and need that’s being expressed underneath what they are saying.  I want to listen with curiosity and without judgement, comparison, or jealousy.  I want to listen to the silence. I want to listen to the rhythms.  I want to listen more and speak less.  I want to listen when the Universe speaks.  I want to listen and see what I can learn, letting go of the compulsive need to prove my worth and value.  I want to listen and see what healing naturally comes as a byproduct of finally being truly heard.  I want to chill the f@Ck out and just listen.

I did our annual Animal Spirit “Year Ahead Spread” which involves drawing a card for each month of the year and then a final card with the overall “theme” for the year.  For January, I drew The Dragon, which is pretty awesome.  For my overall theme, I drew The Rabbit.  Which seemed slightly less cool.  But I read the text, and I have to say, the Universe sent me the message I needed to hear.

 
What’s on tap for you in 2023?  If you care to share your topic for 2023, I would love to hear it.  The first person to send me their topic (in 1 word) will get a little custom-stamped metal token as a daily reminder. 😊
 
And with that, let me wish you HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Thank you for joining me on this journey of figuring out what it means to be human and how we can best take advantage of that gift.  I’ll leave you with this quote from “Craniosacral Therapy” by Upledger & Vredevoogd:
 
“Remember that the potential of humankind is limited only by its own concept of that limitation.”
 
Space to be Human Lab

  • If you are experiencing pain in your mind-body and would like help finding more space, ease, and room for more positive possibilities, you can book a bodywork session here
  • If you are a health & wellness professional in the Quad Cities, and you would like to meet other local health professionals, let me know.  I’m organizing a mixer for those of us interested in making new connections for the benefits of our clients and ourselves.  It will likely be in late January; more details will be forthcoming.

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