It's time to reject the culture of New Year's Resolutions
As I sit here at my desk I watch the fog slowly pull back through the trees, through the valley heading back over the ocean. The Chestnut-backed chickadees are hopping from puddle to puddle. The wet redwood leaves sparkling in the morning sun. It’s cold, wet, and quiet. I enjoy this pause to take in my surroundings. The nuance of light and color is easy to miss if you don't take the time to pause and fully immerse yourself in the present.
As a scrub jay hops along the fence I wonder, what is the spiritual meaning of the jay? One interpretation says, “delayed instant gratification.”
The winter months are a time to hibernate. Instant gratification is put on hold. We focus on sowing the seeds for our spring rebirth. Why then do we subscribe to the idea of New Year's Resolutions? Winter is not the season for new beginnings. It does not carry the energy of initiation. These are not the conditions for the wildfire. This is the season of tending to the slow burning log that humbly provides warmth to sustain us through the cold months. The short days and long nights are a call to go within.
Winter is a time to reflect, to dream, to integrate what we’ve learned this past year. A season to allow our minds to wander, daydream, fantasize, to explore the deeper depths of our inner psyche. The quietness provides a space for us to tune into our inner knowing, that soft voice that guides us towards our true desires. This is where we find the answers. This is where we take the experiences of the last year, look for the lessons within them, and go forth wiser. Cuddled up in the warm embrace of our higher consciousness we cultivate trust that through the dark we find light.
The pressure to initiate habit change in the dead of winter keeps us disconnected from nature. It keeps us in a go-go-go mindset, burnt out and resentful. It sets us up for failure. We tend to get addicted to productivity and achievement. It’s been taught to us that it gives us a sense of meaning in our lives. You must be a productive member of society! Go to work! Climb the ladders! Get to the top! We think we will feel successful if we are perceived as constantly on, achieving, hacking our habits, “winning” at life. One more accolade and then the satisfaction will arrive. But do we ever even allow ourselves to enjoy the fruits of our labor before we’re onto the next?
Our life is not a project with goals that constantly need to be met or perfect habits we need to master and check off our list. Our life is an ever evolving, unfolding exploration and integration of our highest selves. Goals without a higher purpose in mind tend to lose motivation quickly. Self-discipline is needed which requires a connection to your personal values, to your why.
This season I’m reminding myself to take this time as an invitation to slow down and connect with the cycles of nature, to flow with ease. Instead of following the need to constantly improve myself, I’m taking a respite from the constant productivity and results driven mindset. Loosening up the grip on myself and releasing the need to control or hurry to have everything make sense. To explore what my idea or vision of success is. Join me in allowing this season to remind you of the inevitability of change, death, and rebirth. The reminder of the natural cycles we all go through in life. Life goes on regardless of our productivity.
Reminder: as Millenials, we are the Pluto in Scorpio generation here to usher in the new paradigm. We have the power to reject the culture of constant productivity and replace it with ease, flow, and joy, so that we can come back with even more energy and strength to make change in this world.
From this place of groundedness, from our center, guided by our highest selves we will move into the spring with the passion for new beginnings. We will have created goals with soul that we can sustain. We can harness the energy of the spring to birth the ideas we dreamt up during our winter hibernation and get back into the pitta energy of productivity. For now, enjoy your rest, and dream big.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
Where does this need to constantly achieve, produce, execute come from? What beliefs do I hold regarding productivity? Is my self-worth tied to my achievements? How much of my motivation is for external validation? Do I truly enjoy my accomplishments when they are complete? What am I dreaming up this winter season?
