A New Year Can Be a New Beginning

© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Founder, www.SoulDrivenLiving.com

A new year can be a new beginning, or it can be the beginning of the repetition of an old year. It’s up to each one of us to make that choice. I’m not talking about the usual old resolutions which give us a lift and change things, often temporarily. Doing that simply takes us back to the repetition of an old year.

A couple of years ago, I had an encounter with my aunt that made me look very deeply at where certain ideas, perceptions and perspectives came from in my life. Not the surface stuff, the really deep, well-hidden, camouflaged stuff. The stuff I was fairly certain was no longer affecting my life. Pfooh! Was I in for a surprise!

Unpacking that “stuff”, the unspoken gifts from my parents and their discomforts took months. Fortunately, as a counselor, I turned to a very special person to walk with me through it. We all need those. As I am so often the companion on those journeys with my clients, I know the value of having a guide, a questioner, an objective observer and a loving presence.

So, yes, on some levels, a few resolutions can make a difference, sometimes on the surface, sometimes long-lasting. But, truly, summoning up the courage to walk through the peanut butter and molasses of life that slow us down and keeps us stuck is well worth the time and energy.

I know my years are now much newer than ever before! And, lighter, without the baggage.

Happy New Year!

Rhoberta