A New Kind of Year - Kathy Caprino

A New Kind of Year Hello and Happy New Year!   I hope your holidays were lovely, and you feel refreshed and excited about the New Year. What a challenging year 2010 was for so many, including me.   In thinking about what I would like to bring about in 2011 in my life and work, Ive decided to take a very different approach to my planning and envisioning process.   Ive suffered a good deal of heartache and disappointment over the past years because I overly-attached to what I thought I wanted to achieve and create.   When these events or experiences didnt come to pass, I was  let down, only to learn later (days, months, and even years afterward), that what I hankered for so keenly wasnt even what I truly wanted in my heart and soul.    Over-Attachment Causes Suffering   Ive observed that we humans attach ourselves with full force to a specific outer form of something we think we want (this new job, house, business, etc.), because we believe this thing or experience  will bring us happiness.    What Ive learned is that experiencing joy, fulfillment and success is much less about outer experiences and things, and much more about the process of living namely, letting go of what we think we should be doing and being, and instead, embracing with gratitude and gusto the person we are and what we have already created, and moving forward from a perspective of acceptance rather than resistance.   After all, what we resist, persists.  A New Process So this year things will be different for me.   Sure, Im excited to set out key goals for my life, work, and business.   But at the same time, Im ready to let the year unfold as it will, embracing what comes, learning and growing from it, and knowing that much of what life brings is out of my control.   I know now that if I can be fully present for the ride rather than resisting it, life is more joyful, peaceful  and fulfilling. Make sense? I encourage you to set out for yourself the heartfelt goals youd like to achieve, but also forge a new process of living whereby you are able to deeply and wholeheartedly feel, embrace, and cherish who you are and what you have in your life, each and  every  day. Sound good? Lets do it together.   Lets plan, envision, and embrace.    Heres to a new kind of life experience in 2011. What can you accept and embrace today that youve been resisting?