​Let’s Trade In RESOLUTIONS for RESET

I’ve really been doing a lot of thinking about the concept of Reset. I think it is a brilliant idea with a lot more potential for success than the idea of New Year’s Resolutions.
 
You know how when your computer or your phone starts behaving in a really wonky manner you just turn it off or click the restart button? That concept of pausing and resetting everything is really a good one.
 
I really want to explore that idea.
 
Isn’t it cool to think that when we reach a point where we have become frazzled, overwhelmed  and minimally functional, we can just hit the restart button and reset everything?  It’s almost like a course correction when sailing. It implies no guilt, no mistake…just a better or improved idea.
 
Life is only happening one day at a time and when you really think about it, resetting as we go is the only thing that really makes sense.

How can we know on January 1 what will be right for each day of the rest of the year? We haven’t yet lived into these days. We haven’t yet had the experience of finding the balance between surrender and effort, dedication and flexibility. And this balance is key. For everything, there is a season. That’s an ancient truth, which should be one of our guiding thoughts as we traverse the year ahead.
 
One of the most irritating things my mother always says to me is, “God’s time not our time.” I have always hated that saying because, like everyone else, I want what I want, when I want it.  But as I travel down the road of life, I have to admit that she may be right. What seems to be the way it is and accepting that what we want will come at the right time or not at all if that is what is in our highest good, is not easy. However, once achieved, it is a great source of peace.
 
One of the wisest ideas I have recently heard is to decide what you want, put that powerfully out to the Universe, then let it go, as you keep doing the footwork to bring it into reality. Don’t long for it with angst each day as that lowers the vibration with which you are holding it. It puts you more in the mind of not having it, than having it. Just trust that it will come at the right time as you hold it as a beautiful idea.
 
As we are traversing our year, I love the idea that we have a plan, a general direction for each day but are always open to a reset; a course correction if a better idea presents itself. This reset might be a change in our eating plan, our exercise plan, the way we are engaging in our careers or relationships. It could be many things.
 
The important points are these:

• There is no guilt attached. You didn’t screw up, you just have a better idea.

• Implement as quickly as possible. Go forward fully. Don’t waste time on regret. You didn’t have this idea before. The knowledge and life experience that got you to it, just came into place.

• Be willing to do this every time a better idea shows up…even if it’s tomorrow. Be fully into the present moment and fully alive. This way you are most open and receptive to those better ideas as they emerge. If we aren’t in the present we are either in the past or the future. One is gone and the other doesn’t exist yet, so not much pay off there. Just, be where you are and stay open to allowing a reset when the moment presents itself.

 
So down with resolutions that imply a mistake and usually lead to another failure. Up with living in the moment and being open to allowing a rest whenever appropriate.

​How fun to think about living this year as an adventure, looking forward to what each day holds and knowing that you will flow with the energy of whatever it brings. Yahoo! Can’t wait. How about you?
 
 

​PAULA SHAW, CADC, DCEP is an author, Energy Psychology specialist, therapist, speaker, Reiki Master and Grief Counselor. For more than 20 years, Paula has been passionate about empowering people who are dealing with profound loss, so they can reap something truly beautiful from their pain. She also helps clients who are going through major life transitions or seeking freedom from self-destructive addictions. She has degrees in Education and Communications from Long Beach State University, as well as graduate counseling credentials from Loyola Marymount University. She is one of the founding members of the Association of Comprehensive Energy Psychology and currently serves on its board of directors. Paula is the author of Chakras, the Magnificent Seven (2002), as well as the newly released Grief...When Will This Pain Ever End? Finding Your Way out of the Pit of Despair after Profound Loss, which was released June 15, 2015.