Three Things to Consider this Winter Solstice.

The shortest day and longest night is on Wednesday.  The Winter Solstice.  This time of year (for those of us in the North) we are invited to nestle in and take rest.  Dive in, take stock and prepare for the coming light.  If you want to be intentional about what you create for yourself in the coming year, here are 3 suggestions for how to do just that.

1.  What are the things you most enjoyed about this past year?  What did you do that you want to do more of?  How can you set yourself up for more of that?  What support systems are required, if any?  Remember to celebrate those things!  Are there other people involved that you might want to reach out to and either acknowledge and/or thank?  Maybe share some photos with those folks who helped you manifest the things you appreciate?  Make sure to invest the time to take stock of things that you may have forgotten already as the year draws to a close.  Celebration and gratitude are the fastest ways to shift any moment of struggle to one of appreciation.  Even when it’s difficult.

2.  What do want more of in the coming year?  Friendships?  Income—or security that income brings?  Are you wanting more ease or time to relax?  Do you want more ways to weave movement into your life?  Perhaps it’s more capacity to do #1 above…noticing what you are grateful for, rather than succumbing to regularly noticing what’s wrong? 

I could easily ask here, what do you want less of?  Sometimes written in more fluffy terms, what do you want to release?  In my experience and the way I understand the ‘world’ to work, thinking about what you don’t want is a sure way to keep you focused on that.  [It’s kind of like saying to someone, “Don’t look at my hair!”  They are likely going to look at your hair, right?!]  The first and most efficient way to get out of what you don’t want, is to consider if that thing was gone—what would you have more of—and then focus on those things.

3.  If you are going to focus on what you want less of —perhaps it’s drama in relationships, or being overlooked for promotions, maybe less gossip, or negativity. 

Consider what you can ask of someone else to support you in that.  Perhaps you have a relationship where the other person calls you regularly to talk about all their complaints.  You might ask them to talk about different things, or tell them you are taking a break from talking about others for a month, so you will be setting limits moving forward. 

And…consider the ways you contributed to having those experiences.  When have you said yes to a conversation you knew you didn’t want to have?  Maybe for this solstice, just make a list of those times…thinking all the way back.  Not making any commitment yet about what to do next.  Just take stock of what you are doing, or have done.

Three things.  As you have settled into the dark, and the light returns this solstice, begin to focus your attention on what you want to be focusing your attention on in the coming year. 

Here’s a garden analogy.  Just getting your seed packets out onto the table.  See what excites you, or ideas you had all last season and absolutely know where they are going, and are just waiting for Spring.  Not quite time to plant, yet certainly a good time to plan and begin to imagine what delights the garden might bring this year.

What seeds are here for you to consider planting for your life?  What life delights are you planning for?