People tend to get stressed around the winter holidays and I have often wondered if it’s just the family drama that triggers them or if there’s more. For us in the East, family drama is an essential part of our day to day lives so the sudden impact of it can often go somewhat undetected. I’m beginning to think that the overall end of year energy has a very profound effect on any unresolved issues we may have, hence the rise in people’s stress levels. Reevaluation can be a rather sombre December backdrop.
The last six months of 2016 have been a period of rapid personal growth for me. The last few weeks, especially, have been very intense as a result of attending some transformational workshops. Here’s what I’ve learnt this year. Intuition+Courage+Intention= Next Level of Awareness. Sound wonderful? It is. But that stage doesn’t always arrive immediately. After the initial explosion, one can be left feeling adrift, between the flow of that which was and that which hasn’t yet come to be. During this stage, some pretty hard core stuff can come up. Stuff that is difficult to assimilate oneself, let alone explain to someone else. This is probably for the best because anyone not experiencing this process may rush you to the nearest psychiatric facility. However, stay calm, whatever comes up is meant to and does so to be resolved. It’s all part of the self improvement plan.
The other thing I’ve realised is that with each layer of us that comes off, much like an onion, the issues that come to the surface become more sophisticated too.
Throughout the super moons of October, November and December, I have either been attending or running workshops of my own that have dealt largely in letting go. So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that I’m feeling on the edge of a large part of what I have been engaged in for over two decades. While my new life seems to be knocking on the door, it can’t necessarily enter until I make space for it. The overwhelm I’ve been experiencing is a concoction of understanding what I no longer want, what I never had control over, and most painfully for me, to let go of certain dreams or beliefs of how my life would look like at this time. While this sounds rather grim ( and it truly has been) I should tell you now it’s been worth it.
Mark Nepo, the author of Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, talks about how identified we can become with our dreams and how important it is to understand that our dreams are never flawed, they are like the butterfly’s cocoon, meant to take us to a certain point, the point where the next dream begins.
Days away from the beginning of the New Year, here’s to wishing that all of us have the courage to keep moving from dream to dream, regardless of how bumpy it may get at times. After all, it leads us to the best version of ourselves . Remember Neo from the Matrix #longblackcoat #coolmoves. I rest my case.
Best
Afshan x
Loved reading this!! To new beginnings and to positive intentions; may 2017 be the year of discoveries and accomplishments. This world needs peace and people who dare to stop being afraid of their own strengths. xoxo
The metamorphosis is constant people all around us are metamorphosing too . When we think we have figured it out – boom surprise . Mirror mirror on the wall , what am I doing here ! constant change is moving us in different directions . Nothing is constant in our lives changing all the time – flex and move on – life just goes on . Nothing more … Change I was told was good and now I believe it. You survive if you learn to lean in a storm ie compromise intelligently then there is always sunshine .. Happy New year new beginnings again .