Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Welcome to the January addition of the Monthly Connection.
It’s Connection Coach Cindi here.
This month we’re going to explore what goes into cultivating a truly HAPPY and NEW year.
Let’s begin by reviewing the building blocks of Connection:
The New Year is a time of possibility and renewal.
We contemplate what worked and what didn’t work for us in the old year and make new goals and resolutions for change in the new one. This review can bring a picture of our successes and mishaps into clear focus.
This review of behaviors, emotions, experiences, thoughts, and choices is a process we in the Connection Business call Mindfulness.
In other words, through this process of reviewing, we are becoming AWARE.
So, what’s so great about awareness?
As we review our December homework, I hope you busted out and played with your shiny new tools of Intention, Attention and Stop, Drop, and Roll.
Awareness is a process where we NOTICE both our Disconnections (old unhealthy habits or negative thoughts) and our Connections (the good stuff). You can review this by referring back to our homework from last month.
Did you…
NOTICE Stressors and Stress Levels?
NOTICE Joy levels?
NOTICE if your Attention was on external or internal landscapes? Both?
Did you NOTICE I’m using the word NOTICE a lot?
Yes? Wonderful! That is the feeling of you becoming AWARE!
NOTICING is a muscle we must develop to become Aware!
Every time you STOPPED and NOTICED you held your breath or were breathing shallowly, every time you STOPPED and NOTICED your anger with a crowd or traffic, every time you STOPPED and NOTICED a beautiful sunset or a smiling child… you were becoming Aware.
As we practice the two skills of STOPPING and NOTICING where our attention (our focus, our energy) is, we begin to cultivate and receive our intention, the good stuff (kindness, gratitude, beauty, creativity, and peace), in other words, Happiness - As in HAPPY New Year!
As we move into 2025, our job is not only to learn these awareness tools; we must begin to practice using them.
Maybe you’re now thinking, “Ok, Cindi, that’s great for the good stuff. What about if there are things we wish to change, like unhealthy habits or negative thinking?”
Good news! Awareness has another gift. 🎁
Awareness is the first step in making Change!
🤔 Think about it. How can you make any change unless you are first aware of it? If we want a HAPPY New Year, then we must begin to become AWARE of both the systems that make us Happy (exercising, eating healthily, less stress), and the systems that make us unhappy (not exercising, eating poorly, getting stressed out).
By becoming Aware, we begin to take our first steps into making Happy, healthy, connective Changes.
More good news!
AWARENESS is the act of coming into THE NOW, the only place where CHANGE can happen.
CHANGE does not happen in the future or past; it happens in the NOW.
If we’re going to have a “HAPPY” AND “NEW” Year, we must practice becoming AWARE of THE NOW, where the the good stuff and our Authentic Self lives!
Ok, so we covered the Happy part of “Happy” New Year. Let’s talk about the “NEW” in New Year.
For example, let’s say that in my year-end review, I noticed my exercise program was sporadic, my eating habits could use a boost, and my thoughts were anxious and in need of some TLC. I am Aware of these needed upgrades (good job, me). So, I go in for making a plan of change (again, bravo on awareness me).
The result? I make a NEW Year’s Resolution (Intention).
Since I have become Aware (Noticing/Attention) of the weak links (unhealthy habits, negative thinking) in my life, making a resolution (Intention) should be a breeze. I have followed the simple recipe of becoming Aware, so sticking to my New Year’s Resolution will be easy, right?
Spoiler alert! Again, Simple does not mean easy.
The Neuroscientists tell us that 95% of all the information we receive is unconscious or subconscious to us. In other words, we are only conscious of about 5% of our total reality; we are unaware of the rest. The neurologists also tell us that 95% of the thoughts we think today are the same thoughts we thought yesterday!
Yikes! It’s hard to have a “NEW” Year if I just keep thinking the same OLD thoughts repeatedly. Especially if these thoughts are Negative Tiger-driven thoughts! Remember our old friend, the Amygdala?
Did anybody NOTICE how those shiny new tools of Attention, Intention and Stop, Drop and Roll are continuing to pop up in this edition? How they’re linked to our resolutions, our skill set of Noticing, and making Connective Change?
If we’re going to have a Happy “NEW” Year (Intention), we’re going to need to notice (Attention) and train our brains (Change) to lean into the Practice of Becoming Aware of our Unawareness.
When we muster up the courage to start this Awareness journey, we begin the process of breaking the cycles of old Disconnected thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and transforming them into Connective, healthy choices.
Wow! If I’m not mistaken, I believe we all just realized together that the act of becoming aware of our unawareness, is AWARENESS!
This is how we begin making the CHANGE for having a truly HAPPY, NEW Year.
See you in February for the next edition of the Monthly Connection! Just a reminder that it’ll be in your mailbox the first Thursday of the month.
As always, thank you for reading!
Your friendly Connection Coach,
Cindi
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