That phrase brings joy, excitement, dread and panic all at the same time to a lot of us. We frantically grasp for meaning of the year that's about to pass--did we get enough done? Do we have any regrets that are going to lead to those guilt-ridden New Year Resolutions? Did we lose someone we love in the passing year and feel time slipping away from our time with them? Did we land a huge job and flourish with beauty and grace?
We are brought up in a world that tells us we MUST have the most insane expectations of ourselves and then flog ourselves when we don't accomplish them.
One of my students asked me if I noticed what set people who book a ton of acting work apart from those who struggle a little more.
If we find ourselves freaking out at this time of year, we should ask one question: Do I have clarity?
We can be talented, well liked, kind and compassionate and be super frustrated that others we consider not having worked as hard and aren't as knowledgeable as we are getting further in their careers.
Take a look at those folks and notice their clarity.
It is so easy to get bound and wound up in nonsense that leads us straight into mental muddy waters. We get fuzzy in unhealthy thought patterns, relationships and habits that make us think we're clear and focused, but we are actually the furthest from clarity.
It's in the quiet mornings of a busy mind that we can start to filter through the muck and mire and figure out what's fact from fiction. We don't have to start a New Year with frustrations and desperation if we start to gain clarity for ourselves. What do we want? REALLY REALLY WANT? What's the path with the most integrity that we can take? Are we willing to work and train and focus on what's ahead in order to make it happen?
Our journeys are intertwined with one another. The more we learn and work and train, we can pass that knowledge to our peers. We can be a web of support for ourselves and one another.
We can find our own clarity and be on an integrity filled path AND reach our goals.
My hope for you is that the phrase Happy New Year brings a smile of contentment and clarity as we propel ever forward. Together.
Peace
Thank you Michelle for the above as it does make a lot of sense. The clarity issue is one I have dealt with all of my life and I can relate about working hard and wondering where the results have gone. Sometimes I think up in smoke. Then I wonder if the smoke will ever clear. I know I have not been all that happy with my career path. A few years ago in 2009 I went back to school for an MSM degree, I was doing great until the enrollment policy changed at Argosy University, I then was at a point of continuing on when once again I had another DVT in my right leg medically taking me out of the game with four courses to go. I have not gone back. I am nearing 60 years of age and the water looks pretty muddy. Medically since 2007 I have robbed Peter to pay Paul until both Peter and Paul have gone broke. It is simple mathematics where prices have gone up on everything, it's seems to be a reality that so so many people are facing these days. Yet I push ahead into Zumba and Yogalates I seem to be starting a journey outside my former frame of thought and am moving outside the box. You Michelle and all the Kung Fu Femme stuff is part of that movement. As crazy as I have been thinking and that's ever increasing so, not to mention how screwed up I am physically and I think you know some of what I mean. I have had moments when for a fleeting second I think can a guy at 60 actually make it in a business like yours? Yes Michelle this is one of the fleeting kinds of thoughts I have. It's funny I still wonder where my real career lies. Except for a few ventures into and across the relationship thing on a few occasions, I have for some reason been on my own all of my days. And a few years ago the whole retirement thing went to hell. My job in the laboratory is just that a job and not particularly going anywhere and I keep wondering where can I go from here. I spent my earlier years in addiction out on the streets and every dark little hole I could find. I understand the gritty dark realities of the human condition for it is me and I see the world in such a way and wonder if this is something that can be useful in the arena upon which you stand. Yet this is a passing thought as I cross through your realm on my way to say hello. Michelle I wish you a great new year, and to Tyler, go for the kill and kick ass. Regards to you and yours, Randy
ReplyDeleteWe are all part of a great movement. :) Keep fighting the good fight, kind sir.
ReplyDeleteI do McT, I do, it's nice to know there are others out there too, engaged in the same fight, where each individual has a different role to play on this battlefield called life...Battlefield, at least that's how it feels a lot these days and I know I'm not alone there. I don't know how, but somehow this mess called the human condition has got to get straightened out. Lord only knows how that could happen. With peace and respect, Randy
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