Taking Stock

It’s that time of year again for Yuletide navel gazing. A time for self-reflection and taking stock.

Drawing up Christmas card lists, pondering on who’s been naughty and who’s been nice… Reviewing and reporting on what’s worked and what hasn’t in our year’s work and in our personal life… Fine tuning, tidying, de-cluttering and celebrating.

The process of sifting is an invaluable one as we compare our progress against our targets and dreams and we make what adjustments we need to make to move forward.

The Christmas break provides us with a perfect punctuation in the year for this activity.

The disciplined and systematic study of what’s necessary for our growth and our soul’s health and wellbeing includes looking at negativity and how it impacts destructively on the soul and it includes being grateful for all that is good.

Anything that increases splitting within you, harms your soul as you try to fit in with your dysfunctional environment and you feel the disconnection from your true self as you become increasingly dysfunctional in response. This is initially felt as negative emotions – sadness, anxiety, fear, frustration, anger,.. and then it is experienced through antisocial and dysfunctional behaviour.

Brutality, abundant pain and irrationality, lies, non-forgiveness, jealousy and hatred all poison the soul.

Only by tuning into and living in a constant state of your authentic power can this downward spiral be avoided or surpassed and you stay on your upward spiral. The way in is through practising positive self-awareness. When you do this, your compass stays on true north and you stay on your true course.

Life will always present us with the contrast we need to develop.

Recognise that the people and events that challenge you are your most helpful of teachers. Learn the lesson they have come to teach you and then move on, trusting that what then unfolds could never have unfolded without them. Harness this new learning and build it into your action plans and dreams. At the same time, be grateful for all the gold that you have manifested through the process of sifting.

There will always be challenges and there will always be deeper understandings and progressions borne from them, if you will let them. And so your life keeps getting better and better.

Who and what have been your greatest teachers this year?..