The end of year and holiday season is always a good time for rest and reflection. With the intensity and uncertainty of our time, my hope for you is that you find the time to rest like you’ve never done before and reflect in a way that is compassionate to you and others. The current polarization around the globe, ongoing struggles with a global pandemic, and economic instability has taken on a depth that most of us couldn’t possibly have imagined, exacerbating our anxiety in a way that makes it difficult to find hope.
We fall into cycles of individual disempowerment, anxiety and confusion, and chronic separation and isolation.
Feeling disheartened and tired from the last two years, many people are contacting me at this time asking for some insights and advice on how to navigate the holidays and prepare for what 2022 may bring. The main message I offer is to take the time to contemplate,
“Who is telling your story? Who is framing how you view yourself and our current times, what is possible or not possible?“
So, it’s time to rest, reflect and give yourself the gift of taking back and creating your own story for 2022.
My story is a story of hope. Despite what we see and hear around us, I have faith in the human spirit.
I believe that yesterday, somewhere in the world, someone risked danger to pull a person out of a burning car and save a life. I believe that this morning, somewhere in the world, someone brought breakfast to a neighbor whom they know is struggling to pay their bills. I believe that in the middle of the night, somewhere in the world, someone texted a severely depressed person in despair, and that text pulled this individual from the brink of suicide. I believe that today, somewhere in the world, someone will have the courage to say to another in the midst of an argument, “Now that I see it from your perspective, I’m willing to shift my viewpoint on that.”
What is your story? Perhaps the most beneficial thing you can do at this time – for yourself, those around you and the planet itself – is to create your own story of hope. Make yourself the heroic central figure of that story and see yourself as an “agent of hope” for 2022.
What if the most courageous and impactful thing you could do at this time is to cultivate a daily practice of aligning with your humanity, embodying a deeper level of resilience, avoiding burn out, as well as maintain and deepen authentic relationships? You may not have the power on your own in this moment to change what is unfolding. However, here are some ways to realign and rediscover ways in which you do have power, and build from there.
Where do you currently have power? Within you. You may not be able to influence policy today; you may not be able to solely change the future course of the current volatility.
Over the coming weeks, I will share more about the 5 POWERS WITHIN YOU:
- Your capacity to influence your own thoughts, words and actions
- Your own cultivation of self-care and resilience
- Your ability to keep your nervous system regulated
- How you respond to stressors
- How and with whom you choose to engage
These suggestions can support you “live into” your story of hope and heroically approach 2022 with physical vitality, emotional stability, mental clarity and spiritual grounding. This is my holiday wish for you.
— Joe
