Every moment is a new opportunity!

The new year is a time when many people give their lives an overview, looking at the previous year and using their experiences to form new goals, desires and dreams...it's a good time of year to do this, the new year is like a blank canvas, the pristine new page, an opportunity to start afresh and make some changes to our lives and to ourselves.

Although I do not personally go in for the resolutions of new year, I do find it to be a good time during the winter months to slow down a  little, take stock and 'check in' with myself about where I am, where I want to be and how I feel about it all. As a healer, it is something that I do regularly throughout the year and it is a healthy way to move forward through life, gently assessing what we have been experiencing and deciding whether it's making us feel good or not or that we are going in the direction of our dreams or not.

New year can feel daunting and depressing to some, once the festivities are finished, it can feel like there is very little energy left for anything and little to look forward to...it can be a challenging time for some but if we simplify things down a bit...or a lot...and take life and the dreams we are wanting to create in smaller bites, smaller steps, things begin to seem more do-able, more achievable and this can help us to open our minds to positive, bit-sized changes that feel more fun, more uplifting and more satisfying.

Remembering that each moment is also a new beginning is empowering too, every time we take another breath, we can choose to change the way we are thinking...about anything, be it ourselves, our day, our people...anything at all...we can take our power back each moment towards a thought that makes us feel better, that brings us more ease, peace or joy...these smallest of changes in direction are the most powerful of all, the small steps are the ones we feel better able to manage, so we can allow those changes to pivot our thinking towards feeling better.

Sometimes it may take some time to get from feeling low to feeling joy but by that incremental ascent towards feeling more relaxed and easy with ourselves takes us back to our true selves...every time. If we focus on that better feeling thought for long enough, it leads to more of the same type of thinking and it takes us back to our selves, it takes us home again.

So, how do we do this? Take some time today when you have a moment or two...take a breath, how do you feel in this moment? Happy, filled with joy? If so, that's great, if not, take time to look forward just a little, and think:

"what would make me feel better now?"

A sit down perhaps, a moment to yourself, some fresh air, exercise, creativity, sleep, a snack, reading or watching something funny...any simple thing that is uplifting, relaxing, comforting or indulgent to you...find time to check in more regularly and take action on your findings and you will begin to experience more joy and fulfilment in your world...after all, life is supposed to be fun and the small moments of joy begin to knit together until they create the majority of your experience.

When we begin to feel more relaxed, through doing something simple to feel better in this moment, we are becoming more centred again and that is the perfect time and place to begin looking ahead and getting a feeling for the bigger picture that you would love to create for yourself...we can only create love and harmony, success etc when we are in this relaxed and centered place...for that is our true place of clarity and power...where all our dreams and inspirations become stronger and clearer to us and where we feel more able to make loving changes in our lives.

We can start over every moment again and again...a new beginning point...there is no rush, no limitation...allow yourself to create the life you want this year through joy, ease and perfect timing...life really is on your side if you allow it to be...and the more we choose that better feeling thought, it will lead to harmonious love-based actions and creations in our lives. And then, the journey of a thousand, million moments of feeling better becomes the more desirable experience that we are living every day rather than a goal off on the horizon made of "when I achieve _________then I'll feel better"...choose to feel better now and the rest will fall into place perfectly!

How do we embrace change?

The only constant thing in life is change, and yet, most of us rail against it. We fear that which don't understand and we don't understand the unknown...and change is the unknown!

In order for us to be healthy and to experience life fully, we must be open to change. Many people believe that change is usually something that happens to them, without their consent. Or, that change is usually for the worse. Sometimes, this can be true of course but change is part of life, the natural cycle of things. It can also bring growth, new opportunities and improvement to our lives. Positive change enriches and nurtures us.

So, why do we put off making changes? Why shy away from new opportunities that might make our lives amazing? Because we fear the unknown, and often we can have the tendency towards judging the future against our past experiences. We can become too comfortable in situations that are really no longer healthy, happy or supportive of who we are now, but the fear of letting go can prevent us moving forward and making new changes. What if I get it wrong? What if changing things makes my life worse instead of better? Sometimes, it's just easier to stay put, stay stuck, stay restricted.

If we had a crystal ball, making changes would be so much easier! But this is where our intuition, our True Self comes into play. That is our own, in built crystal ball. It's there to act as our wise guidance system. It's the part of us that knows everything, that is pure love, and that is always on our side. If we can learn to trust that guidance system, we begin, step by step, to make love-based choices in our lives, and that means love-based change. This is the kind of change that opens doors, that helps us find the right people and generally starts to raise our quality of life. This is the kind of change we want!

Change in life is inevitable, we can resist it but that never ends up creating a fulfilling result. We can act like a victim, feeling out of control of our life and what's happening in it, or we can begin to face things, step by step and make positive changes ourselves. By listening to our inner guidance and acting on that, one small step at a time, we can begin to shape the course of our life, by creating positive, love-based changes. By doing this more and more, we become stronger, and making positive changes gradually becomes easier because we learn that it brings more love, joy and well-being to us. We begin to shift into a positive pattern regarding change and how we experience it.

We all have those times when hiding under the duvet feels like the best way to go, hoping that when we come out from our hiding place, life has somehow magically improved (the magic life improving duvet - another thing to put on the 'must invent one of those' list)...and it is important to take time to feel those fears, doubts and feelings that have been hiding away too, these are the blocks that have prevented us from moving forward and changing before, so it is important to deal with them, to face them head on. To be gentle with ourselves, be kind when change is taking place, is essential. Change is a process, not a race. Even positive change means letting go. It can trigger a grieving process that must be recognised and honoured.

Take time, be honest with yourself, what are your goals? Dreams? What small step can you take today towards making them happen? If we can embrace change, bit by bit, life begins to get interesting, full, rich and satisfying. Remember to limber up first though, small steps! It's like exercising, get those muscles ready before doing anything too major. Allow change to be powerful but allow it to come lovingly into your life. Big change doesn't have to be like a tidal wave, knocking you off your feet. Change can happen like that but it's often a series of smaller, more manageable steps that make big change happen over time.

Get quiet with yourself today, if you feel out of control, unhappy or unsatisfied, just sit for a while, get in touch with your inner guidance system by listening to your heart, it whispers, so be still. If you can feel it pulling you in certain directions, see how you can make some small steps towards that. Take notes, writing things out clarifies and clears. If you're doing that and you start to feel better, more energy, more you, then you know you're on the right path. Remember, change can be wonderful!