In a world where there is so much information on being ‘happy and positive’ - we also need to honor where we’re at. When I want something a LOT and it hasn’t shown up yet… I can get irritated. I’m sure you’ve felt this way before.

But alas - there are ways to make this easier! 💃

I say ‘know what you want’ because it’s important and where I find many people struggle. It’s important so you know what direction you want to head in. It also creates excitement in life when you are wanting.

If you are reading this on Jan 1 and you aren’t hungover - I celebrate you!! Haha

Not sure about you, but I don’t like rules. And resolutions feel like rules to me.

Here’s my vision on how to do 2022:

On this day, may you be filled with an abundance of food, love, joy and comfort in your heart. 

Like other ‘special’ days throughout the year, it’s really just another day isn’t it?

And like all days - we have no guaranteed next day.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” ~ Maya Angelou.

Here’s a friendly reminder for you - especially with the holidays approaching!

The consistency in which you do something is much more important than the intensity at which you do it.

Better to walk 5 days a week for 20 mins, than to walk once/week for 2 hours.

Better to meditate every day for 10 minutes than once/week for an hour.

I couldn’t find the source to where this acronym came from, but it’s a great reminder to all of us. My sister had it hung on her fridge a few years back and I loved it. I also loved that this is what she was teaching her young kids. My dad used to say to me years ago - Kristi, think before you talk! Haha, well Dad, I finally got the message. (We all finally ‘get’ it at some point, so don’t be hard on yourself). 😊

I’ll never forget the first time I did this meditation. I had heard that you can be moved to tears through the process of a spiritual practice like meditation or yoga, but it had never happened to me - until it did! 

At the end of this meditation I had tears streaming down my face. But it was of comfort and joy, not sadness. I had so much compassion for myself. 

Here’s a question for you.

What emotion haven’t you experienced?

Here’s one of the funny things about life. You’ve experienced many of the same feelings. And you may react differently over time.

The evolution of your soul then, is to see if you’ve grown when reacting to all these many emotions from your experiences. So the experiences will change, but there are only so many emotions.

This idea has been helping me tremendously with anything that shows up in my life. I’m hoping it can help you too. 

You know that feeling when you ‘give away your power?’ Something happens and you don’t feel as good. You get a feeling at the pit of your stomach and you know you are off. It can happen when the people we love aren’t as connected to us as we want them to be. 

I know you have many responsibilities. And of course you are responsible. But this is about learning and growing. Not so much your daily to do’s.

From this standpoint, being responsible means taking charge of your life and handling what you need to handle without pushing it down and secretly hoping it just goes away. This begins with becoming aware of what is going on within you.

“I may not be the way you want me to be, but I am the way I want to be.”

I listened to a talk from Sadhguru. And I resonated with what he said:

Life is precious. Your life is your responsibility. ‘Not knowing’ is a great possibility. Now you become a seeker to know.

I think by now you know how passionate I am about you being in charge of YOU. The fact is, other people affect us, and you affect others. You walk into a room of 100 people and get 100 different perceptions of who they think you are (without much information). 

Since we are all wired for connection and belonging we naturally want people to like us. We also know, not everyone will. Just like you will connect with some, but not others. 

Here’s a twist on some of what I normally say.

“Instead of not caring what other people think about you, ask yourself - what will someone think of when they think of you.”

I heard Marianne Williamson define success as, “you go to bed at night knowing that somebody else’s life is better because you were in it that day.”

This means we all have the power to be successful.

Do you do what you say you’re going to do? How do you feel when you disappoint someone?

Have you ever had someone tell you that they would show up, and never did? How did that feel?

This is integrity. And how you treat others is what you can expect back.

I know for me, this is a super important value, so I am not only sensitive when people don’t live up to my standard, but I also have to allow others to be what they are without judgement.

I think all you can do is have the conversation.

I rise up to allow myself to be all that I was meant for and to follow the inner voice directing my callings. Then I can put my arms around those who want the same thing. So we can feel connected - to ourselves and to each other. That’s a world in which heaven is here on earth. 

The world of ‘I’ and competition is an old paradigm. We need to evolve to a world that is moving forward no matter what. The question is, will it destroy us or will we grow with and for it?

You are so unique!

And you are attracted to different things all the time. In this world we have so many choices! Diet, clothes, cars, books, beliefs, people, teachers, music. How awesome!

But with so many choices, we can become confused.

What resonates with you, is where you go. You are smart and don’t need to be told what to do. But definitely do something.

Only you know what you truly want. And why you are where you are. And that’s all you need to focus on. 

What other people think about it, let alone how they feel about it, is really none of your business. Yet… they let us know what they think. Sometimes we’ve asked, and often we haven’t! 

You see the issue? The challenge here is we all have our opinions. So we see what others do and we have something to say about it! And vice versa! 

If you believe, like I do, that you create your own reality, then you can stop feeling bad about what’s happening to others. (This is very different from caring and loving and supporting those who have found themselves in rough waters).

If you are the captain of your ship, then you must realize that everyone else has their own ship too. It’s true, some people allow others in their world to take their wheel and act as if they have no power. But don’t let that be you!

I had to share this with you. Marie Forleo interviewed the Brené Brown on trust and bravery. If you haven’t heard of Brené, I strongly recommend watching or reading some of her stuff. She is the queen of vulnerability and her info is based on sheer research data.  

She uses the BRAVING acronym to explain how to stay connected to yourself and others. There are 7 elements to trust - they are observable and measurable.

When you think about your emotions, so often they evolve out of your many different experiences. Good ones help you feel good, and the not so good can leave you feeling bad.

This is not to suggest pushing away your feelings, but to keep in mind, as James Redfield says, ‘where attention goes, energy flows.’

So in one part, definitely honor the feeling. The next part is to get off the topic (unless this is a good feeling - then milk it for every delicious morsel)!

Today I woke up and felt super connected to this world and knowing what I’ve been through, provides me with compassion to you. Because as I feel things, I know you do too. We are all so connected and live through the same high’s and low’s. Although at different times throughout our journey’s.

There can be times you feel alone. You have your own thoughts running through your mind that no one may ever know. Only you know what you’ve gone through and how your experiences truly affect your heart. And there are some things we may never share with another.