{Goodbye 2014 - Reflections of the Year}

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{life reflections}

 Weekly thoughts and rambles. A glimpse into my mind and world. 

Entries that I might jot down in my Happy Diary; the release of thoughts to flow uninhibited. Reflections from the soul. 

Reflections of life.  

I hope to leave you inspired. 

If you want to share your own reflections of the week please leave a link to your "life reflections" entry in the comments for all to find and see.

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Goodbye 2014 - Reflections of the Year

Wow! We’ve already reached the end of 2014! What a year! As I sit here in my new little apartment, my eyes glancing to the large painting my boyfriend made me for my birthday, with my kitty on my lap, and the twinkle lights strung about the walls giving my creative space a cozy, moody feel, I can’t help smile. So much of my life is so immensely different from December of last year. The end of 2013 was a very bumpy road, as I previously blogged about. The feeling this year feels much much different. A feeling of fulfillment, excitement, and bliss sing in my heart with a very happy song. 

What a year indeed! 

To start upon this reflection, we can all be thankful we survived Mercury in Retrograde! What a ride that was for most people I know. I remember watching couple after couple breaking up—some of these were short-lived relationships, some of them fifteen-year marriages—but they collected one by one until over twenty people I knew had ended their relationships. I remember watching this domino effect, wondering when my turn would be. It was a feeling of mixed emotions, of relief and of fear. My turn certainly came—which has been no secret to my readers, starting with a rather large handful of blog posts that began in July. Because of this, and because of many other things, 2014 has been a year so divided in black and white that it still amazes me.  

As I made my cheesy “year in review” (like so many others) on Facebook, it only felt right to conclude that: as far as I was concerned, 2014 began in May. As I allow my fingers to roll over my keyboard with flowing thoughts, I can’t help realize that the first several months of 2014, however, were vital and necessary for the greatness that was to follow. Light cannot come without darkness. Breakthroughs don’t often come without turbulence, and happiness doesn’t come without first realizing what isn’t right in your life. So, the first half of 2014 was one of self-discovery, of getting honest with myself, of waging the war in my mind of what I really Wanted and Needed in order to enter a better phase of my life. I’ve spoken before about the vows I made myself in March, of the intentions I set, of the general turbulence of my own emotions. Although, thinking back, the first half of the year was truly an emotional struggle, there is no way I cannot be immensely grateful for it. Timing was everything, and I couldn’t be happier with how the wheel of time, and my own resolve and determination, unfolded my new life. It was all necessary. 

When the flower blossomed, it was all the more sweet and reassuring. Getting honest and clear with myself was such a blessing. Although I would have gladly gone without the immense heartache, it was all part of the process. New love has been such an eye-opening, warm, fuzzy, fulfilling change. If any more gratitude filled my heart, it might explode. There was plenty of cleansing, clearing, and healing of relationships in general this second half of the year; all of which have made this year all the more magnificent. 

Conclusion? 2014 was undoubtedly one of the greatest years of my life—even if the “great” part was felt mid-year. It has also been, undoubtedly, one of the hardest years of my life on an emotional level, and in relationships that extend beyond my love life. I learned a lot about myself, about what I wanted, about what I didn’t want; about what Made me Happy, and what made me not so happy; about what was blocking my personal growth, and about how to heal myself; about what was going wrong, and what was going right. I also learned a lot about Love; in various relationships and various forms, about not settling, and about being Deserving and Worthy of good things.

I look forward to emptying my “Jar of Happiness” once the clocks turn over into a brand new year as well; but that will be a separate post as it was the year before. For now, I will say that each year is a gift, filled with profound opportunities for growth and enlightenment. If there was one lesson that was most significant this year, it would be to Listen to your Heart. And I mean truly truly listen. The Heart Knows. Be honest with yourself, believe you are worth Happiness and Goodness, and good things will surely follow. 

Myself? I am extremely excited for 2015—and this year it’s not because I want the last year to end, but because I feel so blissful in my current state of affairs that it excites me of what’s to follow. 

So, here I am wishing you all a very Happy (and safe!) New Year’s Eve and a brilliant best New Year! 

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☺ Motivational Mondays: Life Starts Now! ☺

 We're taking back Mondays!!!

"Motivational Mondays" are fabulous tips to get you excited and pumped for the week! 

Feeling low? Moody? Down on life? Well, that's what these posts are for! Time to feel awesome again and get some Positivity rolling! Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you can't have fun, smile, and enjoy Today! Apply these tips to your week and try to tell me that you don't start to see an improvement in your life! ;)

It's all about You! Change your perception, change your attitude, love your life! xo

*****

Alright loves, this is a very special New Years Motivational Mondays post! It is, after all, the very last day in 2012! *gasp* So, as with every New Years, people start making resolutions, saying goodbye to the past year and resolving that This year is going to be Their Year! 

Well, here are my tips for you this week and to keep with you in this brand new year… 

☺ Life Starts Now! New Years is a terrible excuse to wait to start living life. We say things like "next year will be better," and "I can't wait for this year to be over." Umm, I've got news for you, nothing is going to be different in the New Year, tomorrow, or whenever if that is going to be your attitude. You are placing happiness constantly in the future, just out of your reach. Choose to change Right Now. Right this Second! Your New Year starts NOW. Your clean slate begins Now! Make changes, don't just sweep the past year under a rug and wait for things to magically happen. Make them happen! How? Read on…  

☺ Stop Moping and being a Sorry Suck! Holy, blunt much?! ;) Sorry, but every so often I like to be brutally upfront and honest, like a nice little slap on your pretty faces to get you to realize how useless sitting there feeling sorry for yourself is. I know, because I was one of those people for yearrsssss. I get it, it's hard to break that bad habit. Not! It's difficult because we're lazy and we make it hard, and because we would rather complain than actually do something about it. It's so much easier to sit there feeling all depressed and sorry for yourself than to actually get off your ass and start feeling good. But, guess what? You're going to feel a damn large amount better if you switch off that sorry suck attitude and start feeling good about yourself. If you want change then you have to make those steps. Stop giving yourself excuses, because that's all they are. Oh, what? You're "depressed"? I was too, I was suicidal, hated myself, hated life, and wanted to die. Guess what? I love myself today and I love my life. Know why? Because I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and actually use all that time towards improving myself. And you can too. So no more excuses! 

☺ Keep on Keepin on! Getting to the happy road takes time and effort. It gets easier, I promise. But it does take rewiring your brain and attitude and habits, which is why it can take quite a bit of work at first. Never get discouraged. Actually trying means you're heading in the right direction. Every day becomes easier. Every day you are forming new habits. So you can either build positive happy habits and attitudes, or you can continue down a spiral. Never give up! Stay strong, don't get discouraged, remember that you are amazing!   

☺ You are so much better than you Believe! Part of being unable to change is the unwillingness to accept that you are worthy of good things in your life. Well, I'm here to tell you that you totally and absolutely deserve happiness, love, and all goods things in your life! Oh yes you do! Just because life has dragged you around doesn't mean it was because you "deserved" it, it's simply life trying to teach you something. Sadly, we often get stuck when something unfavourable happens, we feel down on ourselves and get discouraged so the cycle continues. You can change that though, but first you must believe and accept that you are super awesome and deserve all the happiness and love in the world! You deserve All Good Things! Keep your chin up, you are lovely and deserving and wonderful. Start loving and appreciating yourself or you'll never be happy. Read this article for more on loving yourself:  

 ☺ Learn from the past! Instead of just forgetting about this past year and pretending it didn't happen, Learn from it! Tough experiences teach us valuable lessons. If you just ignore the lessons those experiences were trying to teach you then you are going to find yourself repeatedly back in those places until you do finally learn. This doesn't mean you should hold onto everything from your past, not by a long shot. Let go of the negative and bring only the positive into your present. If it does not serve you then let it go. Just make sure you are letting go in the right way, as I said, and bring forward the lesson and leave behind the negative feelings and emotions. 

☺ Consciously Create the Life You Want! One more time now; nothing will change just because it's the new year, You have to Want the change. You have to BE the Change! If you want your life to be kick-ass fantastic awesome fun then make it so! You are the author of your own life. For all the ups and downs, you are responsible for what kind of attitude you are going to have. Whether an experience will make you stronger or weaker. You can choose to be dragged through the mud or you can choose to stand up and stomp and play in the puddles. Only You can choose to make your life awesome. ♥

☺ Learn about the Law of Attraction! Oh yes, you better believe I'm bringing this up again. ;) The Law of Attraction brings into your life whatever you are thinking about. If you are constantly complaining, constantly focussing on the negative, then you are going to be constantly bringing that into your life. Gratitude is everything, the single greatest key to truly changing your life. Start being grateful for absolutely everything, big and small. Focus on the Good, not the Bad. Do this and you actually Will change your life and 2013 Will be Your year! ;) 

I will also be releasing a new "Happiness Guide" zine soon, so keep an eye out for that! ;) 

Have a safe and Happy New Year! 

Much Love from me to you! 

Create a Nice Day and Create a Nice Year! xo

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☺ Say Hello to the New Year right! ☺

It's that time of year again, time to set those New Year's resolutions right? 

Saying Goodbye to the past year may be a good thing, but I think many of us do it the wrong way. Somehow we believe that when the clock rings in the new year, the past year somehow just vanishes and we never have to look back at it again. It doesn't work that way. And if you're wondering why you can feel so passionately that it will but then act surprised when the new year comes in and in that very first day you may already be feeling like nothing has changed… well it's because nothing has changed. 

Life is life. You choose what it is going to be at any moment. It doesn't magically change the first day of the new year or because you think you're armed with all these resolutions. Resolutions don't usually work because, one, they come from a place of neglect to the past, and two, a lack of consciousness as to where the things you want to change came from in the first place. Usually bad habits are a result of unhappiness within yourself, and so committing yourself with resolutions to change those bad habits aren't going to be successful unless you first address yourself, your emotions, feelings, and attitude.  

Making Resolutions Successful.

Any change has to come from within yourself, by getting in touch with yourself so that you can make those positive changes. Again, it's not as easy as flipping a switch on New Year's day. Change takes time. Change also takes patience, commitment, perseverance, and love and respect for yourself. What will help your resolutions become reality will be the right attitude and addressing the things you need to address in order for those resolutions to be a success. 

The Right Attitude: If you read ReLove Plan.et at all then you know already the emphasis I place on having a Positive Mental Attitude. I kid you not when I say this is the key to achieving just about anything you want in life. Being Positive means focussing on the good side of things instead of constantly dwelling on the bad. It also means finding the positive in any situation, no matter how negative it may seem. There is Always a Positive side! Always always! You just have to choose to see it. So in order for your Resolutions to be a success, arm yourself with a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). It will probably take you some time to always seek out the positive so just be patient, keep at it, and give yourself a reminder to seek out the positive. 

Don't be so hard on yourself! Things don't change immediately, these things take time. This isn't because of you, it's simply because change takes time. You are reprogramming old thoughts, habits, and attitudes and these things take time to rebuild. Be realistic; you are going to stumble, fail, make mistakes, feel down, and get emotional. But what you do need to understand is that all of this is okay! Being human and experiencing life requires these things in order for us to grow, learn, and become better people. The part that will make those lows easier will be understanding that they are going to happen but not to hold onto them. Let it go. Feel, experience, learn, and let it go. You will feel fantastic again in no time so long as you allow the low moments to pass by, instead of dwelling on them and beating yourself up over them for happening. Be kind to yourself and be patient. At the end of every day, Just do your Best.  

Address the Source! Bad habits and attitudes come from somewhere! They do, they do! Find out why you feel a certain way, and where the attitude or bad habit comes from. Try to be conscious of when you turn to those bad habits, or feel negatively. I say it time and time again, if you need to see a councillor, do it! In fact, if anything, that should be your New Year's Resolution; see a councillor (or therapist, psychiatrist, etc.)! You won't change anything until you come to peace with your past, and we often need help to do this. It's not a shameful, embarrassing, or self-defeating thing to seek out help from another. And so I will say again, if you want to change anything start by changing yourself. You can't ignore your past or where feelings or habits come from, because they will rear their heads even if you choose to ignore them. Find the source so that you can actually change and live the life you want to live. 

I think at the end of it all, I just want to say that Change comes from Within Yourself. New Year's Day is just a day like any other (usually with a whole lot of partying and excitement around it of course). Changing yourself and making your life awesome has nothing to do with a "New Year." If you want your life to be awesome and amazing, then instead of making New Year's "Resolutions," start by making changes within yourself. Once you do that then those resolutions will probably come about on their own anyway. After all, what more does anyone truly want in life other than to be Happy? 

Happy New Year none-the-less! If nothing else, mark the New Year as the beginning of a change in You. Make it the beginning of excitement and amazement with changes and progress that comes from within. Because everything you need to live the life you want and to be the person you want to be already exist within yourself. 

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