Wishing You a Happy Holiday and New Year!
Whoa! The end of 2017 snuck up on me! I guess it really is true that time flies by as we get older. This past year has been an important one for me on many levels, but I want to share one key learning I've gained during 2017.
Every year, in January, I choose a theme for the year. This year, my word was "cushiony"! I wanted to focus on creating more space in my daily routines, work with clients, social activities, and create more time for just "being". (By the way, one of my clients shared with me a great little book along these lines.)
One day, I was l lounging in my backyard enjoying my garden (when did I become a gardener! how did that happen!). Needless to say, I have come to enjoy this time outside and began to treasure more and more the quiet pleasure of standing in my garden tending to living things.
As some time passed, I found myself thinking about how many hours were left in the day? Wasn't it nice to have nothing on the calendar for the rest of the day, so I could laze about and do nothing?
And then I wondered, "What if the nothing was actually everything! What if this time of just being, soaking in the sounds, the wind, the breeze, the smell of the flowers from the garden -- what if that was actually everything?!"
Our lives become so busy that we seek this "nothingness" as a way to reprieve ourselves from the day-to-day pressures and stresses and ups and downs and often think of the "nothing time" as a time to tune out, to escape.
That day, I realized that this frame needs to shift. There's an opportunity to experience everything, to transform what was once "nothing". These moments hold the opportunity to pause and take note of all there is to gain. I was able to tune into the experience of "being" instead of "doing".
I also realized that as I sat there calling this time "nothing", there was this part of me that would push back and say, "Well you better get up to something then! Be productive, get busy, get something done" andimmediately all of the peace and ease that I was experiencing in that moment of everything was made bad and wrong and taken away.
As I practiced what I teach my clients -- pay attention to your thoughts, pay attention to the language you use, to pay attention to what you are out to prove -- I decided to change my language and my focus, and this moment of nothing became a moment of everything!
I treasure this year of cushion and have so much to celebrate, because even while I made more time for myself, this year:
- Over 50 people completed the Beyond Surviving Program and are now doing wonderful things like starting a family, stepping out as speakers and advocates for survivors, building new businesses, starting graduate school, and developing deeper relationships.
- I expanded my Healing from Sexual Abuse Facebook Group(now more than 3700 members) and built a great team to support me in making this (I think!) one of the best groups for survivors on Facebook today! www.facebook.com/groups/realtalkwithrachel
- With the help of my amazing team, I delivered 4 Master Classeson various topics such as shame, fear, anxiety, abandonment and more!
Looking to 2018, I am branching out and taking on some new projects! Here’s what I’ve got in mind for the New Year:
- Continue development of programs for medical professionals about screening for abuse;
- Expand my impact through partnering with various non-profits;
- Add peer support as a new component for my group programs;
- … and even more!
Most importantly, I want you to know that I couldn't have done any of it without your amazing and ongoing support. I’m in an incredible community and hope that you have been touched, inspired, and healed by something we shared this year.
So, with deep gratitude, my wish for you is that your holiday and 2018 are filled with joy, love, laughter, and strength.
With much love,
* post dunk in 410' waterfall!
* march against unlawful deportation
of immigrants with my honey
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So thrilled that your My 3 Stages of Recovery from Childhood Abuse Checklist was published in Debbie Ehrstien's book got published. You SO deserve to be published.... and more!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Gary!!
ReplyDelete