A New Year Calling

2018, finally a new year! And, I think I am not alone in gratefully receiving the symbolic freshness of a new beginning that any new year offers.  

For me, along with so many of my friends and clients, 2017 felt like one of those years that demanded something of me that was intense, exhilarating, frustrating and, at times, downright terrifying.  

Never has life required of me such intense focus.

Such a fierce commitment to my dreams and longings and such a deep trust of life in the face of so many challenges and unknowns.  

My 2017 vision board included a picture of someone standing euphorically on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I had no idea at the time why that image made itself onto my board but trusted the impulse that had me add it back in January 2017.   

Now, as I reflect on my year, I can see that whilst I may not have literally climbed that mountain (yet!), metaphorically, there is no doubt I have climbed in 2017 a mountain of epic proportions.  

Had I known last January what was going to be required of me, I doubt I would have ever begun. But that’s the beauty of any journey, if we know ahead of time what lies ahead, there’s no adventure in the making, nor growth in the becoming.    

When I said yes to the call at the end of 2016, I bought myself a necklace that said “Move and the Way will Open”. It was my mantra for 2017. I rarely had a clear image of the direction of the path, never more that a few steps at a time seem to be illuminated. One step at a time was all I could hope to do.  

And yet, seemingly miraculously, I now find myself on top of the peak, hands lifted to the dazzling blue sky, breathing in the fresh air of a new beginning. 

Will there be a new peak to master in 2018 and each year to follow?

No doubt. But climbing my metaphorical Mount Kilimanjaro has given me new muscles and a different confidence in myself and Life.  

Every step along the way shaped the new me ready for the next challenge.  I am bolder and happier, lighter and clearer. But most of all, I am grateful and in awe.  

Because the most important thing I learnt along the way was the folly in thinking I need do it all alone. Life supported me from the moment it called out my name to that path. It sent me help along the way in every form imaginable; soothed my anxiety when it felt too much, sat at my side when I sat down to rest, urged me forward when I wanted to stop. 

One of my intentions for 2018 is to track this journey of a lifetime, and share my story in the form of weekly blog posts. It is my hope that tracking my experience may be useful to you. Whether your own mountain of  2018 shows up as a divorce, a relocation, a new career or simply a longing to trust life deeper or find a place of belonging, I hope my reflections may proffer some support or insights.  

Come track my journey through my weekly blog.

If you’d like to track this journey through my weekly blog, where I will be writing about the power of our desires, dreams, and longings, please CLICK HERE to be added to my blog notification list.  

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear what mountains you traversed in 2017 and how that journeying has shaped your new becoming.  Please join me on my Facebook page and share your comments.  

Wishing you all a joyful, exhilarating and wondrous 2018, whatever it may bring!