The area in which you prosper now are the very same ones that caused you suffering only a few years ago.
This quote came from yesterdays horoscope in my local paper for my astrology sign, Virgo. For me this is a true statement.
As 2013 comes to a close I naturally take a review of my year. Resolutions and optimistic plans started in January have long since faded. My goals in December are a far cry from my goals at the start of the year. Today I will plot out my plan of attack on the malls so that I can conquer my Christmas shopping and cross that off my list. The holiday season is my focus this month, in January, my focus was health and spirituality which it probably will be again at the start of 2014.
As I review my year I also take a long view on how my life has evolved in the past several years. Each year is just a snapshot of your life but if you compile a few of those pictures together, a bigger story emerges. I think it is important to do this every year. It helps answer the questions like, is my life going in the right direction, am I achieving my long term goals? It also helps you see where your ship of life is off course so you can take steps to right it or to plot a new one.
Back to the quote above. Several years ago I was suffering. I was floundering in a sea of unhappiness because I was afraid to be my authentic self and boldly live my life. It stemmed from an over powering need to please others before pleasing myself. I felt the change within to break free from this self imposed restriction. It was a power I had no control over. It caused chaos, drama and a lot of heart ache but even at the time, I knew that when I came out the other end, I would be in a better place in my life. Call it growing up, maturity, wisdom, life lessons, whatever, it was hard, but I survived.
It is my unwavering belief that the universe puts up roadblocks in your life for a reason, to either affirm your commitment to your goals there by making you stronger and more capable of achieving them or to re-direct you to a better path. The challenge is to know the difference.
Today I am prospering, not in the financial sense, although I am doing fine there, but in the emotionally freeing sense. A lesson is only good if you learn from it. That is why I think it is important to reflect on your life annually, but unless you are willing to be totally honest with yourself and ask the hard questions and seek the even tougher answers, the exercise is a waste of time. It will only leave you disappointed and dis-empowered.
So this year, after all the festivities are over and you have a few quiet moments to reflect, ask yourself the hard questions. The ones where the answers help point you on the right path for you. Then when you achieve a little clarity from the answers, make your New Year resolutions. Those goals will be more meaningful to you and have a greater likelihood of success so when you look back come December 2014 hopefully you will have turned your suffering into prosperity too.