New Year, Same You

It’s that time of year again when the New Year, New You messages start circulating. They are not meant to be inspirational; they are meant to remind you how flawed you are, and they always precede a sales pitch for something that you didn’t know you needed.

New Year, New You requires you to buy into two assumptions:

1/ There is something inherently wrong with you that you should fix (starting January 1st !)

2/ Something or someone outside of yourself knows what is best for you.

There is saying that has been attributed to Native American tribes, and also to Tibetan culture. I imagine that many cultures have a similar saying.

It is: “you cannot wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.”

To an extent, many of us pretend to be asleep. Whether we do it consciously or unconsciously, whenever we claim to not know ourselves, our nature, or what is best for us, we pretend we are asleep.

How about adopting a new slogan, starting whenever you choose to, that is New Year, Same Me?

That slogan is not about changing one single thing about you. It speaks to the choices you make, and who you BE to yourself, and in the world.

Which values, which qualities do you wish to strengthen?

How would you stretch and build an atrophied muscle?

(Spoiler alert: it is not in the gym starting with an expensive membership on January 1st that you will use three times before you cancel it in March.) 

Where would you like to put your energy in this moment, and the next, and the next?

Who were you before the world told you who you should be?