Make it Happen 2016

The year is coming to an end and many of us are starting to reflect on the last 12 months and charting the way forward for the upcoming year. This tradition usually manifests in "New Years Resolutions".  

Lessons of the past

If you have been following this blog for a while you will know that at Grenada Soul Adventurer I like to set a theme for the year, an intention if you like.  At the end of 2013 I declared 2014 to be the year of no boundaries. I dubbed it "Infinity 2014". That was the year I read Paulo Coehlo's famous bestseller "The Alchemist". I felt so inspired and empowered by the hero's tale of pursuing his personal legend as he left his familiar life as a shepherd to travel from Andalusia, Spain to Egypt via Morocco in search of the treasure he had seen in a recurring dream. 

The novel left such an impression that I  decided to pursue my own travel ambitions. I visited to Morocco, Barcelona and my birth city Hamburg. I took 9 flights in 3 weeks despite my extreme fear of plane rides (try being so tense for 8 hours that you can't even eat or watch a movie...its as though I felt that if I relaxed the plane would drop from the sky...after about flight 4 I began to calm down). 

2014 brought a lot of clarity and so for 2015 I decided to consciously find my way back to my most authentic self through the practice of honesty with myself and having the courage  to accept whatever my truth was . I read (but have not finished) the amazing book "Daring Greatly" by Brene Brown which helped me move more gracefully through the many changes and challenges this year has brought.  Just over a month ago I began the soul adventure of becoming a first time mom (sometimes I still can't believe I am someone's mother...what!!) 

Becoming a mom has put so much into perspective. As I said in my previous blog post, it has made me feel more rooted. I have learned that being wholly invested into something long term adds richness and meaning to life. I needed that lesson. 

The way forward 

With  that in mind I have decided that 2016 will be the year to make things happen. I have lot of ideas about things I want to achieve and explore based on the things that naturally interest me and make me happy. In a nutmeg shell I want to create a life in which my authentic self can flourish. 

I started reading Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and in his chapter on the second habit " Begin with the end in mind" he speaks about living by design or by default. He says: 

"In our personal lives, if we do not develop our own self awareness and do not become responsible for our first creations, we empower other people and circumstances outside of our circle of influence to shape our lives by default. We reactively live the scripts handed to us by family, associates, other people's agendas, the pressures of circumstance..." 

Have you ever noticed that it is really easy to just sort of live by default?  How easy it is to live a life you did not really intend to live because way lead to way. When we are children some of us have a clear and unapologetic general  vision for our life. We know what we like and we have no judgment about it. There is no question of "How much will I earn?" or "What will people think?". Before the age of 8 if anyone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would proudly and without hesitation say "An Artist!". It was not until someone said "Artists don't make money until they are dead" that I made the connection between what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing and the need to earn money. Before that i just knew I felt most at ease while drawing and creating, it made me feel good and I followed that feeling. 

Being courageous in 2015 and honest with myself gave me the space to ask and genuinely answer "Hey Sheba, what would your ideal life look like". I found clarity. It has brought me back to the place where I acknowledge that I am by nature a creative and that I need to begin investing in and exploring that in a serious way with and end in mind and not just in a casually without commitment and discipline. The same commitment I  had when worked day and night to earn my law degree despite the many ups and downs, and, the same way I worked through my fear of public speaking by going to court day after day until my voice stopped shaking when I addressed the court. I think we all owe it to ourselves to have that conversation with ourselves and begin to seriously invest into our authentic selves. I know it can be really daunting. It is that fear of flying thing. I find myself being afraid to ascend because the drop is way more dramatic the higher I get. Howard Thurman offers this nugget of wisdom: 

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

We owe it to ourselves to "make it happen" and offer up our gifts to this world. Don't bury your talents! Dare greatly! How else can we make a truly meaningful contribution to this planet during our time here. What if Adele had said to herself, this singing this is alright but the music industry is really hard to break into, let me be an accountant instead? Helllooooo!!! (Did you see what I did there?)

The quote which inspired Brene Brown when she called her book "Daring Greatly"

I have armed myself with a few tools to help me navigate this year's exploration. I am a huge fan of the self help books. Honestly, its a life long education to learn to deal with "life" and a little literature never hurt.  On the book list for this year includes but is not limited to: 

•  Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho
• Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey 
• The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown 

I am excited to hear from you!!

• What are you hopeful for in the new year? 
• Do you make a list of resolutions or set an intention? 
• Do you stick to them? 
• How do you achieve your goals?

Lets connect in the ever growing magical community, leave me a comment below

By the way all grey text links to previous blog posts on the topics mentioned

Peace and Bliss, 

Grenada Soul Adventurer