Can you believe we’re already about to enter a new year, and heading into a BRAND-NEW decade!
No doubt, so much has happened in your life in the past year/ten years. You’ve had some beautiful, pleasant and glorious times, and most likely had your share of disappointments, struggles and setbacks, too. Your life has changed somewhat, and you’re a slightly different person because of it all.
You may feel psyched to reach new goals, which is great. But, before doing so, there’s one thing that’ll prepare you for setting the right goals you’ll enjoy pursuing.
Walking!
While walking is probably one of the best exercises for a ‘getting into shape” goal, in this post, I’m sharing three other types of walking exercises that will set you up for a great year/decade ahead.
Ready? Let’s begin our first walking exercise.
Walk of Reflection
“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” -Margaret Wheatley
Take a brief glance at the past year, or even the past decade—a brief glance—don’t stay stuck there, peering into it from a comfortable seat, victimizing and judging yourself. Remember, this is a walking exercise of reflection, to simply look at the facts, gain awareness and grow from them.
Start with your accomplishments. Sometimes, we focus so much on all the things that have gone wrong, that we forget about the good. There’s surely one (or several), project, experience or even a small act that brought about a positive outcome to yourself or to others. And, you’ve certainly faced and overcame adversity or hardship, too.
Do not dismiss anything as, “it was no big deal.” Recognize them as valuable stepping stones that have shaped into the person you are today, and be grateful for each one: Your resilience, abilities, strength and kindness.
Gratitude puts you in a state of receiving more and giving more—that you’re never too small to make a difference.
Then, look at them from where you are now with the knowledge that you have the capacity to keep learning and progressing towards achieving bigger goals and dreams, and face new challenges.
So, go for it.
What accomplishments can you be grateful for?
Now, as you took a brief journey down memory lane, you probably crossed paths with some “mistakes” that made you cringe, right?
Yeah, I did too. At some point, my whole face felt like a frozen cringe.
So, let’s walk up to them and face them, shall we?
As you look back on mistakes and setbacks, try relaxing the cringe on your face, this is not a punishment exercise. Instead, look at them as an opportunity to understand and evaluate your motives, and most importantly, to learn what you need to know, and let go of all the colorful stories of guilt, shame and regret that serve no purpose.
To move forward, you only need to take the valuable lessons with you. Leave the self-destructive heavy load behind.
What valuable lessons can you take with you?
Handle them with care, cause we’re going into our second walking exercise.
Walking Away
Before anything new, meaningful and worthwhile can manifest in your life, you must walk away from the things that are keeping it from happening.
- Walk Away from comparison. When you compare yourself to others, you set goals based on their accomplishments, appearances, possessions or popularity. Gracefully walk away from the things that are not meant for you. There’s only ONE YOU! Shut the outside noise and be your true original self.
- Walk Away from the approval of others, it will only shut down the light of imagination, one of your most precious gifts to bringing your greatness. Remember, people don’t need to understand your dreams and the way you choose to live your life, it’s not for them. You’re here to live your life, not to make anyone understand it.
From here, keep on walking away.
- Walk Away from discussions that do not lead you anywhere other than anger, hate and bitterness.
- Walk Away from people who deliberately belittle you.
- Walk Away from any thought that reduces your value.
- Walk Away from people who are not interested in you.
- Walk Away from the things that poison your mind, heart and soul.
- Walk Away from the failures and fears that paralyze your dreams.
Bringing us to our third walking exercise.
Walking Into
Now that you’ve cleared the path from the things you don’t want and need, you can begin walking into the things that’ll bring you closer to knowing what is meant for you.
- Walk into your heart, the only home you’ll ever live in, and the same house of Divine Love, peace and joy. This is the place where the real you resides. Ever had a little inner voice nagging at you, telling you what you should or should not be doing? Don’t ignore it, walk into it.
- Walk into silence, it has so much to say to you. Silence teaches you to tap into your inner wisdom, which is connected to the same wisdom of the Universe.
Ever had ‘AHA’ moments?’ Chances are they happened in a moment of silence—when your thoughts stepped aside from the situation and stopped searching for a solution or answer—and a space was made possible for the Universe to connect with your heart and speak to you with no words. Silence guides you in the right direction, walking into unknown territory, facing and overcoming your fears, discovering that you were capable of doing that which you feared the most. Listen! - Walk into your emotions. We all feel confused, scared and vulnerable at times. When it seems like your life has fallen to pieces, don’t pretend like everything is wonderful. Face the situation and your emotions, love those parts of you. They will open your eyes to placing every piece back together in its right place, and become more integrated with yourself. These moments of feeling broken down are the best moments to develop your biggest strengths and capabilities, don’t hide behind them. Sometimes you need to take a good fall to know where you stand.
- Walk into your value. For all the time you might have spent putting yourself down, it’s time to recognize your valuable assets. Your playful nature, your diligent nature, your kind nature, your forgiving nature, your creative nature, and so many others you may have forgotten. Let them reveal your worth, and you’ll never allow anyone or anything to diminish it, not even yourself.
- Walk into solitude. Walking alone is the hardest walk to take. But, it’s the one that will make you the strongest, wisest and take you closer to bringing out your greatness.
“Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life.” – Paulo Coelho
You may need to begin walking a difficult road towards your goals and fight battles with no support or encouragement. While it’s not easy, it’s so much better to be walking in the right direction, than to follow a crowd that’s going the wrong way. Or, to carry the extra weight of criticism, ridicule and belittlement.
The walk will be hard. But it will be worthwhile. Don’t give up on yourself. I know that sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, but when you show up every day, doing the best you can, things begin to happen. You get better and better and better. At some point, the right people will show up when you least expect it, giving you the support, encouragement and help you need.
- Walk into happiness. Do not put off your happiness waiting for that one goal to manifest. The end result is not more important than the process. Remember, you’re on your life’s journey, filled with continuous progress and growth that can only happen through the experience of trials and tribulations. Don’t reduce the extraordinary existence of your being to a small affair way out in the future. Enjoy the process, all of it.
Take time to relax, have fun and laugh, even at yourself. These moments are part of your journey, too, to encourage and re-energize you. It’s OK if you might need to take a few detours along the way. Each one will teach you something new, preparing you for the end result, whatever it may be.
Remember, the hardest walks lead to the most spectacular destinations!
Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. ~ Orison Swett Marden
Rest when you need to. Stay true to yourself and most of all, keep walking!
Happy 2020!
