Although no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending. – Carl Bard
Now that spring has officially and finally started, we tend to feel lighter and more energized than when our days are short, cold and generally grey.
Spring is a great time to look back over the first three months of the year to think about how we’re doing on the goals or resolutions we may have set at the beginning of the year.
If you notice that things haven’t changed or progressed much, don’t get down on yourself. The winter months are often the hardest to make positive changes. Just notice and accept what has or hasn’t happened and lean into the fresh start of spring to get back to pursuing what you want.
We are just at the beginning of the second quarter of the year. The worst is over and the best has yet to come. We still have lots of time to accomplish the things we want to do or stop doing.
As the quote at the beginning of this column suggests, we can’t go back to Jan. 1 and start over. However, we can create a fresh start for ourselves that will correct our course to get us going in the right direction and get us to where we want to go.
Let’s say I make a goal of taking a walk every day (this is entirely fictional), which I did for the first couple of weeks until the really cold snap started. I fall out of the habit of taking a walk every day, for good reason, but over time I notice I am walking less often and finding excuses to not get myself going.
When I notice I’m not walking nearly as much as I told myself I would when I was in my resolution mood, this is where how I think either defeats or rejuvenates me.
When we shame ourselves by thinking things like: I always fail, I knew I wouldn’t do it, I don’t know why I bother making goals, or I’m lazy, we put ourselves down even lower, which robs us of the energy and the self-worth we need to succeed.
Instead of being our own worst enemy, we need to learn how to be our own best friend. Life is challenging enough without constantly criticizing ourselves. Doing this creates a mean voice within our own head that bullies us until we stand up to it and train it to be helpful instead of harmful.
How we talk to ourselves when we feel like we are failing makes all the difference in the world. If we blame others, make excuses or just plain whine about it, we don’t mature into a person who can admit failure, which is the first step toward correcting ourselves and our situations.
If we choose to use our inner strength, we become wise enough to notice when, where and why we started to go off track. We also become mature and capable enough to be able to correct ourselves. This may mean modifying what isn’t working. With some self-correction we can still get to where we want to go!
