What Does 2012 Mean to You?

Do you see 2012 as gloom and doom, as the end of the world based on certain prophecies, or do you see it as a year of opportunity to create like never before, with renewed consciousness, a chance to make things right in your world?

I see 2012 as pure opportunity on many levels, but specifically regarding health. This is the year of learning, teaching, empowering others and being empowered ourselves.

2012 is also the year of forgiveness, especially for our own shortcomings when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions. In the words of Richard Bandler, co-founder of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), there are 2 kinds of resolutions – things we decide not to do anymore, and things we want to start doing. Either way, according to Richard, the success to staying on track with resolutions lies in planning ahead and making allowances for what we undoubtedly already know will happen (i.e., cheating).

Regarding health and wellness, this would mean making allowances for eating a food we swore we’d never eat again, or not punishing ourselves when we don’t exercise for one day even though we made a commitment to do so daily.

I agree with Richard. Too often, as he states, when we cheat we toss the original plan and start another new one. The right approach should be to make allowances for occasional slip ups so when we cheat, we forgive ourselves, and get back on track.

For me, my resolutions for health include transitioning off of stevia – this is my ‘stop doing’ resolution. It’s not that I think stevia is bad, I just want more green food in my daily diet with less sweet food. This starts with adding fresh lime in my water and not flavored stevia. Will I do this every day in 2012? Probably not. But I’ve done it today and already that’s more than I did last year – and this is what Richard is talking about.

From an exercise standpoint, I plan on adding a new activity 3 days a week – this will be my ‘start doing’ resolution. Whether it’s bouncing on the exercise ball or adding light jogging to my walk routine, I have deliberately planned on NOT doing it every day to set myself up for failure. Three times a week I can handle, and, the best part is, I get to choose which days I will, or won’t, do the new activity.

If you are someone who sees opportunity in the upcoming year, think about what you would like to change in your life – add more vegetables, do saunas more often, spend more time outdoors, or take a healthy cooking class. Each new step you take leads to another opportunity you may not even have thought of. And this my friends, is recipe for a fabulous new year!