Introducing: Spring Resolutions.

Maybe because it’s dark and dreary then, or maybe because a start date based on the calendar feels artificial, but most of us have totally blown our 2018 New Year’s Resolutions. Given that we are not even half way through the year, and over 85% of us have experienced this rampant mini-failure, I’m thinking there’s got to be a better way. That’s when something slightly saner and a whole lot calmer occurred to me.

Spring Resolutions. Spring Resolutions take advantage of longer days. These resolutions recognize that light is central to our well-being and that our energy increases when we get more of the bright stuff. It’s even easier to get up in the morning. Spring Resolutions are not a rein-it-in effort to overcorrect for eating too much, drinking too much, spending too much, or whatever you may have done in excess over the holidays. Because there is nothing punitive about Spring Resolutions, these are not born from deficit.

In fact, Spring Resolutions ride the wave of the season’s natural rhythms of renewed life. They reflect a more celebratory spirit. Because of this, Resolutions set in the Spring might just lead you to a more sustained and meaningful experience.

I know we are technically a month into Spring, but as most of us on the East Coast have realized—just cause the calendar says something, it doesn’t mean that Mother Nature got the memo. So, setting a resolution on the “first day of Spring” in March wouldn’t have made much sense for us. Rather, doing it when the sunlight finally feels powerful again, doing it when the buds on the trees actually look legit, doing it because it “feels” like spring–that positions us for success. Timing the setting of your Spring Resolutions in this way also means that your resolutions will be off the grid of expectation. Under the Radar.

Being under the radar has a protective quality. It feels like something hidden and blessed. It’s not out there for everyone to ask, “how are your resolutions going?!!” It’s yours, quietly yours.

A Spring Resolution might take on a more self-nurturing quality– something like meditating more, practicing yoga more, taking more internal breaks, being more loving towards yourself and others. It’s a private commitment that you can make between you and your Higher Self. It won’t be quantifiable in terms of pounds lost/gained, or dollars amassed, or even minutes on the mat. Like Springtime herself, it will have a more nuanced character, less of a straight-jacket. We are simply opening ourselves up and into the flow of things that deeply resonate.

Today we shed off our old winter coats, and perhaps alongside that, old limitations. Can you imagine capitalizing on Spring’s natural beginnings today and unveiling your own? Maybe there is something quiet underneath the layers waiting to see the light of day. By embracing this season of growth, you might just step confidently and proudly into this new day, armed with a deeper connection to what it means to begin again–and with light on your side this time.

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