Happy New Year! Ok, I know what you’re thinking… I’m over a month late with my “Happy New Year” message. This is true… But the reality is the year IS still new with only 1 of 12 months past, so it’s still valid! 🙂
I hope this new year has been kind to you all, it’s been awesome for me so far. I really needed to take an unintentional break from blogging for the first month of this year to adjust to all the new changes in my life. I am happy to say they are all good changes and I’m realizing I needed the new year for a fresh new start. I feel the beginning of Alexis 2.0 emerging with this new year and I’m loving it. 🙂
Now back to our regularly scheduled program…
Although I am I a big fan of leaving the past behind, I feel it’s important to look back and reflect on the things you’ve learned the most so that you can apply those lessons to your present and future. So I will highlight some of my favorite and most profound lessons of 2011 that I hope will add wisdom and forward progression to 2012 and beyond.
Lesson 1: Sometimes detours are a good thing.
At the beginning of 2011, I was incredibly focused on a specific dream and I was determined to make it happen. The only problem was, I didn’t really know how to make it happen and I was shooting in the dark trying to reach my target. That landed me in a place where I had to take a major detour to my original dream. I was initially devastated at having to take this detour, because as we all do, I wanted things to go my way. But I learned that I really needed that detour. I initially thought it meant something terrible for me, but instead I learned so much and got the breakthrough and direction I needed all because of that detour. I literally would not be standing in the grace, favor and abundance I am standing in today if it wasn’t for that unexpected and inconvenient detour that I am forever grateful for. Lesson Learned – Be flexible. This journey of life will offer some sharp twists and turns, but when you can learn to go with the flow, open yourself up and be flexible to what the universe brings you, blessings will abound.
Lesson 2: The journey is the treasure.
As positive as I try to be, sometimes it’s hard to truly embrace the journey when you’re so focused on the destination. I know I’ve blogged about this lesson before and heard it a thousand times, and I honestly got tired of hearing it because I wasn’t always feeling it. But in 2011 this lesson was determined to haunt me until I got it. It wasn’t until I read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho that it really started to sink in. It’s the journey that makes the destination worth it. If you were able to snap your fingers and appear at your beloved destination, you would miss the magic of getting there! I am finally able to really embrace my journey for what it is, the lessons it continues to teach me and the beauty in it. It’s important not to be so distracted by the future that you miss out on the present and what it has to offer. If it wasn’t for my journey and all of its detours, I wouldn’t have the knowledge, wisdom and strength I have now. Lesson Learned – Appreciate the journey and all that comes with it. The present moment is the gift.
Lesson 3: Embrace all of your strengths.
As you can see, there is a common thread in my lessons so far. It took a string of related circumstances to teach me these different, yet similar lessons. Along my journey with all its detours, I have been able to open myself up to all of my strengths instead of just focusing on one. The “getting-to-know-yourself” journey will definitely highlight your strengths (and weaknesses), but it takes a seasoned journeyer to learn how to balance one’s strengths and know when and how to use them to their benefit. I guess that means I’m seasoned now! 🙂 Before I was putting all of my eggs in one basket because one new and exciting strength reared it’s head and in the process I was ignoring another. Now I am learning to balance and embrace them all, which honors all of me and shows my true value. I’m loving it and that’s definitely a lesson worth learning. Lesson Learned – Know your worth. All of it.
You can look forward to more lessons I learned in 2011 in Part 2.
Share your thoughts in the comments: What lessons did you learn in 2011? Can you relate to the lessons I learned? How has the new year treated you so far?
Peace, Love & Learning,
~Alexis~
Love the topic: The journey is the treasure. I think this must stat at the forefront of our thoughts. Thank you for this post.
I agree Pam. Thanks!
I believe in living one day at a time but reviewing past experiences is USEFUL and sometimes vital to prevent you from making the same mistake again. My biggest lesson from 2011 is the need to keep hope and faith alive
I totally agree Roberta, reviewing lessons learned definitely helps to prevent making the same mistakes. And your lesson from 2011 of keeping hope and faith alive is one of my all-time favorites!
A beautiful post as always and what great reminders. I’m not all that fond of detours either, but I like what Chopra says about things being just the way they’re supposed to be–somehow, that makes detours and disappointments a little easier to accept. Love your blog and I’ll be back!
That is so true Sandra. Sometimes we don’t want to accept it, but things are always just as they are supposed to be. Thanks!
Looking back at our past is necessary but some people make the mistake to dwell on it instead of learning from it.
One of the lessons I learned was that sometimes, you just need to let nature take its course. What I mean is knowing what you want and allowing life to take you there. Sometimes, trying to force nature to do our every bid would only leave us overwhelmed and unproductive. It’s at this point that my “Think, Attract and Become” principle never failed me. Life knows what you want and it’ll always give you your most predominant thoughts, whether good or bad.
Thanks for this post Alexis.
I love that lesson Lanre. Thanks so much for sharing!