Great Circle

For most of us, a new year represents a clean slate and it’s kinda exciting. I’m busier this month than have been for the last quarter and loving the way it sets me up for a fruitful year ahead.

But I’ve also had conversations with a half dozen people already in January who feel a little flat at the beginning of this new year, even disillusioned.

Sometimes we just need a bit of perspective and encouragement. I liked the genuine care and thought that went into a post 6 months ago by Pamela Slim at Escape from Cubicle Nation. Here’s a snippet (yech! girly word - let me rephrase that…) Here’s a chunk (below) and if you like that, go read the rest. It’s called There is Nothing Wrong with You

Because I made some poor choices earlier in my life, I used to beat myself up for not figuring it all out.  My inner dialog was something like:

“What is wrong with me?  I know better than this!  Why am I choosing to do something that I know is not good for me?  Why can’t I figure this out?”

As soon as I would voice those words, I would feel my throat tighten up and a pit develop in my stomach.  My head would get light and I would feel off-balance and ill-at-ease.  This did nothing to make me want to change my behavior, in fact in most cases it made me want to do something destructive like eat a pint of ice cream or buy an expensive outfit or electronic gadget that I really didn’t need.

One day things shifted…