At the end of Pretty Woman, a man walks across the street asking, “What’s your dream?”
It’s a brand-new year, just one week old, and I can’t help thinking about my dreams. Dreams for this new year. Dreams for my children. Dreams for my business.
I also can’t help but think of words. Words to describe my feeling. Every year I pick a word to guide me. This year that word, my word, is fulfillment. It’s different than happy or content. It seems somehow deeper in meaning.
Fulfilled. Google Dictionary defines it as feeling happy or satisfied because of fully developing one’s abilities or character. I believe 2022 will be a year of personal and professional growth and I hope to embody fulfillment as I look back on 2022 at the end of the year.
One thing I’m not in denial about is that I don’t think it’s going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. I’m constantly reminded of the saying “when success comes knocking don’t be surprised to find work standing there in overalls when you open the door.”
I’m starting the year with big dreams.
At the heart of all my dreams is you. My community. My fellow survivors. My clients. I vowed to make this journey easier for others – if in no other way than, at the very least, listening and being a guide for those who choose to trust me and allow me to help. What an honor and privilege!
First on my list of dreams is an end to the pandemic madness. I’m ready to travel and live without restrictions. It won’t happen immediately but it’s something I hope to see in the near future. But restrictions have been constant companions for maybe all my life. Maybe you can relate. Restrictions didn’t just happen when the pandemic arrived in 2020. They’ve been with us all along. Some of them are external, like injuries, some of them are internal, like doubts and fears.
When I say I’m ready to live without restrictions, I’m referring to internal ones as much as the external ones. COVID may not go away, nor my doubts or fears, but I can still do my best to push past them or embrace them and work with them to become the best I can be. I hope you’ll join me in the pursuit of becoming your best self too.
Starting the year with big dreams includes self-care.
Next on my list of dreams is a world that is cancer-free. Free, free. Free, free, free. This is also not going to happen quickly. As a matter of fact, I just recently read that between the years of 2010 and 2019, cancer cases increased by 8 million. We, collectively, are the only ones that can stop it. There is no superhero coming to save the day. It is only in our power to do anything about this Goliath problem.
It is true that the things you think about, you bring about. You vote every day with your dollars and attention to what there will be more of in this world. When you shop at the grocery store, what you buy determines what the store will buy more of to have available the next time you go shopping. The same is true for anything you shop for (online or in-person). If you buy organic, they will stock more of it, because they will see there is greater demand for it.
When you choose clean health and beauty products, those too, will be brought to market. Your skin is your largest organ and is your first line of defense from toxins. Toxins that sometimes linger because your body doesn’t have the mechanism to get rid of it. So maybe this year is the year you pay more attention to what’s in your body lotion. If you want to learn more on this topic, listen to my podcast interview with Brandy Searcy, owner and creator of Rain Organica Skincare.
Maybe this year you’ll finally give up the bad habit you’ve been wanting to kick for years. Or adopt the daily yoga or meditation practice you’ve been wanting to start for years. Either way, there’s no day like today!
Maybe this year you’ll write a letter to your elected official telling them you want more protection from air and land pollution. The chemical soup we live in isn’t good for us and it isn’t good for the planet.
Starting the year with big dreams collectively.
We are all connected. What’s good for me, is good for you, and the future generation. What’s good for your heart is also good for your muscles. The easier and more efficiently your heart pumps blood, the easier it is on every part of your body because all parts are connected. The same as you and I are connected. And we are connected to other people in other parts of the world. And humans are connected to our environment.
My point is that you have so much control over your life and actions. Your choices bring you one step closer to or further from the health and the life you seek. Either way, it’s not easy. It’s hard to be sick, but it’s also hard to make the choices that bring you health. Daily physical activity is hard, lifting weights, finding time for movement is hard. But feeling tired is also hard.
In accordance with my dream of seeing healthier people in a healthier world, I promise to keep bringing you content that will make it easier for you to make choices that will bring you closer to health. When you know better, you do better.
So I clink my glass of non-alcoholic beverage to your health, and my health, and the health of our communities, and the planet we share. May we all feel fulfilled in the progress we make this glorious year!
