My life changed direction with 1 choice… the choice to give myself the gift of a year.
Choose 1 thing to do for myself… just 1 thing for a year.
This cut right through my excuses…
I don’t have enough time
I have to take care of everyone else
I don’t have enough money
I have too many things I want to do
Just 1 thing! How can you argue with 1 thing?
At the time I was feeling depressed and isolated. I was a stay at home mom with two young boys. My husband was traveling for business most of the year and I was simply surviving from day to day. I had lost that inner spark and knew I had to do something different, because what I was doing wasn’t working.
I stumbled across a book called “The Gift of a Year” by Mira Kirshenbaum. The book cover read:
Here’s what I hear from women all the time: “There’s no Me in my life.” “I need some balance in my life.” “I’m always giving to others; what’s feeding me?” “I need rest, renewal, something — I’m just running on empty.” The Gift of a Year provides the help and understanding you’ve been looking for. It will give you everything you need to make the next twelve months the best year of your life. Whether you’re a new mom with a husband and a full-time job or someone who’s just retired, whether you have only a couple of minutes a day for yourself or all the time in the world, this book with show you have you can have more of You in your life and regain the balance you’ve been looking for.
I thought, this book is for me!
As part of the practices, the author asks you to choose to do 1 thing for yourself for a year. I thought about this a lot and wrote a list of things I enjoy or used to enjoy doing… things that made sense and things that for no reason, lit my insides aflame. Sitting in my bed, writing in my journal, I wrote, “I want to write and paint.” I had never painted before so that was new, but I loved writing as a child and I saw this as a glimmer of hope. Could I give myself the gift of painting and writing and HOW was I going to do this?
The very next day, my inbox had an email from one of my favorite artists, Shiloh Sophia McCloud with an offer of a 6 month virtual painting and writing course. I broke down crying because I felt like Spirit had blessed my desire to change, my desire to do something small for me… that I was worth it. That course was the beginning of my journey as an artist and teacher. I have now helped thousands of women all over the world connect to their inner wisdom through art and writing.
I want to know, if you could give yourself the gift of anything for a year, what would it be?
Are you willing to do it? You are SO worth it.
