Holiday Reflections for 2018
Happy Holidays!
The year is winding down and that always puts me in a reflective mood. Looking back on this year that has flown by and recognizing how each year seems to pass faster than the last. My son is growing up at an exponential rate and life continues to move forward.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for committing to your own growth and healing work and for inviting me into your life, your family, and your most intimate thoughts and experiences. I am deeply aware of my privilege in this invitation and I consider it very sacred. I am humbled and honored to be able to walk with you for part of your life journey and that I am able to go to work each day and do a job that I love. Counseling was a career that called to me early on in my life and I’m grateful to have followed that call and persisted in making this a sustainable career for myself and my family.
I know that I push you at times and I challenge you to walk through your fears, take risks, speak your truth, dig deep, and let go of patterns that have helped you to cope in the past but no longer serve you. I know its uncomfortable and scary at times. I want you to know that I practice what I preach. Each and every blog and newsletter that I write comes from something I have faced in my own life. Each book I recommend, I have read myself. And the homework assignments I give you I have personally practiced. I have sat buried deep in my own fear and dug my way out. I have cried until I didn’t think I had any tears left only to discover the relief and hope that arrived on the other side. I have walked to the edge of my comfort zone and stretched it beyond what I ever thought I was capable of and realized the capacity I had for a level of joy I once thought was impossible. I have been on my knees more times than I can count praying for guidance when I just didn’t know what else to do only to discover that all of the answers were waiting for me to get quiet enough to listen. It is from this place of knowing that I push you. That I hold out hope for all possibilities to be available for you and that I hold space for you to step into those possibilities.
My deepest lesson through all of these years of self-assessment, reflection, growth, and challenge is that my spiritual connection and self-care practice feed a relationship with myself that sustains me through anything that life brings my way. These practices have pulled me through a divorce, several years of being on my own as a single parent, dating at midlife, discovering and cultivating a healthy, conscious and loving relationship and preparing to get married again, along with building a private practice from scratch and learning what it means to be a provider. I truly walk with you, as you face the specific lessons and challenges that life brings to you. I will never ask you to do something I am not willing to do myself and I will always tell you the truth, even when it’s tough to hear.
I look forward to this coming year and all that we will learn together. I look forward to bearing witness as you take the next right step on your journey and helping you to discover what that is. Thank you again for your courage and willingness to do your work and for inspiring me to be better each and every day.
Enjoy your holidays and know I am always here if you need support, get stuck, or want to check in. If you missed it last month or want a refresher, feel free to revisit my blog, A Relationship Toolbox for the Holidays. As we prepare for the New Year, I wish you peace, joy, abundance, and love overflowing!