2017 has been announced as many things:
“The Year of the Rooster” – the tenth in the Chinese zodiac.
“The Year of Jubilee” – the fulfillment of a medieval rabbi’s prophecy.
The Year Everything Changes – politically, environmentally, globally.
However, none of those “Years” seemed to resonate with me. So, I decided to come up with my own theme for 2017.
Having said that, I now devote 2017 as –
“The Year to Give Back.”
Here’s what that means to me:
- I give back the lies told, by others about myself always in my “best” interest. Lies told to raise another’s level of comfort. Lies told in effort to maintain control over my behavior, thoughts and emotions.
I return these lies to their rightful owners, as they were never intended to serve me anyway.
- I give back all I have been told or read that insults my soul. All words and actions intended to harm me. All beliefs of another projected onto me.I dismiss these insults back to the souls they came from, as I truly never believed them anyway.
- I give back the limiting definitions of who I am that were placed upon me. I return the perceptions that are not mine, the beliefs I have never held, and the judgements not my own.I release these definitions from others and replace them with the understanding of my own descriptions, now knowingI am the best and only source of information about my character.
- I give back the wooden frame so often placed around me. This living piece of art was meant to keep me contained within a border and set to ensure I safely colored within the lines and not play outside the sandbox.I hand this now broken frame back to those who insisted on using it. It now contains a new picture, a truer, brighter picture, of who I now am.
- I give back the shame dumped on me from those who were unwilling to carry it on their own. The shame dumped on me to ease another’s burden. The shame shifted to me to conceal another’s wounds.I give this shame back to those befitting of it, as I am no longer willing or have the desire to carry and heal it for you.
- I give back the love that was voiced by others but not acted upon. Love I was assured was mine, but love I never actually received. Love based on conditions and expectations I was never able to meet.I give this love back to those of whom never actually gave it, those who never actually had it to give.I now understand what unconditional love is, has always been, and will forever be inside myself.
Yes, I declare 2017 The Year to Give Back and also a Year to Step Forward.
much love, sunshine
Photo/Pixabay