[So sorry, I have not abandoned you, I just haven't been able to send out emails since my internet was not working but now I’m up and running for the new year. ]
Happy New Year!
May the new year be filled with hope, joy and good health!
As I took my first walk in 2021, I could not help but notice the beautiful sycamore trees all around the neighborhood. One of the characteristics of a sycamore tree is that it sheds or peels its bark but due to the dry fall and our cold winter this year the trees are peeling more than normal.
Just like the tree shedding, all of us have been forced to peel away at many of our beliefs this past year. The year 2020 has been about shedding old ways of doing things, old ways of looking at life and particularly life in the U.S. The trees will continue to shed throughout the winter and for many of us, like the tree, we will continue to do our own personal shedding.
So often we make new year’s resolutions to lose weight, get fit, eat better, get organized but I would like to suggest that this year’s resolution be about shedding your layers on a deeper level. Shedding or peeling away emotions and attitudes that don’t serve you anymore, i.e., fear, anger, disappointment, jealousy, envy, judgments, intolerance, impatience and pre-conceived ideas on how things need to be. Perhaps the peeling is getting rid of habits that used to be helpful but are not anymore.
Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to bear.
- Warren Buffett
The bark of most young sycamore trees is smooth and thin liken to a young person who is new in this world and is open to all experiences of life. An older tree like an older person with years of life experience the bark layer thickens and the outermost tissue eventually dies. The older we get the more bark we may need to shed because sometimes our thoughts and beliefs can get in the way of our own happiness.
As we step into this new year and observe how we are moving through life think of the sycamore tree and ask yourself, "what do I need to shed to bring in the newness in my life." In letting go of the old we then make room for something new to come into our lives.
True change is within.
Leave the outside as it is.
Mattea
Massage Day, it is my favorite day of the week
