Hello 2019 - Here's to Mudita, Gratitude and Me!

2018 is basically over. Well, except for a day or two. So, if you have that one last thing you want to check off your list, I suggest you get going!

The new year. A continuation of the last or a completely new beginning…

When did you start thinking about and planning for 2019? I began a few weeks ago…

A couple of things I do for the new year is think about a theme for the year. I choose a word or three to focus my year and I choose a song to motivate me.

For 2019 I’ve picked two songs! I figured, Why not?

My 2019 Words

My three words for the new year are mudita , the Pali word for appreciative joy, detachment , and acceptance. They’re really closely connected.

I was teaching mudita in a class last Fall and realized how powerful and difficult practicing mudita is.

Mudita is one of the four components of benevolence - the first is loving-kindness, the second, compassion, and the fourth, equanimity.

Practicing mudita or appreciative joy seems easy, but it's not…

When I am having success with my business and in my personal relationships and I see others also having success, feeling appreciative joy for them is fairly easy. My book is doing well, their book is doing well and we celebrate together.

BUT if my book sales are lagging and their book is a best-seller, I feel jealous and wonder why does everyone else seem to be successful and I feel like a failure?

However, if I can remember to practice mudita, I raise my vibration and bring myself into an energetic space of true appreciative joy and celebration for their success. So, no matter where I am and what I am experiencing, I actually feel better and invite abundance into my life.

I have discovered that I teach what I most need to learn so it was no mistake that I was led to share mudita in class. And in learning a new skill, I begin in the embryonic stage and then learn the lesson on every level (again and again!).

It seems easy at first.

It becomes more difficult as I practice. It’s just like a baby learning to roll over, then creep, crawl, pull herself up, stand, walk, and then dance.

I fall many times and begin again. Over and over again.

Just how easy is it to pull ourselves out of the muck when we are working really hard (and smart!) and doing everything right and yet not having the “success” we see everyone seeming to have?

It’s not.

We just have to keep celebrating for ourselves and others and trust.

And stay in alignment with our truth.

That’s where my other two words come in. Detachment and acceptance.

More on those later…

Now for my 2019 Songs

In July, I began a daily practice of intense gratitude which leads me to my first song – “What a Wonderful World”.

One of my favorite rendition's is by Louis Armstrong… Watch and listen here.

When we are in gratitude we are present and it’s easier to practice mudita!

My second song is This Is Me from The Greatest Showman.

 I just loved this movie and this song resonates with me as I set new boundaries to live a healthy life, not apologizing for who I am, being true to me, and putting self-care in the forefront in 2019!

If you want to learn more about mudita, boundary settings, gratitude, or anything else, give me a ring and let’s talk – 650-704-2444.

Blessings in 2019 and beyond,

Haven