By Dr. Deb Wade
GCU Vice President, Counseling and Psychological Services
Happy New Year! Just as I encouraged you (and ME) to finish 2017 with strength and determination, I once again am going to encourage you (and ME) to start 2018 with an effervescent energy, an impenetrable positive attitude, a childlike spirit of hopefulness and a strong, unbreakable spirit and spunk! Before you roll your eyes, let me explain:
- We must become the captain of our own ships! Too often we can allow the world’s opinion of us, the media’s ideas for us and a stranger’s reaction to us dictate what we think of ourselves! Whaaat?? Let’s choose to be intentional about charting our own course and believing in the myriad gifts and abilities that each of us has, and then let’s spring ahead toward the goals we’ve imagined! It’s only when we choose to look inward and upward that we truly can let go of all the impediments that tend to surround us.
- We must learn to detox! Destructive relationships, negative energy from negative people, “basement people” who tend to bask in failure and utter words of doubt – all of them need to be kicked to the curb! Take a stand to surround yourself with those who believe in you, who see your worth from the inside out and who dream and imagine all the possibilities with you rather than stake claim to excuses that derail you.
- We must realize that positive energy and spunky enthusiasm are generated! Therefore, make the choice to start each day with a zest for living, with a gratitude that is busting out of your chest and with so much delight in the day that you shine all over. The most important part of this, though, is to realize that each of us has the ability to summon up that energy, zest, zeal and wild enthusiasm! It’s free, it’s accessible and, most important, it’s contagious!
- We must bask in the day that is given us but glance ahead with bubbling hopefulness! “This is the day that the Lord has made; rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24). Too often we can spend wasted time looking back with angst, regret or remorse instead of delighting in the day before us. Or we can spend so much time thinking “someday, I will…” that we don’t appreciate the day before us! Let’s dig in, double down and relish this treasure that is called “today.” Myriad surprises and enchantments can be ours if we just open our eyes to today!
- We must, by all means, summon the POSITIVE! The fact is that we do have a choice in how we respond to life. If that’s the case, why not choose Positive? I truly believe that when we clean the lens through which we view our lives and our circumstances, when we focus on the positives around us, and when we disallow any naysayer to distort our views, we will have the ultimate satisfaction and enjoyment of life! Easy choice … get out the lens cleaner!
Welcome to 2018! Imagine the possibilities, believe in your gifts and talents, spring forward with effervescent energy and grab with gusto all that is before you!
