Trim More Than Just The Tree This Holiday Season

Trim More Than Just The Tree This Holiday Season

Trimming away the old encourages new growth.This thought washed over me as I trimmed my bushes in the warm sun of a glorious late September afternoon. Not being much of a gardener, I’ve always resisted with a vengeance pulling up or cutting off anything green in my yard; clinging to the thought that if it is alive then it deserves to grow.

As the sun beat down it felt like summer, though I knew that all the lush, green beauty around me would soon hibernate. This is OK, for spectacular autumn offers a chance to reflect on the past year and to prepare during the dormant winter for the blossoming that spring brings.

Anais Nin said, And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.All opening up is a risk. It requires vulnerability and trust. For without growth, without opening up, we whither away. Our underbrush turns brown, choking from lack of light and our blossoms become buried, unable to bloom, or fall off dead.

Trust yourself enough to blossom. The seeds of all you need to know to have a fabulous, fulfilling life are already there! Trim away that in your life which is wilted. Prune back what has hidden your brilliance so that by spring it will bloom.

As the New Year approaches, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the seeds that have yet to bloom in you and plan steps to cultivate them. Taking action is the only way to create your ideal life. A few tips on how to begin:

Set your intention for what you want to create in your life in 2009. Think BIG!

Start a journal as a place to put all your goals and dreams and write down some steps you can take to achieve them.Baby steps will get you there standing still will not.

Commit to specific action. Ask yourself, What can I do today toward my dream?and JUST DO IT!

Consider forming an accountability group or working with a life coach. It helps to have others to support you, motivate you and hold you accountable to taking the steps to fulfilling your dream.

Looking out over my nicely trimmed yard, my bushes happy with their new haircuts, I think perhaps it might be time to cut my own. My long straight hair is a point of contention with my mother who reminds me, in my 40′s, Aren’t you a little old for that long hair?Yes, it feels youthful to me. I like the feel of it against my neck and shoulders and the ease with which I can just put it up and go. I ponder for a moment whether there is a deeper attachment to my hair as a symbol of holding on to something that needs to be pruned.

Nah, I think as I tuck a purple bloom into my ponytail, I just like it.

But I could definitely use a trim.

Lisa Dalton is a Life Coach, Speaker and Author specializing in life transitions and personal and professional development. Visit her website at www.godeepcoach.com