http://www.carriehart.com/daily_portion.htmThe Year of Little Steps
This is the year of forgiveness. And the primary person you are to forgive is yourself.
This is the year of celebrating small victories. Every little thing that you achieve, every step you take in the right direction is to be celebrated and respected.
This is the year of little steps that add up to a giant leap. This is the year of little victories that add up to a magnificent battle won. This is the year of little achievements that add up to a lifting yourself up an entire level.
This is the year that you save small amounts slowly and steadily, rather than wasting your money on someone's get-rich-quick scheme. This is the year that you put yourself on a good solid exercise and eating plan, rather than wasting your energy and money on someone’s program for quick weight loss. This is the year that you look at your little habits and ways of being and restructure your life from that level first, knowing that when you change your thinking patterns at this level, so that every thought heads the right direction, then all the rest automatically follows.
This is the year to end that pattern of great expectation followed by great disappointment. Instead, just do a little bit better than you did the day before. Break that pattern by just adjusting one little thing, living with that result for a while, and then adjusting another. Small baby steps, holding on to the furniture, until you are ready to launch yourself across the room and then begin to run free.
And so, I would ask you to begin the year in this way, by forgiving yourself for all the mistakes you have made as well as the things left undone. Forgive yourself for being where you are today, in all respects: financial, physical, emotional, spiritual. Just let it go. Forgive. That is all in the past.
Begin each day in 2007 in this way. Forgive yourself for the mistakes of the previous day, for the ways in which you fell back into old patterns. Clear yourself of shame and frustration; clear yourself of blame. Open the crown of your head and invite a column of golden light to enter you and clear you of blame, criticism and regret for the previous day. Let it all be lifted from you.
Then center yourself in now and fill yourself with love. Open yourself to the joy of being alive. Invite fun to become a part of your life. Feel laughter bubbling up within you.
Your life is not just a grim determination to do better. You are a human being with a precious gift, the gift of this day, a day in which to be filled with joy, a day in which life sparkles around you brightly, waiting for you to be a part of it. And as you do this, as you open doors and windows and let life blow freshly through, choose one or two good things you will do for yourself along the way, little improvements, little steps in the right direction, little gifts you are to give yourself. One less cup of coffee, a few yoga stretches, saving ten dollars.
Do this every morning and your life will blossom wide during the year, as you gradually and slowly free yourself from old habits, but without punishing yourself in the process.
This precious life is meant to be enjoyed. These people around you are meant to be treasured and loved. You are enough. You are all that you need to be. Love yourself now and always, no matter what, every day.
Here is a little prayer for today
I release myself from the past and move fully into the love and light that is here for me now, in this precious moment.
I open my heart to all the love that is here for me. My heart relaxes and grows soft and warm, filling with love, love for myself, love for life itself.
I open my mind to the golden flowing light and move completely into now, my mind calm and quiet.
I open my center to loving energies as I fill with my truth, deep in my core, in an endless pool of peace.
And now, as I stand within this column of love and light, I ask that I may act on my own behalf today, that I may make all of my choices out of a deep love and respect for myself, taking a step in the direction I truly wish to walk.
And now, I open my heart wider and wider, allowing myself to fill with joy. I am my heart. I am love and joy and laughter. I enjoy this precious life completely.
I am love. I am power. I am peace and joy. I am.
