What You Need to Focus on Right Now to Find Direction Next Year

If you’ve received any of my past letters, you’ll know I’m big into seasonal living and finding balance in life. One of the reasons is that seasonal living is very doable yet forgiving at the same time.

First off, you don’t have to focus on doing it all, all of the time. You really only have to focus on a few things that pertain to the season (whatever that may be in your neck of the woods). Whew! That’s a load off, right?

Secondly, your focus is to live as balanced as you can in each season. Balance? Balance refers to whole-body balance ― mind, body, and soul. In our world today, it’s easy to live on the edge of the scale ― to be right-wing or left-wing, black or white, in or out, modern or old-fashioned, so on and so forth, as opposed to living somewhere in the middle.

Now, I’m not saying that living in the balanced middle means you’re accepting of all things or you have no convictions because that’s not what I’m saying. What it does mean is that you can have your beliefs and values ― you can know who you are and what you believe in, but you can do it from a place of love and peace.

Balance is about looking at both sides of an issue. It’s about being able to handle stress, changes, and uncertainty without living in complete fear or running headfirst into the unknown. It’s about living in moderation. It’s about knowing what you believe and living that out without aggressively pushing it on others.

Third, and lastly, seasonal living is very forgiving, and perfection is not required. As you might have guessed, balance is something we strive for continually. Once you find it, it’s easy to get off track again at any giving moment, but the more you live with this mindset, the easier it becomes to identify what’s out of balance which, in turn, helps you to move back toward equilibrium. Also, seasons come and go, and then they come again. Over and over and over. If you feel like you didn’t do well at all one season, you’ll get another chance, and from my experience, the more cycles you go through, the easier it gets.

Your Fall Focus: Planning For Next Year Begins Now

Okay, so when it comes to embracing seasonal living and planning for the coming year, I think fall is the best time to get started. Why? Because fall is the time when you identify your values or the things you want to take with you into the coming year ― the next cycle.

What kinds of things do you value? Things that are not of monetary value? Thinks you wouldn’t trade for something else? I’m talking about getting down to the bare bones of what you’re grateful for and want to keep in your life in the coming year? Is it your health, your family, friends, your home, your job, your pets, your exercise routine, your morning quiet time, your book list, your benevolence work ― what is it.

Label the things you value, and let everything else go. Fall is a time to prune away the dead and wasteful ― to make room for new growth for yourself next spring. We only have so much time and so much room in our lives. We might as well make space for what’s valuable to us and forget all the fluff.

This time of pruning can take some time. It’s not something that happens overnight. You really have to think about it and decide what’s worth keeping and what isn’t. What things are going to help you grow as a person, as a family, as an employee, as a friend?

This process can bring up feelings of loneliness because you’re evaluating yourself, your life, and decluttering it. There’s a bit of a grieving process that we go through here, but this is necessary because we will take these values and use them in the other seasons (especially Winter) to live our best lives.

Okay, so that’s it for today. You and I both have some work to do. Get out your journal and start writing. Ask yourself the hard questions, and spill everything your thinking onto the page. It’s good for your mind and your soul.

Blessings,
Meagan