How to use the 2012 Solstice to Your Advantage

Who defines you?

What do you say when asked, “what do you do?”

Do you ever feel like just a mom, just a daughter, a girlfriend, a husband? The wacky aunt, maybe?

I ask you this because we have almost reached winter. Winter is typically the time of introspection for the year, but of course, this winter is even more special. We are a few weeks away from the most special solstice of our lifetimes.

And by the way, I’m sure that all of you know we are not in danger of materializing or anything like that. We’ll wake up just fine on December 22nd.

What this date does give us is a focal point for balancing our spiritual nature with our physical being.

This may sound like an abstract thing, but bringing together our Soul and our Self into this earthly experience is the key to living a fulfilled life.

This is true for the people who do it consciously, like you and me, and also for the people who do it without realizing it.

You know who I’m talking about: the people who feel a calling to bike across the United States, the doctors who fly to war torn countries to help refugees, all of the people who are living their wildest dreams, and even the ones who are enjoying what looks like very hard work.

Their Soul is guiding them to a life which expresses itself.

The big thing to grasp here, is that these people are allowing their soul to guide them.

That is what differentiates them from most people.

Whether they are doing it on purpose or not, they are the ones who are living soul-driven, spirit-led lives.

They are living in their truest calling day after day.

What I’ve found over the years of my own journey, and from helping others on theirs,’ is that we often stop ourselves from taking the leap because we focus on the negative that will happen when we do jump.

Say we have wanted to travel the world our whole lives. We’ve read travel magazines, mapped out our route, taken some language classes, and psyched ourselves up for years, possibly even decades, because we knew that our ultimate goal in life is to travel the world. It’s what we want more than anything. And we know for sure that it would make us happier than anything else in the world.

Then, one day, the phone rings and you guessed it, the opportunity to travel the world has arrived!

You just you weren’t expecting it to come so soon. You have a job, you have a significant other, you may even have a child.

So what do you do? You say that you can’t make it. You can’t go. You can’t afford to give up what is in your life just because this opportunity has come. You can’t see how it would work. It’s not what you expected anyway. You probably wouldn’t have a good time after all.

How do you justify this? How do you make yourself feel better after something like that? You take solace in your roles.

A good girlfriend doesn’t take trips without her mate. My boss would never give me the time off. My friends would think I am such a bad mother for leaving my kids with my mom for a month. A good mother stays with her kids.

You can even take solace in your identifications. “I’m too unorganized to plan a trip, I’d mess it up.” “I’m not strong enough to hike up that mountain!” “I could never travel alone, I need someone to help me.”

If you insert your secret wish or dream life into the story, you may be able to already see what I’m talking about.

I didn’t tell you this story to make you feel bad, though. I told you this because now is the perfect time to consider the first questions I asked you:

Who defines you?

What do you say when asked, “what do you do?”

Do you ever feel like just a mom, just a daughter, a girlfriend, a husband? The wacky aunt, maybe?

If you are currently letting others define who you are, or are letting yourself be defined by roles, instead of your Soul, let this upcoming solstice be a focal point for change.

Decide that you get to start over on December 21st, 2012.

Decide that your inner guidance is valid and that you will let it steer you into a life of fulfillment and joy; A life that will benefit you and the people you love.

If you are now thinking to yourself that you can’t do that to your family, I have two more question to ask you:

Would you rather model complacency or joy to your loved ones? Would you like to inspire them to live out their dreams or reward them for settling?

If you give your Soul a chance to speak up, it will.

If you also listen and follow the guidance it will provide, your life will shift almost imperceptibly until that phone call comes one day.

When that day comes, I’m sure you’ll be ready.