This should be easy

Following up on my previous post -

how do you like my first 2 "me things" for 2012?

While browsing on Flickr, I ran across a lovely picture with some tips for the New Year. All were good tips, but this one stuck out to me:

Open your mind and just be still. Make time to let you mind relax and embrace uncertainty.

Being still is something I have been trying to do over the past few months. Turning the outside world off and sitting still is something that isn't hard for me to do. What I find impossible, though, is opening my mind and ridding it of stale thoughts. I tend to hold on to stressors way more than I should. When I stop everything to just be still and think, they creep up on me. The things that take up most of my thinking time are typically situations at work (never projects, projects don't consume my thoughts as much as you might think), monetary issues (who doesn't worry about this?), wanting a scenery change and situations at work (wait, did I list that twice?).

These things eat at me, poke at me and taunt me until I stop being still and get up to find something to occupy my mind with. I've tried many things to rid my head of these thoughts and have even gone as far as writing them down on paper and throwing them away. But still... they sit in the back of my head and mock me with their laughter.

What's the best way to rid my mind of these thoughts to allow more room for positive thinking when sitting still? I'm going to work on figuring this out... but not so hard that it adds to the stress!

Before I sat down to write this post, I sat in my bedroom (which is now a peaceful haven thanks to a redecorating urge I had a week ago) and thought about the past year. What a year it has been. I've read a few blog posts and Facebook posts since the new year that have mentioned many steps forward and many steps back. I can honestly say that I've taken many steps forward this year, but my steps back have been limited. Sure, there have been trials and obstacles all year but what year doesn't have those? As part of my task to clear out the stressors and fill my thoughts with positive vibes, I'm listing some of the highlights from this year:

Continued to have a loving, supportive and strong relationship with The Sweet Boy and celebrated our 7th anniversary in October. I cannot be thankful enough for the support he gives me in all aspects of what I do. Became more involved in a professional organization that is helping me define my career path in ways that I didn't know existed until a couple of years ago. Finally found a doctor who listened enough to diagnose PCOS as my issue with so many things (and since the diagnosis and following treatments, I haven't felt this good in over 15 years). Traveled to Mexico, Honduras and Belize with my sister - it was a trip we started talking about in 2003. Went to my first music festival in Chicago with my sister and boy have I been missing out! Participated in the Emerging Leaders Institute in NYC through the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. Was published in an honest to goodness REAL publication. Joined my sister as a Junque Rethunque partner (a business she started with my mom years ago) and we had a successful first year as flea market booth renters. Next up? World domination, of course!

If I spend enough time thinking back on these highlights, there surely won't be room for the other things. My hope, for 2012, is to have an even better year than 2011. I'm off to a good start with a trip to Indianapolis at the beginning of February to work during the Super Bowl followed by a trip out to NYC for the IAVM PAMC conference. Now only time will tell how the year will shape after that.

So here's to a great year with many steps forward and much time spent opening my mind and just being still.