By Christine Kniffen, MSW, LCSW
Shifting ‘The Energy’ This Holiday Season
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Have you paused long enough recently? Have you stopped, taken a step back and just felt the soothing, gentle wind and its calming effect? It is a light, but brisk reminder of all that it good about nature and its ability to restore balance, hence sanity to our souls. Dr. Andrew Weil, whom I think the world of for health issues, wrote an article a few years ago for Newsweek titled “Nature–Deficit Disorder” which speaks to this need to connect with nature. I personally feel that we are collectively racing too fast and “the energy” in the world is feeling too frantic, intensely magnified by the thumping music added to dramatic, negative headlines by the media regarding hope for the economy, let alone the country. This overly sensational, reality-tv-style of news reporting stirs up plenty of fear, anxiety and frankly, negative energy in not only the world, but most assuredly in our personal lives as well.
This Holiday season I want to do my part to shift “the energy”. I want to loudly declare my list of gratitude’s in order to send as much positive energy out to the universe as I can… Hoping all will pick up on this effort too. It’s no different than doing “the Wave” at the ball park.
- I am grateful for my relationship, because it simply is the “icing on the cake” ……to share growth and change with someone for the duration of your migration. That is quite comforting.
- I am grateful for the continued health of my dear old friend, Mr. Boppers. He’s my 20-year-old feline that has been there with me through thick-and-thin, while helping ease the emotional turmoil inextricably linked to love and romance.
- I am grateful for my wonderful parents. They are principled, intelligent, caring people whom I am happy to devote a fair amount of time each week helping them out in any way necessary. I am grateful that my type of job allows me to be able to do just that.
- I am grateful for all the CNN Heroes and people portrayed on NBC’s-Making a Difference segment on the nightly, national news. We so obviously need the positive energy to start being pumped back into the wind.
- I am grateful for my good friends, people with many of the core values I hold dear to my heart regarding how one treats others. And, for being fairly compatible in liking to throw a nice party, though I must admit I had strayed from this endeavor for quite some time. So, I am grateful that I am getting excited to finally have a small gathering around the end of January. It will be filled with Brazilian music from Pandora, great appetizers and the like.
- Finally, I am grateful to all of the faithful readers of this column. I would like to let you know that I am very close to self-publishing my book, The Art of Relating: A Primary for Love, which will be available in January or February this coming year. I will keep everyone posted in upcoming Healthy Planet editions. I am grateful that so many people want to learn and believe in the validity of helping talk someone into a better place regarding their view of the world, relationships and possibilities as they apply to each of them.
So, I hope you will also take the time to send some positive vibes to help heal “the energy” in the world. In turn, you will feel the difference it makes in your personal sense of well-being and optimism. Currently, many people are simply far too disconnected to this world. Get reconnected this season with family and friends by sharing a gratitude list. Let them into your heart and feel the closeness, stability and support it provides. In the end, people find that those things which make them happiest most often are not bought with money. It’s the simple things that always matter most. Share those with others.
Start your gratitude list now and begin building the momentum to catapult yourself this coming year, towards the directions that will truly make you happy. Now, that’s “some good energy!”
Christine Kniffen, LCSW is a Relationship Coach and Therapist. For a free consultation call 314-374-8396.