December - Release The Past

This is my experience on using the New York Times best seller, "One Year To An Organized Life" by Regina Leeds to enhance my quality of life and establish lifestyle routines. I admire her take on getting organized one week and one area at a time because I thrive on achieving little accomplishments in moments. I hope this inspires you to get the book, follow along, and establish your own lifestyle routines as well!"

- Cheli Njoku/The Cheli Experience LLC

I stand in the center of the storm known as end-of-the-year madness. I am an oasis of calm. I release to the past all the sad, unhappy, or angry memories that have filled my mind. The past is over. I learn from it. I do not hold on to it. This month is rich with opportunities to create new, positive, happy memories for me to savor. I open myself to receiving my good. - Regina Leeds

This will be my last post sharing my experience with using One Year To An Organized Life and WOW!...what a journey this has been. I was first attracted to the book because of it's structure. The author's method of guiding you through mini achievements each month appealed to my way of learning and executing.

There were some unexpected surprises.

I did not expect to see the mindful moments. The moments of reflection. The short yet relate-able stories filled with empathy. This wasn't just a self-help book with instructions, it was a mindful guide to creating change in the parts of your life where it was needed. A guide that I will refer to over and over again because the journey of change and growth is not finite.

It's constant practice.

For the month of December, the focus was on action steps taken to prepare for the Christmas holiday expectations.

• How will you choose to celebrate?

• Preparing a gift guide

• Prepping for parties and decor.

• Supporting a charitable opportunity

I chose to celebrate with pause and reflection first. I craved peace and guidance as I found myself approaching yet another transition in life and feeling ill prepared. So I chose to find my way towards that peace by pausing and reading a bible plan for the 21 days of Advent and sharing the moments on my Instagram page. I ignored shopping and sales and retreated to safe places; physically and spiritually. I did not seek instant gratification; I know that's not how it works. Instead I'm learning to practice what I learned in those 21 days one moment at a time. Sometimes I take a couple of steps back, sometimes I pause. I'm still moving forward though. I'm still finding my way. I read somewhere that focusing on the burden of others can make your burden seem lighter or something to that effect. Paying attention to the needs of your community is one way to get out of your head while also achieving something meaningful. It will remind you of who you are. If you can be compassionate to others, you can also be compassionate to yourself.

For Christmas, I chose to support a charitable opportunity brought to my attention by my 12stone Church family - knock out hunger - by donating groceries to families. I also became a member of the Kiwanis Club and volunteered at a school in my community through the club. I've supported charitable opportunities in the past years during the Holidays and I hope to always have the resources to make a tradition out of it.

I hope you do too.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm approaching transitions. Some expected, the others hidden.

I can feel it coming.

It can be scary this unforeseen transitions. But I can't let fear in.

Fear cripples. It halts. It lies.

I know I have what it takes to not only approach this transitions but also gracefully go through them. So I keep doing the work. I keep learning self mastery and how to advocate for myself and others with the gifts of mindful guides, timeless wisdom, and spiritual guidance. The past is over. I learn from it. I do not hold on to it.

Happy New Year. Live Well.