How To Begin, Gently: Day 31- How You Begin, Now

A partially open door

You are no longer at the beginning of the year. You are standing squarely inside of it now. You are past the point of being resolute. Past the declarations and clean slates. What you are practicing now is something quieter and kinder, restraint maybe. Or recalibration. A soft attentiveness to what you actually need instead of what you think you should want.

Because resolutions were never the point. Moving toward external goals was never really it. Moving toward an internal awareness is where it’s at. Getting closer to yourself. Not fixing yourself, for January’s sake. But noticing and paying attention to how you move through the world when things are ideal but also when they are uncertain, even hard. This month was about learning to stay present under any circumstances, good or bad.

Along the way, you’ve learned a few things. You’ve learned how to hold. You’ve learned how to serve. You’ve learned what you owe. You’ve learned how to choose. Each of these its own practice, its own invitation to slow down and act with intention. Not theoretically, but as lived experience, exercised in your kitchen and in conversations, in your work and in your family life, in moments when consciously choose to show up instead of showing off.

So now, beginning gently is not longer a concept. You’ve made it a practice. In the meals that you make for the ones you love. In how you listen and respond. In how you show up for the people who rely on you. In how you take care of yourself. And ultimately, beginning gently is a practice in how you choose to love.

So, as February approaches, your perspective shifts. You are looking for small, quiet ways to practice this love daily. You will focus less on orientation and more on expression, less on how to begin and more on how to love. And this is how you begin now. Gently.