For auld lang syne
New Year’s. A time of reflection and letting loose of the old that no longer serves one to make room for the new. Many will make resolutions; many will be soon forgotten. I’ve learned some important things this year about change. Often the focus of our New Year’s resolutions, the desire to change something about ourselves, an improvement to our lives, to do away with something or add something in an effort to refresh ourselves. The aha moment this year came in learning that our hidden and competing goals kept unconscious win over our hoped for change. The need for self-preservation trumps our good intention. Excavating hidden and competing goals and testing out the assumptions and beliefs we hold offer the keys to the change we seek. ** (Immunity to Change) I’ve long given up the tradition of New Year’s resolutions because too many were soon forgotten! I do, however, have a New Year’s intent or theme that I focus on all year long. No strings, no expectations, no goals, objectives and measures. Just something I hold out there for myself to think and reflect on and invite in to my life as it will come. Interestingly and amazingly, these gifts do come into my life. Over the years I’ve explored joy, freedom, gratitude, and abundance, among others. I’m always amazed as I take stock at the end of each year how the theme has played out over the year and how it’s shaped my life in ways I would not have known if I had narrowed myself to a resolution easily made and cast aside. “For auld lang syne”, as the song goes, loosely translated, means “for the sake of old times”. Tradition, culture, attitude, belief, habit, legend, lore and law often have us repeating roles, behaviors, routines and ways of life. Not because they support the way we want our lives and those of our sons and daughters to be, but because they are familiar, safe, and support the stories we tell ourselves. It is time to let loose of attitudes, beliefs, routines and behaviors that no longer serve us regarding gender. For the sake of new times and future generations let us hold the intention to achieve gender equality. **Immunity to Change
