Looking Ahead

Dear Reader,

Several times over the past few days I have heard someone say, “The year has gone so fast!” For those of you in the States, Thanksgiving is nearly here. In our house, we have started checking the TV listings to see when the Christmas specials will arrive.

On one hand, it seems like 2012 is just around the corner. On the other hand…

It’s not even December yet! Isn’t there plenty of time left in 2011?! Yes, there is, but I suggest taking a little time now to look ahead to 2012. I did exactly that earlier today, and it was great fun.

Wait. Don’t I often write about being fully present? And wouldn’t looking ahead mean being distracted by the future?

Well, not necessarily. First of all, even looking to the future happens in the present. In case you think that’s merely a metaphysical technicality, just think… if you can do anything in a fully present way (wash the dishes, go for a walk) you should be able to also focus on the future in a fully present way.

That’s the way it happened for me this morning. I got one of those feelings – clear, quiet, specific – that it would be a good time to look ahead to next year. I always trust those feelings, so I sat down and took a few moments to get clear. Then I focused on 2012, and the possibilities it may hold in store for me and my family. I got images, and feelings, and ideas. I wrote them down.

Next, I got out my markers and a big sketch pad and drew our dream house. It had a foundation, a basement and three stories. It had a deck looking over the water, two chimneys, a dance art/loft with skylights on the third floor, a lawn and a big tree with a swing next to the house. I noticed that I still draw much the same way I did when I was eight years old, including a big, yellow sun up in the corner of the paper – and it still makes me just as happy!

The house was our dream house, but it also represented everything we might create next year and beyond.  I wrote some ideas and impressions into the foundation space, others into the basement, and continued until I finally wrote the biggest dreams into that third story with the skylights. I loved it, and so did Louise!

This timing is earlier than I usually do visioning exercises for the year ahead. It feels very freeing, and I feel lighter for having done it. Sometimes I think that waiting to do a New Year’s visioning process can feel heavy, because the new year is right there in your face. It’s ready to start, whether you are or not. You feel pressure to come up with a brilliant plan, fast.

This way, I created the plan when I felt inspired, and now I have plenty of time to refine it (maybe a dog next to the tree? A gazebo? Louise suggested a windmill…) When the new year arrives, I can get off to a flying start with a plan already in place. How exciting will that be? I can already feel it!

One other benefit of looking ahead now, near the end of November – my vision of the future actually informs the present. With that vision in my mind, not only am I inspired to make the most of the rest of this Year of Excellence, but I also have insight that will help me choose the actions I need to take right now to bring my new vision to life next year.

We are complex creatures, capable of shifting back and forth between past, present and future at will. When we do so in a conscious way, we often access our most powerful gifts.

I honor your loving heart,

John