Happy 2016 Peeps! I absolutely love the happy, sparkly energy of a brand new year. There is something about the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start that is invigorating. Although the start of a year is no quick fix, and many of the hoped for changes don't materialise, I still love riding the wave of inspiration as long as possible.  

From a Numerology point of view, 2016 is a nine year which means the nine year cycle that began in 2007 is drawing to a close. 2016 is all about endings and depending on your personal year calculation, this effect will be magnified or minimized for you. In general, though, it's a useful time to re-evaluate what's working and what isn't working in your life. It's a year to let go and leave things be; a challenging task for many of us.

Holding on too tightly, whether it's to belongings we no longer need, people we no longer  want, or have, in our lives, or even outdated beliefs we have about ourselves, is where the root of the problem lies. We often expend tremendous energy trying to force ourselves to let go without understanding that the problem is not so much what we are holding on to, but the habit we have of holding on. It's our grip we need to loosen.

Accepting that all things have a natural impermanence is a starting point. We already do this on a daily basis. The day starts and ends, summer, winter, the school year, weekends, holidays all have beginnings and endings. Even enjoying a good meal is part of that natural cycle of life, The confusion comes in those places where how we have decided things SHOULD BE, doesn't match how things ACTUALLY ARE.

Anger, guilt, frustration and depression all brew in this discrepancy between our expectations of a situation and the reality of it. In the process of letting go of these fairytale ideals, we stand the chance of discovering something surprisingly beautiful. The truth. In the midst of the heartache and helplessness of how things aren't, the truth shines out in it's magnificence. That's what endings and beginnings are truly about.

So make use of the powerful opportunity in 2016 to de-clutter your thoughts. Let go of what is making you unhappy and cultivate being happy with what is. As Byron Katie so eloquently put it, 'If you fight with reality, you will lose.' Happy New Year!