This past summer I broke my foot. My right foot. This of course meant I could not drive and I spent a number of weeks on crutches. I was attending a meditation course when it happened and it was quite a little trek between the meditation hall, the dining hall and my room. So, friends drove me between buildings numerous times each day. They brought me food, made herbal teas full of minerals good for bone healing, did my laundry… basically did everything except sleep for me.

This broke certain patterns about how I do things. From outside the habits, I could better see the patterns in which I live my life, but which have no life in them. So, once my foot was healed, I invited some friends to help me re-vision ways in which I engage certain activities.

I invited a friend to clear my closet out with me. She was great: “That makes you feel sad when you look at it.” “That feels like an outdated version of you.“ “This is not flattering.” “And that is just weird, not sure why you ever bought it.” Six bags of clothing later, my closet could breathe again.

Another friend is an interior designer. I asked him to help me re-invent my office. I explained that I no longer liked the way I approached my work and wanted to shift something both functionally and energetically in my office. After showing him the few things that were highly functional in my office design, I promised to go with any changes he suggested, even if I did not like them.

He made several suggestions I thought I did not like. But I went with it. I opened to his ideas and a new way of approaching my work. And by the time he was done – WOW! My office space felt so fresh and much more functional in terms of day to day operations. It held more presence and was much more aesthetically pleasing. And even though there is more furniture in it now than before, it feels like there is less. It just goes to show that experts earn that title for good reason.

The piece de resistance for me was having a friend and fellow space clearer clear my home for me. It is pure delight to get to be a client in the field of your own profession. At least it is for me!

So in this new year, I challenge you to find patterns in your own life that need to be shed. Ask friends, hire an expert–get the help required to break old, worn-out habits. Open yourself to new possibilities and allow yourself to be surprised, even amazed, by what can come to you.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

― Albert Einstein