saying goodbye and saying hello...

It’s my birthday and even on a not-so-milestone year, that’s usually cause for some reflection on my part.

This seems like a period of major transition for most people I know, and I’m not sure if it is because of the times in which we are living, or the pace at which change is taking place, but it seems as if we are all on a runaway rollercoaster, being tossed about, with highs and lows we never imagined, torn between throwing our hands up in the air and seeing where this ride takes us, and holding on for dear life and some sign that we are going to be okay in the end.

Either choice brings with it its own pros and cons. And I think that the issue is not so much whether we hold on or let go, but that this ride is happening, regardless of which choice we make. So really, the only thing we are altering is our experience of the ride.

Life is perpetual forward motion, ever-changing and constantly new. But as with any change, we are leaving behind something known for something unknown, and that is a little scary, even on its best day.

As I leave my last decade behind, I am struck by a sense of peace that I in no way remotely possessed at the beginning of the previous decade of my life. It is not because I have become a Zen master, or have crossed off everything on my bucket list, but because as we get older, we hopefully get wiser. And that wisdom is hard earned with the passage of time. We lose people we love, and of the rest who remain, we become keenly aware that time shared is what is of most value, because no one is promised tomorrow.

So what is it, on this particular birthday, that I want to say goodbye to, and what hello?

I happily say goodbye to the version of myself that ever doubted or denied or simply didn’t know my value. 

I say goodbye to struggle and resistance, to taking on what doesn’t belong to me. And I say hello to allowing, releasing, and embracing all the miraculous good that is being sent my way constantly. 

I say goodbye to limiting thoughts and hello to the infinite possibility that exists at all times. 

I say goodbye to those whose contribution to my life has been completed, and hello to those with whom I am meant to grow and expand. 

I lovingly release and say goodbye to all that is not meant for me, and I say hello to what is meant for me.

I take a breath, and a step forward, and I open my arms – to life, to love, to an abundance of richest blessings. And as I do that for me, I invite you to do the same for you, because this is not a world of lack. This is a world of plenty. And as we see it, and say it, and feel it, and claim it, so shall it be.

I celebrate the start of a new decade of my life with gratitude and humility, with love and acceptance, with joy and so much appreciation for you who are reading this, for all who have ever stopped by here, for those who will visit in the days, months, and years to come, and for all who have ever touched my life in any way. I am richly, richly blessed.

Peace and love to you always,

Ilene