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By Sharon Cormousis
December 2, 2011 (Boulevard) -- There are only a few weeks until we roll into 2012; we are going into the hibernating time of year. The leaves have mostly fallen, the air is crisp and often nearly thirty degrees lower at night and we drag out our flannel sheets, boots and long-sleeve shirts.
For me, this is one of the best times of the year. From the aspect of nature, there are several mountain plants that only produce during this season. Despite long periods of little rain, the hills are very green with the more subdued colors of sage and Manzanita. Hiking is especially enjoyable because we are able to concentrate on something else beside rattlers.
There is an old nomadic saying from the Sands of the Saharas, “the dog barks, the caravan passes” meaning that no matter what we do, summer becomes fall and then winter follows, or, the year we are living rolls into another. I remember how my clients lived in a frenzy during this time of year as they were preparing business plans for the next year.
I helped them to discover a new focus called LIFE PLANS, and they are now looking forward to 2012 and what they wish to accomplish during the year. Some are focused on survival, some on growth and a few on passing from the world, as they know it.
In thnking about 2012, a few sayings come to my mind that may be of value to you as you make your own plans. Several of these saying are similar to a wet cloth slapping across a cheek.
“An acorn falls, is covered with earth, and there in the darkness the great work begins” Steve Sanfield. Do you
believe a great work has begun in your imagination and your dreams for your future? Think about this, and set aside a block of time to mull it over during the next six weeks.
believe a great work has begun in your imagination and your dreams for your future? Think about this, and set aside a block of time to mull it over during the next six weeks.“Some chores must be put off many times before they can be forgotten completely!” Chances are when you procrastinate long enough, the reason for the chore will go away, or someone else will get it done. I personally favor the strategy of delegation. If you do not want to do it, find another person who will.
“How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterwards,” Spanish Proverb. In my 2012 plan, I have set aside quite a bit of quiet time. In the quiet I can not only write my prayers, but I can really listen to the guidance of my Creator. However, when I pack the day so full of activities or lists of things to do, then tiredness keeps me from the closeness that I need.
More than 100 years ago, James Allen wrote this poem along with a short book called “As a Man Thinketh”
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: —
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass.
I have long believed that we do shape our mind by the choices we make in what we listen to, read, see, discuss, embrace, and allow.
How do these thoughts help us plan? I, for one, intend to:
- Unleash the entirety of my imagination of what could be
- Delegate everything possible
- Make quiet and prayer time a big part of my daily life
- Use my tool of thought to improve my life and the lives of others
This may be the first year since 1982, the birth of my career in financial planning, that I have left out the boring items like INCOME and EXPENSES. Do I really HAVE to attend to those? Probably! So, to simplify when I add all my expenses, it MUST be less than my income, or I have to find more income. OK, here is the challenge. By December 20, I choose to have my 2012 spending plan in writing, to make it balance, and to write a scenario of my life and accomplishments for the year, AS IF IT ALREADY EXISTS.
Then I will think it into existence.
What about you?
The Purple Mountain Sage welcomes questions from readers! Write to us at: askthepurplemountainsage@gmail.com. The Purple Mountain Sage is Sharon Courmousis, co-owner of Sacred Rocks Reserve and RV Park, a 163-acre wilderness preserve and campground in Boulevard, CA, which is also home to the Sacred Rocks Artists’ Colony. Sharon can be reached by calling: 619-766-4480. Visit the Sacred Rocks Reserve website at: www.sacredrocksreserve.com. Advice From the Purple Mountain Sage is an opinion column written for The Back Country Messenger. Opinions stated within are those of the writer.
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