This past weekend we completed our final workshop of the year, the last module of the 2017 Leadership Development Training (LDT). Each year the LDT class focuses on the theme of New Beginnings. It was amazing! As their final project together, our trainees presented their New Beginnings workshop to 20 very lucky participants (6 staff plus 14 invited guests).

It was an incredible gift to witness these new facilitators step into their leadership and to be guided through a day of deep and powerful processes. And they each did it with their own unique personalities coming through. We can’t wait to see the impact they have on the world.

This is a great time of year to look ahead, to get excited about the upcoming year. (My word for 2018 is Devotion. I’m excited to see how it plays out in my life.) As the co-leader of COR, I’m almost always looking ahead and anticipating. In fact, we’re already working on the 2020 calendar to see what exciting new places we can bring COR workshops.

However, an essential part of creating a new beginning, of looking ahead and planning, is pausing to reflect on where we are and how we got here. That’s why our theme for the month of December is Reflection.

This month we invite you to join us in reflecting on your lives. There are a couple of reasons this so important. First, reflection allows us to step out of the rat race and the perpetual “doing mind” task list. In a sense, that part of us is never satisfied. In reflection, we can cultivate gratitude for what we have and also see specifically what lessons life is teaching us. How have we grown? How have we participated in love? What is actually present in our lives? These questions require a pause.

The second reason for reflection is because it creates a much more powerful and informed way to look forward, so we don’t keep repeating the same patterns. Instead, we get to actually build on where we are now. Stepping off the hamster wheel and pausing always creates a new, more accurate, perception and appreciation.

So we’d love to know, what are some of your thoughts and reflections on 2017? When you looked back, what did you notice? And share it on our Facebook page! Your share about 2017 might resonate with someone else and bring more clarity to their year. 

All the best,
Lee