It’s 2012 — the year the Mayan calendar ends. But instead of doom and gloom, I’m going to make 2012 the best year ever! That’s because I’m so excited about the theme I’ve chosen for the coming 12 months.

As you may remember, every New Year’s, I pick a theme. Last year’s theme was LOVE — a natural when I knew I’d be speaking about Love for No Reason throughout the year. (BTW, there’s a cool announcement about Love for No Reason coming up on Tuesday. Look out for it!)

This year, I spent a few days thinking about my 2012 theme, and I came up with a different possibilities, but none of really hit the spot. Then just yesterday, as I was leaving a Zumba class (all those endorphins seem to clear my brain), it suddenly came to me — my theme for 2012 is “thank you.” Simply that… thank you.

But those two seemingly simple little words can turn everything around. If I can say thank you to everything — no matter what — then I know my life will be joyous and more unconditional love will be automatic.

For me, saying thank you to everything means dropping my evaluation of whether something is good or bad, and judging every happening as to its “merit.” If instead, I can live with a continuous thank you, then everything that comes up can be viewed as a gift. This is a stretch for me, a chronic evaluator, but it’s one I’m up for. Because without a doubt, the happiest people I’ve ever met are those who always have a thank you in their hearts.

My selection of the thank you theme has already been reinforced many times since I made it:

–A friend passed away on New Year’s Day — a wonderful woman who lived with thank you on her lips despite a number of years with a debilitating illness. Her passing reminded me how fleeting and fragile life can be, but how infinitely precious. Thank you.

–Earlier today, I spoke with another friend and asked her how she was. Her reply was, “Grateful.” She said she’d woken up the past few mornings with a lightness and gratitude in her heart. None of her life circumstances had changed, but she was grateful to be alive. Thank you.

–Being single around the holidays has its challenges for many people, including me. But I got to be part of my nephew’s beautiful wedding celebration on New Year’s Eve and witness the great love between him and his new wife. Instead of feeling sad for being alone, I was inspired by their deep love and how they live in a constant thank you for each other. Thank you.

Here’s the process I recommend for you to select and use your theme for 2012:

1. Select a theme that sings to your soul. While you’ve been reading this, has a theme come to you? Are you having a strong pull to a particular word, phrase, or concept? Maybe there’s more than one. Jot them down. Sit with them for a while and see which one speaks the loudest to you. You’ll know you’ve found the right one for you when you’re uplifted just thinking about it.

2. Craft your theme into a short intention statement that becomes your “mantra” for the year. Mine is: I live this year in a continual thank you.

3. Create a vision board with your theme at the top. (I made mine last week, and I love looking at it.)

4. Make a habit of looking for the ways your theme shows up throughout your day.

I can’t wait to hear what your theme for 2012 is. Please share it with me on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MarciShimoffFan.

In honor of my 2012 theme of Thank You, I’d love to share a little gift with you. It’s a beautiful, short video from one of my Love for No Reason heroes, Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk who has started a worldwide gratefulness movement.

As Brother David says, “We are never more than one grateful thought away from peace of heart.”

May your 2012 theme, whatever it is, open your heart to experience greater love this year than ever before.

Aaah.  A New Year!  Woo-hoooo.

What I love about the new year is that we get a fresh start.  Right now, you have a fantastic opportunity– you get to leave behind what didn’t work in 2011 and envision what you’d like to create in 2012.  As this quote says:

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”  – Oprah Winfrey

For the past ten years, I’ve had a simple New Year’s ritual that’s been a great way to ring in the new.  I’ve shared it with a few friends who’ve loved doing it, so I want to share it with you. As the saying goes, Well begun is half done, so I suggest you do this either on New Year’s eve or New Year’s day to get 2012 off to a wonderful start.:

1. Start with a 10 – 15 minute meditation in which you set your attention on releasing the old and opening to the new.
2. On a piece of paper, hand write a list of all the things in 2011 that you’d like to let go of.  This can include old patterns that don’t serve you, grudges or resentments you’re hanging on to, fears that hold you back, or circumstances that you’d like to change.It can also include not-useful habits such as eating too much sugar or not exercising.  Make sure your list is as complete as possible with everything that didn’t work for you in 2011.  My list is usually a few pages.
3. If it’s easy for you to burn the list, then you can do that.  If not, you can tear the list up in many pieces.  As you release this list, imagine letting go of the energies that are represented on your list.
4. Now, on to creation.  Make a list of all that you wish to create for yourself in 2012.Include the habits you’d like to embrace, the external circumstances you’d like to create, and the internal experiences you’d like to have (joy, freedom, ease, love, peace, acceptance of all that is, etc).  Be as specific as possible.
5. Read the list aloud (whether you’re alone or with others).  Speaking it out adds more energy to it.  Feel each item as though it’s actually happened.
6. Put the list in a special place, as a symbolic offering for your coming year.

Notice how you feel after doing this ritual.  I always feel cleansed, lighter, renewed, and excited about what’s ahead.

Please let me know your experience with this and/or share with me any New Year ritual you love on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MarciShimoffFan

This is a special New Year’s for me.  I get to spend New Year’s eve in an extraordinary way.  I have the huge honor of officiating at my nephew’s wedding on December 31!    He and his fiancée are two fabulous people and they’re a great match — their relationship is an inspiration.  I can’t think of a better way to start the new year in this celebration of love.

May 2012 be a year for you full of wonder, grace, miracles, love and the deepest fulfillment of your soul.

With love for every reason,

Marci

P.S.  Something exciting is happening on January 10 — stay tuned for the news.

Living Energy Day starts tomorrow, December 21st at 8PM EST!

“We’re starting near the hour of the solstice and kicking off the longest day with a burst of energy! Get energized on Living Energy Day. It starts the shortest day of the year (if you live above the equator) December 21st, 2011. We’re hosting a 24 hour live teleseminar marathon to spread the word about energy healing.”

My interview with Sandra Crowe kicks off 24 hours of interviews about energy/energy knowledge. Listen in  7:30pm EST and 4:30 PST.

Listen in Live

https://www.facebook.com/LivingEnergyDay

Today is my birthday.  I turned 53 years young and I’m spending it in the most extraordinary way.

I’m helping midwife my 93 year old aunt in her passing. It maybe her birthday today, too — into a new world.

Thank you for all your love and wishes. I am full of gratitude.

Marci

We’re almost through the first week of 2011 – how time flies!  As we move into the new year, I‘ve been reflecting back on 2010 – with a smile! (I hope you can as well.)

Last January, I shared how each year I pick a theme for the year to guide me and give a context for all of my experiences. The theme I chose for 2010 was Trust.  And boy did I need it!   Trust turned out to be the perfect theme to keep my heart open through a year that included the loss of my marriage, 3 friends, our family home and my mother. It helped me relax and let in more love.  Though I was tested in many ways, I learned to trust myself and trust life on a deeper level than I ever had before.

One of the expressions that stuck with me through the year was “Life doesn’t happen to me, it happens for me.”   Whenever I started to worry or feel anxiety about the challenges I was facing, I turned in trust to that feeling that life was supporting in ways I couldn’t even see.

As I just ‘gave birth” to my newest book, Love for No Reason, it feels appropriate that my theme for 2011 is the year of Love.  I’ve already done a dozen interviews so far this year, and I can see that I’ll be getting to spend my days this year talking all about love, so I set this as my intention:

I Live This Year with An Open Heart.

While you’ve been reading this, has a theme come to you?  Are you having a strong pull to a particular word, phrase or concept?  Maybe there’s more than one.  Jot them down.  Sit with them for a while and see which one speaks the loudest to you.

I encourage you to select a theme that will help you open your heart and help you grow in your experience of love. You’ll know you’ve found the right one for you when you’re uplifted just thinking about it. Then set an intention with a short phrase that becomes your “mantra” for the year.  Make sure this resonates deeply in your heart.

Having a theme for your year is the first step of what I call The Magic Formula of Manifestation: Intention, Attention, and No Tension.

Follow these steps to build a strong foundation for 2011:

1. Select a theme for your year that sings to your soul.
2. Create a vision board with your theme at the top.  (I made mine last week and I love looking at it.)
3. Make a habit of looking for the ways your theme shows up throughout your day

I would love to support your effort to keep you focused on your theme.  Please go to my Facebook Fan page and post your theme on my wall.  This will help to make it real AND you may very well help someone else in our community find their theme.  There is no better way to stay accountable than when you have other people sharing and supporting you.

May your theme carry you through this year in happiness and, of course, in love.

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