Happiness the new rich, health the new wealth and kindness the new cool.

Each year, I chose a word/s that I use as a mantra to allow the year to manifest itself around and through my life. It is a great technique used in coaching that allows the individual to do inner learning, manage trauma, or addictions or even used by some as a survival technique. With a few arduous years behind me, and a world of opportunity ahead of me, I decided I would step into the past 2020 with the sense of eagerness and curiosity of a child, and mark it with wonder and admiration that it deserved. However, in hindsight the mantra or words that I would finally choose would be the Russian roulette I would play with much of 2020. And as the world was handed COVID-19 on a platter, I was stuck with my sardonic mantra of “laughter, fun and joy”. Great poets would write of such desperate irony and how on many occasions I would suffer a tower moment not quite understanding the whole point of cheerfulness that I now had to live by, under the sad conditions that the world who would suffer on a daily basis throughout 2020. Nevertheless, it would be against the universe rules and my persistent nature to change it at this late stage of the game, the learning and realisation which I would only come to know of, at the end of 2020.

Mantras are often used in meditations and as guide for everyday life, it has the ability to change the attitude and emotions of a person and many traditional teachers, guides, experts, psychologist, coaches and personalities use it in the world of spirituality, academics, sport, business, and politics. The subtle psychological construct for success and achievement through change of mindset and for overcoming personal and collective difficulties, and forms part of a mindfulness approach, and usually as a feel-good placebo in a somewhat imperfect world.

Picking a difficult mantra or word makes the work a bit more difficult, in my case I would have to return sullenly and in tears to my mantra of “laughter, fun and joy”, when things were literally coming apart of the seams in 2020, what preposterous lesson would I have to gain out of this ridiculous punishment that I have elicited on myself, most times as an empath I would feel how low people were feeling from a distance and feel the collective consciousness on a regular basis, I would sit through the tears of another and of my own, I would hear of hardships of others, and somewhere in all of it, I, along with many others would lose financial stability and realise that skinned knees are easier to fix than a broken heart, but always I had to return to my mantra as I had set out and see it emblazoned in neon lights “laughter, fun and joy”. I imagined the universe was having a giggle at my expense. This cruel mantra had taken the form of a friend and enemy all in one, sometimes I would find solace in it, and other times would question it to the extreme and almost hate it.

And then one day, I stopped judging it, and I stepped completely into it, making it my own and embracing it as my go to place. I would choose laughter and surround myself with people that were joyous and fun, rather than sullen or morose, I would choose feel good music, and find the lighter side in a serious article and conversations, I would choose giggling over rationality, joy and gratitude over lack. Adulting and planning Monday to Friday morphed into, what’s wonders will occur today? I chose to be exercising with the wild abandon of a child, rather than out of obligation to the body, any music required the commitment to breakout in a dance and song, sometime in less than appropriate place. CNN was replaced with YouTube clips on how to bake cake, and ice-cream in summer became a staple meal, the body would also finally decide that it wanted to be vegan. The MoneyShow was replaced by meditation at 6pm, and illusions of superiority and levels in society faded to replace finding the kindness in the eyes of a stranger.

Finally, I stepped out of my adult armour and engaged in conversation with people from random places in the world, and now am the proud owner of “Facebook friends” with Channing Tatum and “The Rock”. Cloud watching became a necessity and listening for the sound of the birds at 4am would become an important facet of the day. The obligatory “how are you” would turn into a conversation to find the real individual behind the COVID-19 mask, and words “I am fine” would become a conversation of reality and tears of despair as well as hope. Learning new things would be an adventure all on its own, and as a studious academic for most of my life and continuously aligning to the “great plan” would test the boundaries, studies would be replaced by how to use Tik Tok or getting the boomerang video just right.

Dressing for the occasion and adulting in social engagements, what to do with a cupboard full of corporate outfits and fit it into the word “fun”? A true existential crisis! I would return to a rerun of the 80’s where anything goes, and found a favourite T shirt with ‘chilled vibes’ written all over it.

However, the mantra “laughter, fun and joy” ensured that laughing was plenty, and smoothed over with the fun side of life, at times from social indoctrination, I would be riddled by adult guilt of my own wild abandon of this new childlike approach, but while for many of us the worst year, I definitely had become a lot happier in my life, even more so than I had been in previous years. I laughed at myself more often and came to like this individual that was strange and curious and frowned at the years that I had wasted taking people, myself, life and everything in between too seriously. I chose to speak my truth and let go of the fears that had accumulated over the years. I became cognisant of thinking what I was thinking, and rather chose to dream, became creative with my inherent purpose and gifts and manifest through the mantra.

Meditating on your word or mantra for 2021 will either come to your immediately or through meditative contemplation, but choose with great care, there was no place for ego when your mantra is staring you in the face each day, it will force you to redo the patterns and beliefs, it will make you question some social constructs, and make you wonder why you stay in patterns with people, places, situations, addictions and behaviours, and you will have no peace until you start making the conscious shift to align to your mantra. Take time to connect to it, make it your own and apply it every day and in every aspect of your living.

Choose a power word or mantra that you can use throughout 2021, but know it will change the way you are, what and how you think.

Some will choose “buckle down”, “alignment”, “balance”, “coherence”, “patience”, “well-being” “growth” “allowance”, “constructive routine”, “clarity”, “Live your purpose” “abundance”. 2021 - I chose “heart coherence and creation”

What will your mantra or word be?