Cracking The Code

2012 A Year of Possibilities

Jan 5, 2012 by Susyn Elise Duris

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I was thinking about what I was going to write about for my first week of 2012 article.

I was going to do a fitness article but my recent great find in Louisville, Still Spinnin, this kick-ass, rocking spin studio, is closed until January 2nd. And I will be doing a skiing article about my Indiana ski adventure later in the week. So, I decided that this article is all about gratitude, abundance and my constant strive to get things done on my timetable, but I’ve never been able to get that to work in my favor, so I’ve decided to give up the ghost on that one.

There are a few things I don’t believe in. I don’t believe in regrets – we make choices and life is all about living with those choices and making the most of them. I don’t believe in “perception is reality”- neither perception nor reality is static, they can both be changed. And, I don’t believe in New Years’ resolutions – to me, these appear as things that are determined at the spur of the moment and have no accountability attached; whereas goals, a stronger word, are more realistic and when not reached, come with it accountability.

If someone told me that in 2011, I would lose more than 50 pounds, get several acting gigs, obtain a NY agent, between September and December travel nonstop (trips to New York City, two trips to Louisville, two trips to San Francisco), get my tap shoes out of retirement and start tapping again, lose my business compass (Steve Jobs), I would get two fantastic marketing consulting gigs with two great organizations, and join a great zen buddhist community (I was a closet zen buddhist for a while and it was nice to find a great zen buddhist center right in Los Angeles), I would think they were nuts! It is so amazing to me that outside the acting gigs and losing weight, my goals didn’t relate to what I accomplished above.

As an aside, I found a tweet on Twitter within the past couple of days that I absolutely loved and went something like “if you achieved all your 2011 goals, you didn’t aim high enough.” That is so true.

Outside of the death of Steve Jobs – I thought the end was near unfortunately but I thought somehow he could kick the cancer as he has had this amazing knack for overcoming obstacles – I am convinced that these opportunities were the result of me being open-minded, having a tremendous sense of gratitude, and operating at a high-enough vibration for abundance to find its way to me.

A few things have been keeping me going which I have learned from studying buddhism. First, Buddhists believe in impermanence, things change from moment to moment. Buddhists believe in living in the moment – there’s no past, no future, just present. This is the ultimate goal I have set for myself – living in the present. It’s difficult to do that constantly because we are human beings and things get in the way, and we get into our heads, and out of the present. The trick is to be aware that we are in our heads, adjust and get back to being in the present. It’s hard work but daily meditation is a great practice to keep us out of our heads and in the moment.

Another thing I have been working on is focus. I remember a quote of Steve Jobs and he said that focusing on less is very hard. You have to focus on only a few things, be great at them and get rid of any distractions that would prevent you from reaching these goals. I am in total agreement there. It has taken me all year to hone in on what I really want and take that journey. My three areas of focus are acting, marketing and writing. I have gotten rid of a lot of distractions and it has brought me closer to what I want.

It is amazing that I have had more and more things come my way from being so focused. It is very hard work and the distractions and being resistant to the fact that we can get what we want are what keep us from getting what we want. But it is there for the taking. All we have to do is seize it. Carpe diem, baby.

I leave you with a Steve Jobs’ quote that puts everything in perspective … We don’t get a chance to do many things, and everyone should be excellent because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know?

Graphic credit: And Boutique

About the Author

Susyn Elise Duris Has Written 5 Articles For Us!

These days, I am a marketing consultant, working in the technology, communications and entertainment sectors, actress (working mainly in the indie film, episodic TV and web series mediums), producer (my production company, Steel Pawz Productions, is producing the web series "The Dating Life"). My love of social media keeps me on my toes. I guess I am never satisfied, I am always in a state of learning. I am a student of life. My goal in life is to always be present to life. If you aren't, something really cool is going to pass you by. Social media and writing keeps me on my toes and always striving to learn.

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