You survived! If you’re like me though, you might still be reeling from the whirlwind. All the build-up to one day and then it’s done. It really is a Christmas miracle if it manages to live up to its enormous hype. But whether you’re smug and satisfied after the BEST DAY EVER, or in the doldrums from how unlike a Martha Stewart show your holidays were, or somewhere in between — Christmas is over for another 363 days. Phew!

Now’s an opportunity to take a little breather before the next exciting holiday/massive anticlimax. With my thoughts on the transition into the upcoming year, I’m taking a moment to focus on lightening up.

I’m not referring to the extra love handle that must have been hidden in my stocking — when you start with a 16lb turkey and now all that remains is a wishbone you figure it had to go somewhere.

The recovery from the Christmas binge will begin shortly, once you’ve had a New Year’s binge and the Quality Streets have run out.

Meanwhile, however, I want to take a look at any extra weight I might be lugging around — on my shoulders, and particularly in my heart.

Despite the hoopla, January 1 is as good a time as any to make a fresh start, embrace a new project, refocus on a current one. In reality, it usually starts with a hangover, but once that clears, how nice to feel that when the post-holiday wheels crank back into action, we are pedalling off on the right foot.

Wouldn’t it be helpful to clean our slates a little, unburden ourselves and clear out the cobwebs to make room for everything 2017 has to offer? How good it would feel to let go of any unnecessary negative energy or attitudes we might be holding on to, and release any harbouring grudges or resentments.

Holidays are notorious for dredging up our old “stuff”. Sometimes it’s our families, the people who know how to push our buttons best. Or it’s the lack thereof. Sheer stress can often force our dark side to the surface. Whatever “same old” wounds we’ve found ourselves grumbling about, irked by or hating on, do we really want to be clutching them so tightly next year?

Sometimes our grudges have become our patterns. We just have to see something or someone and that familiar negativity bubbles up. Loading our past grievances into every encounter, we rarely stand a chance of a happy outcome as we are constantly regarding any new situation through that murky lens.

It can feel good to have someone or something to blame. “They’re the reason it went wrong/I feel bad/it didn’t work out”. While this makes for an easy excuse, it can be so disempowering. You may well have been done wrong by in the past, but by holding on to it, you continue to allow that or them to steal your joy by not taking ownership of your life going forward.

Forgiveness does not mean condoning someone’s past behaviour. It means accepting that an event(s) or behaviour(s) happened, but not letting that negatively define you or your relationships. If there is a past wound you are having difficulty making peace with, perhaps it is time to get some help with that. Help is out here.

We all carry emotional baggage, but let us lighten our loads. Can we leave the past where it belongs, learning from the experiences, but not dragging bitterness and blame into our future? We can choose to let it go.

Let’s shed any burdensome, emotional weight so we can skip into 2017 with a light heart. Wishing you and yours an inspired, positive and empowered new year!

•Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoach ing.com.