As you may already know, last week into this week is Chinese New Year. You might remember last year I wrote about the Year of the Tiger (which if you didn’t, you can read here!). Following tradition, this year is the Year of the Rabbit.
The Rabbit is this year’s Chinese zodiac sign, and it symbolizes creativity, compassion and gentleness – qualities that can help you become more self-aware and in tune with your inner selves.
As we move through this lunar year, it is important to take time to reflect on your goals and aspirations, and to focus on your own personal growth.
We’ll come back to that later.
The Rabbit in the Race
I’m sure you’re already aware of how the story behind Chinese New Year goes. 12 animals competing in a race – with the rat surprising everyone and outsmarting the other animals, using its wit and teamwork.
But what about the Rabbit?
Before the race, the Rabbit and the Ox were neighbours. The Rabbit started showing off to the Ox, claiming that it was the best long-distance runner in the animal kingdom. When the Ox asked for advice, the Rabbit told it that it was incapable of ever being able to beat it, since the Ox was ‘too large in size’.
What’s interesting about this is that the Rabbit ended up in a ‘hare and the tortoise’ type scenario. In other words, it arrived at the race early and fell asleep, only to be woken up by the sounds of the Ox and the Tiger running!
The Tiger came third, beaten by the Ox and the rat – and the Rabbit ended up in fourth.
How The Ox Succeeded
It turns out the Ox decided to start training after hearing the Rabbit’s harsh words, and had managed to train itself to become much better long distance runner in preparation for the race.
Now there’s an important lesson to be learned here, and I’m sure you may have already clocked it. The Ox was able to beat the Rabbit due to the fact that it wanted to improve its skills and work on itself.
In other words, even though the Rabbit thought it was impossible, the Ox was able to beat it.
Hard work and self-growth can push you to feats you and maybe others may have thought impossible.
Always Room for Improvement
Given the Rabbit’s characteristics, the year of the Rabbit is supposed to be one of calmness and contemplation. This year can be a good time to focus on yourself and have some awareness.
But whilst reflection is good in and of itself, it is also be the first step to self-development.
Self-development is an ongoing process that requires you to take risks and make changes in order to improve yourself. It can involve gaining new skills, and working on personal goals and aspirations.
By taking the time to focus on self-development during this year of the Rabbit, you can create positive changes in your life. Take the time to reflect on the year ahead and focus on your own personal growth.
If personal development is something you’d like to bring more into your life this year, then reach out to me at cheryl@cheryl-chapman.com, and we can make a start together.
Cheryl xx
PS – The genetic blueprint really helps with understanding who you are and what you are here to do – fill in this 2-minute questionnaire and I will send you your own ‘genetic blueprint’ which will help you understand yourself so you can begin to find your why! You will find it here.
PPS – If the link doesn’t work for any reason (sometimes technology has a bad day) then email me on cheryl@cheryl-chapman.com and I will sort it out for you!
PPS – If you liked this blog and want to read more blogs surrounding female empowerment, you can find last week’s here: ‘Generosity – Helps Others and…You?‘
“I’m on a global mission to help 10 million disheartened souls, who are at a crossroads, to STOP asking why me? And START saying why not me!”