Isn't it amazing how the minutes become hours, hours become days, days morph into weeks and then months...
It can be so easy to find ourselves sleepwalking through phases of our life. Just going along for the ride, without giving much thought to the choices we are in fact making along the way.

Now and then, it's good to stop and take stock. Take an inventory of your life, so to speak.
As Socrates said: "The unexamined life is not worth living".

By taking the time to reflect on your life and scrutinize how you are actually spending your time, an "audit" can enlighten you on the time and effort spent on the different areas of your life (such as relationships, work/career, home and family, health, money, fun and recreation). You'll find some activities that are responsibilities and non-negotiable commitments you continue doing, but by analysing then prioritising what's important to you and perhaps even eliminating what's not.............you can re-assess your life and what you want for the future. You can create the time and resources you need to get into action and move forward towards achieving your goals and fulfilling those dreams.

I believe we have our own answers; we may, however, need to do varying amounts of work to find them! We can look inside, and find that we know ourselves pretty well-  our strengths, our limitations. We can also discover what we want, what we fear, what motivates us, what holds us back.......powerful questioning can create this channel for self-discovery.

Who are YOU? What do you really need? What do you believe?

When we discover who we really are, we stop living on auto-pilot and start to live with intention,focus and purpose. Our choices become clearer. We start to make active choices in our life, instead of making excuses or passively living with the status quo.
Here are a few questions to get you started. You might want to have  a journal or some other way to record your thoughts.

• What do I really want?
• What unique  skills, talents do I bring to the world? How am I using them (or not)?
• What beliefs might be holding me back, or getting in my way?
• What makes me happy?
• What am I tolerating?
• What are my expectations?
• What am I unwilling to risk?

Don't forget to also consider the vital information that other "parts" of yourself are giving you. When you use only your head, your experience of yourself and the world is more limited.
So...

• What is your body telling you? When there is confrontation, does your stomach get tied up in knots? Do your shoulders stiffen when you focus on fulfilling others' needs while ignoring your own? What about that "pain-in-the-neck" person who's hard to deal with? Notice the messages your body is giving you.
• Check in  with your "heart". The heart is the home of what is most alive in us. What do you  know "in your heart"? What, according to your heart, really matters?
• Listen to your intuition, your "gut". The collaboration of all our senses. Pay attention, and take time...how can all our senses collaborate if we insist on keeping them busy all the time? Your intuition can speak volumes, but is often ignored or not even heard. What is this voice saying now?

And as you take stock, don't forget to make note of what you already have that is working well. Acknowledge and give thanks for the gifts, beauty and miracles that are in your life right now. What are you grateful for today?

Be honest with yourself. Tell the truth about who you really are.
Encouraging those unlived parts of ourselves to emerge can provide an exhilarating sense of discovery and optimism. And can set your life on a more satisfying course for those last remaining 160 days of 2009!