Want to make 2017 better than 2016? Be the change

If you thought 2016 was the worst year ever, life coach Kelly Clements-Gennis will tell you to pick yourself up and dust yourself off making 2017 better is up to you.

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There has been much public denunciation of the year that was 2016. Terror attacks, Brexit, Zika virus, the too-young deaths of Prince, David Bowie and Carrie Fisher, and the shock of a Donald Trump win in the U.S. all events that should see 2016 recorded as a truly annus horribilis, some said.

It's very easy to be surrounded with negativity. Kelly Clements-Gennis

CBC Comedy even joked in November that 2016 has been cancelled early due to poor ratings.

Now, what will replace the complaining about the year-that-was in real and virtual chat rooms? Can each person make changes, big or small, to improve or change their world?

I put the question out on social media.

"Doubling-down on online learning. So many low-cost/free options that time is the only excuse to not learn something new," tweeted Joshua Biggley of Charlottetown, in response to my question. Community schools are another great place for continuing learning they'retaking place right now across P.E.I. for as little as$20 for 8 weeks.

'Focus on what's really good'

"We all know that what you put out, you get back," said Clements-Gennis. "Yes this is happening, but I'm going to do something good."

"It's very easy to be surrounded with negativity."

A yoga instructor and a life coach,Clements-Gennis is urging Islanders to come back from 2016 like Wayne Gretzky after leading team Canada to a devastating loss of the Canada Cup in 1981 to their best season ever.

Make 2017 Your Year of Doing!is the name of an upcoming three-hour retreat she's hosting in Charlottetown in which she'll instruct a yoga session, share some healthy vegan chocolate cake and lead clients in creating something called a vision board.

The cost of the workshop is $50, with an early-bird price of $40 and she shared her process with us.

'Life can transform'

"My process is, if we can tune people in to what they truly want if we can capture those feelings, life can transform" Clement-Gennis explained. "If we can focus on what's really good, the more that comes in to your life."

The workshop willbegin with a Kundalini yoga meditation that focuses on breathing, and is designed to "get rid of stuck, stagnant energy," she said. "You actually feel different right away breath makes way for renewal."

A writing exercise that asks people to focus on what they truly desire and write it repeatedly is also on the agenda.

"When you really want to hit home, dig deep, repetition works," Clements-Gennis enthused. People who may have come to the workshop thinking they want inspiration related to finances a better job, more money, a new car often find their pens writing about wishes to be peaceful, happy and healthy instead, she notes.

"If you feel good in your life, don't you think you're going to be more successful?" she asked.

Envision success

People get excited by the clarity they find doing this, she said, so she then leads them in creating a vision board a popular coaching tool that ask people to choose one word or feeling that embody what they are seeking, be it peace, energy or abundance, and cut out or draw words, phrases and pictures that evoke that feeling on a piece of poster board.

"If you can get an image of how you want to feel and focus in on that, through the process I teach, that's where manifestation happens," she said, noting that while it may seem childish and corny to use glue sticks, scissors, markers and glitter, it works.

"They may be a little uncomfortable, but it's interesting," she noted. People who aren't creative in their daily life can be very surprised and excited by the process, she said.

All sound a little new-age for you? At least one study has found women who are more optimistic are less likely to die prematurely so cheers, from that half-full glass.

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