As we bring ourselves to the end of another year, we look both forward and backward. We take stock of what has been and we plot a path forward. We look ahead with great hope, and with even greater resolve. We determine that in the new year, we will be different, improved, our very best selves. These are our resolutions.
Everyone makes new resolutions for the new year. They give many of us a sense of purpose and a place to direct our intentions. However, my ideas about resolutions expanded after a conversation I had with a client. She mentioned how she doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions but instead focuses on the “revelations” about herself and her life that the last year has brought to her. What a novel idea this was to me; instead of focusing on the circumstances of her life in the past year, she was choosing to focus on what her circumstances had taught her.
What revelations about yourself has the last year uncovered for you? What have you learned about your resilience, your strength, your ability to challenge yourself? And what were the areas in your life that 2022 revealed could use more attention and growth? Do you accept the you that you 2022 uncovered, in all of its glory and its grime?
I am thinking that more so than focusing on the newness that we want to introduce into our lives, sitting in the truth of ourselves has real value. Being still and holding a clear vision of ourselves is necessary for any change that is to come, anyway. So I encourage you to to reflect on the truths that 2022 revealed to you about yourself, to not change it or fix it or improve it. Just hold it. Make space for it. Hold the truth of you and walk forward, accepting and carrying the fullness of all that you are – good and in need of care – kindly and honestly into this beautiful new year.
Chrysallis Counseling 