I hope you had a fantastic Christmas, delightful holiday season and are
geared up for the new year!
I’ve had a really stellar week. From Spiderman to a fresh haircut, decorating cookies to a Candlelight service to spending Christmas Eve day with my kids… it’s been a fabulous 7 days since last I wrote you! I keep thinking about a week from today being 2022.
I have a sense of anticipation, as always. I’ve been reviewing my goal setting process. I’ve been contemplating who I want to be in 2022. I’m considering what will be the most fulfilling and bring the greatest return of joy. I think my primary metric will be how do my efforts bring fulfillment and joy to others lives. That seem to be the most satisfying for me, so bringing it to others can only be a win.
Reflection is such a powerful tool. When I consider where I was a year ago – literally – like where I was living and how I was navigating life, I’m filled with gratitude. Not for not being there any more, but for the entire experience, process and journey. I can’t really consider going into 2022, without pondering all that has transpired in 2021 – which is a lot.
Both personally and professionally, I have taken risks, made investments, opened my heart and eyes a little more widely and reached beyond my capacity. One thing I like about me is my willingness to attempt, try, trust and go, without being deterred by the unknown. We live with a lot of unknown.
Lacking knowledge isn’t reason enough to restrain pursuits!
As I ruminate on days-gone-by, I primarily see people who have entered my sphere of life. I love human beings. I love the process of being alive. I love the different ways we interact and communicate. It’s also fascinating how some individuals who were so prominent in our lives a year ago, no longer are. New characters enter or peripheral individuals came onto the main stage.
Of course, there is a beautiful group of players who year-after-yearremain notable, engaged and necessary for my life to function well. I’m grateful.
Gratitude consistently takes top billing from my time of reflection.
That seems a good foundation from which to consider the future. It tends to coat my aspirations with a glaze of grace. Defining targets that I may or may not hit, won’t alter too drastically my deep appreciation for reality. I suspect being thankful fuels imagination, so even if our current existence is less-than-satisfying we are capable of remaining hopeful.
It also creates a freedom for defining our future. If we are rooted in gratefulness, we can dream wildly and reach magnificently without the outcomes exaggerating our core, whether positively or negatively. Goals simply construct the parameters for which we’ll pursue life this year. Without them we float in any direction immediacy demands.
Instigating Ideas…
1. Reflect, Reflect, Reflect. What stands out in 2021?
2. Appreciate, Appreciate, Appreciate. Who and what compels gratitude?
3. Dream, Dream, Dream. Who could you be and what could you accomplish?
A long long long time ago, I was gifted with a quote that revisits me every year at this time: “The price of a big dream and a small dream are the same: Your Life.”
Friend, I sincerely hope this last week of 2021 positions you well for entering 2022. As you imagine fantastically, I pray that glaze of grace drips off your dreams so a rich satisfaction bustles in your soul!
I would love to hear how you fashion goals and what you put in place to assist you fulfilling them. Also, what you find yourself grateful for and how that impacts future planning? Please share.