Start the New Year off by reflecting on the previous year. Photo / Thinkstock
Goals schmoals. If I see another " New year, new yoooooooooooooou!!!" article I shall surely scream, strangled by the cliche. And yet, therein lies the rub. Cliches become cliches for a reason, do they not? No smoke without fire and all that jazz.
There is unquestioningly something truly powerful about
the energy of one year closing and another beginning, which creates a perfect moment in time for reflection on our life. Where is life going? Are we getting what we want? Are we happy? It is essential stop the bus of life for a moment and just check that it's going in the right direction for us, if we are to have the life we want.
Like wine, years of our life can go in very distinct patterns. Obvious themes emerge if we stop for a moment to observe them. Some years good, some average, some vintage and some just plain awful and best forgotten. The Queen (gawd bless you Ma'am) famously called 1992 her annus horribilis, the "year of horrors", and I am sure we can all relate to that sentiment. The year 2000 was especially that for me and I will never forget breathing the longest sigh of relief at midnight that New Year's Eve, knowing it was over, behind me, I had survived.
Bring on 2001. Wrapping up the year, reflecting on its highs and lows and then symbolically releasing it brought me into 2001 in a clean way with a new focus.
Whatever your year has been - whether fantastic or horribilis - write the answers to the following questions on a piece of paper. Give yourself a moment's pause to reflect on how 2012 has been for you. Give thanks for making it to the end of another year and learning what you have learned.
You can save your answer paper somewhere safe, or you can make a little ceremony to burn it, bury it, rip it into shreds and let it float out to sea... release that energy of the year that is past. Symbolically close the year, in whatever way feels good for you.
