Another new year is complete, albeit different from what we expected. Again. But still, the soft light of “next year will be greater than this, darling” continues to shine upon you, coaxing you forward.
Even among the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, you might already be scribbling goals on the backs of receipts or your notes app, sprinkling organizing bins and binders into your holiday shopping cart, and vowing to become more of something (or less of something else) in 2023.
And I love the idea of looking forward. But let’s also not forget to reflect on the year that we just had. As the saying goes:
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Think back to this time last year. How did 2022 brim with possibility for you? Like hot coffee on a cold morning, we drink in the elixir of a fresh beginning. It’s positively addictive, that chance for a do-over, for an upgrade to Life 2.0.
It’s exciting…and exhilarating…and uplifting…all until it isn’t.
What were your dreams for this year? And which ones came true?
Did the darkness of doubt, or our continued less-than-ideal circumstances, descend quickly on your newly birthed plans to whisper:
You can’t.
Why now?
Who do you think you are?
It’s selfish.
It’s unrealistic.
You’re too busy.
You’re too lazy.
You’re not smart enough.
You don’t have the resources.
What will they think?
Whether we’re making resolutions…or setting goals…or changing careers…or writing a life plan…the voice shows up. And it is NOT on our side.
Instead of casting the soft light of dawn, it shines a harsh spotlight on our past failures, unmasks our vulnerabilities, and hands a bullhorn to our inner critic. This voice makes us shrink back in shame. We step backward, into the darkness of old habits, into well-worn paths, into the person we’ve been instead of the one we can become.
But what if instead of continuing to cover your ears and step backward, you decided to answer the voice and step forward?
There’s no one stopping you but you.
You’ve got this. I believe in you.
