Letting Go of the Past-Embracing What is to Come
It’s that time of year again for us to join in celebration with our dearest humans and welcome in the new year—our annual “fresh start”. The last day of the year has been used across time to reflect on the past, paying attention to the choices we made throughout the year and deciding what continues to benefit us and can stay, and what should be left behind. Once we have learned what we can from what has been, we can better plan for the future.
While 2024 certainly came with its fair amount of challenges, looking back I’d say it was a fairly decent year for me. A better one than I’ve had in a long time. I made some long-term goals for myself, mostly career-related, trying to start my practice once I completed my certifications as a Spiritual Healing Practitioner, and did my best to achieve them. While those goals ended up coming with their fair share of issues and didn’t pan out the way that I had expected them to, I did find other uses for what I had built and feel like I learned quite a bit along the way. Aside from that, I was able to reconnect with an old friend from college and my sister, who I haven’t spoken with in a number of years. A lot of good has come from rekindling that relationship and I’m eternally grateful to have her back in my life.
I spent more time with my family this past year than I have in a while, which has helped with staying connected with everyone and also keeping me calm and steady. I’ve picked back up old interests and hobbies that I had left on the wayside for years for no other reason than lacking the motivation to do…well, to be blunt, anything. It’s like I snapped out of a cloudy funk that I’ve been stuck in for years, and everything felt better and lighter. It just felt like making some use of my time and enjoying the little moments actually seemed desirable for once. I can honestly say I feel happier than I have in a long time, if ever, if I think hard enough about it, regardless of any day-to-day stressors. Life is trying and difficult, yes, but I felt better equipped to deal with it this year.
As far as what to let go of, I know I’ve had a hard time dealing with negative mindsets. I’ve always had a tendency to catastrophize the little things and when I get low, it’s overwhelmingly low. While I pride myself in the work I’ve done on myself the last couple of years to combat this, I still have a little ways to go. I think that would be my first goal of the new year, to continue working on that and hopefully get a better grip on staying positive during the harder moments. I’ve also noticed that while in hindsight, it’s easier to be grateful for what I have and what I’ve accomplished, it does take me more time than I’d like to get there. With that said, I’d like to work on making gratefulness the knee-jerk, first reaction, rather than the reflective after-thought.
For minor goals, I’d like to read more in 2025. I’m not going to set a “reading goal” with a specific number of books because I don’t want to turn it into an obligation or a race. I just want to set the goal to read intriguing things and study into my interests more, let it come naturally and without stress. I’d also like to get more work done in my garden. Since we bought our house, I haven’t had the time or energy to put as much work into it as I’ve wanted to, but my sister has shown interest in helping me with the parts that are more daunting this year so I have little excuse not to. And that is a project I’ll be wholly looking forward to more than anything.
As a personal preference, I’ll keep my resolution list at that, relatively brief. If I write too much on it, I’ll never get it done. Anything else I accomplish can be extra.
Best wishes to you in the coming year. Remember, hold kindness and gentleness in your heart for yourself and others, and take pride in all that you accomplish, no matter how small.