Don't create a new you on Jan. 1
- Dec 31, 2015
- 2 min read
It’s that time again, when we reflect upon the last year, create our Facebook collages, and participate in the paradoxical self-torture and nostalgia that is New Years. We vow to do better: stop yelling, lose weight, save money.
We are Americans, after all. We don’t look back but only forward, guilting ourselves into pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, cursing ourselves or others if we are lacking boots, bootstraps, or even arms that reach our toes.
In this culture that is ever-moving towards progress and perfection, it is essential that we pause and consider where we have been prior to taking one step forward into 2016.
Instead of resolutions, instead of a “new you,” what if you focus on self-forgiveness and grace and pride in the steps you have taken? What if you recognize how far you’ve come rather than how far you have to go?
“New” by definition means “not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time,” but none of us is new, nor are our struggles, our burdens, or our goals.
Do we really want to become “new” by rejecting the past? Do we want to eliminate all we have learned, discovered, foraged and fought for merely for the sake of a date on the calendar?
I, like most of us, have fought many demons in 2015, and while I would like to believe those demons are vanquished, the reality is they are not. Not completely.
To take a step back from the fight and consider both the victories and the failures, what has been done and what has been left undone, what has worked and what has failed will provide me with the strength and courage to fight another day. Because the minutes of strength blend into hours into days into years and into our sense of self-worth. To reject the lessons and ignore the small moments of victory is to deny ourselves great power.
2015 brought so many challenges that scared me, and despite my vulnerability, I courageously faced and reframed them as invitations for growth and, if nothing else, experience.
Some days, months, and years we might find little to celebrate. Celebrate anyway. Celebrate the victories, and, yes, there were many. Take some time this New Year to reflect on the experiences--good and bad--that have helped you greet this year standing.
Then, and only then, look ahead.
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Katherine is an adventurous mother of three. Weekends and holidays are spent hiking, making glorious messes, and creating lasting memories as a family. As a recent single mom, she continues their adventures with vigor and determination.
Katherine has quickly become a favorite guest blogger. Read more by clicking on the hashtag "supermom" on the right hand column.
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