Hello Thrivers:
You live life looking forward, you understand life looking backward - Søren Kierkegaard
Happy New Year! January 1, marks the beginning of a New Year. It’s hard to believe that yet another year has come to an end and a new one has begun. Like many new beginnings, the start of something new also means letting go of what came before it.
When we begin a new year, we’re being asked to say goodbye and hello simultaneously. This process - like time - is automatic; It happens whether we want it to or not, and doesn’t require us to do anything in particular.
Yet part of the beauty of a new year is that we have an opportunity to engage intentionally with the change that dispenses with one year and ushers in another.
One way of engaging intentionally with the New Year is through reflection - writing down the experiences, accomplishments, challenges, observations, learnings, and insights from the past year, choosing what we will leave behind and what we want to take forward into the new year.
At This Life is Good, we believe intention is at the heart of thriving and living a good life. That’s why, at the beginning of each year, we share a set of practices to help you reflect on the previous year and set intentions for the upcoming year.
It may seem counterintuitive – to start the New Year by looking back. But in our “busy”, harried lives, most of us rarely take the time to pause, look back, and connect the dots.
With today's practice - below - I invite you to make time to do just that – to pause and look back – before beginning to look forward.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Chinese proverb
We know from research that living a good life is a skill. As with any other skill, you get better with practice. That’s why every week, we share with you, a set of practices that you can engage with, to improve your health and well-being so you can thrive.
It’s most helpful to think of these practices as mini experiments in new ways of thinking and being. You can do one, all of them, or something in between. Try to enjoy each practice, or at least lean into what it has to reveal to you. The hardest and most important part of the process will likely be making time and space for it in your day, week, or month.
Although it may be challenging to make time for your practice – just do it – knowing that it's okay to feel whatever feelings come up. Remember, you are in control. You have the power to adapt or change a practice, stop, or start your journey at any time.
As you embark on this journey of rebuilding your health and well-being, make time. Stay focused. Take each practice moment by moment. As you take the first step and then the next, and the next, you’ll see your health and well-being transform day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year until you’re living and thriving just as you were meant to be.
❇️ Practice
Today, I invite you to Make a list of all that was good in the previous year.
Ideally, find a nice quiet place and write whatever comes to mind. You can write in sentences and paragraphs or in bullet points. If you’re feeling creative, you can even make a painting or draw a picture! How you do it isn't important. Don’t overthink it. Just start and keep going until it’s all on the page.
If you don't already have one, now's the time to invest in a great journal. I get all of my paper journals here. If you prefer to go paperless, try this great journalling app which I've been using happily for many years.
If you enjoyed this practice and want to go deeper, make sure to join us for IntentionHaus™, a year-in-review, reflection, and intention-setting retreat we host at the beginning of each year.
Team TLIG
