Year End Review: Soaking Up the Good for a Fresh Year Ahead
I Looooooove taking pictures. I have ever since I was 10 years old and received the Polaroid instant camera…you know, the one that shoots out a picture with white framed edge and space below to write a caption? Ya, it was my fave and I loved capturing moments with it.
I also started a trend of taking small disposable cameras with me to middle school and high school and to this day, I use my phone to capture everything, and when I say everything, I mean E V E R Y T H I N G. From sweet coffee dates to screenshots of the angel numbers I look up (see blog post here for more on angel numbers).
So something I enjoy doing at the end of the year is looking back through my camera roll at all the beautiful moments I captured and things I learned about in the past year, because one of the most profound things I’ve learned is that our mind is biased towards negativity…it’s for our safety.
One of the quotes that has helped me understand this is
“our brain isn’t wired to make us happy, it’s wired to keep us alive”
Wow.
So knowing this, I’ve made it my life’s work to really understand how our minds work and implement this wisdom and knowledge to get to work in my favor, and that’s exactly what I help others do as well through coaching and what I teach.
This year end activity allows us to look back at the beautiful moments we’ve captured and relive them in a way that fosters gratitude and appreciation.
For me, this year definitely had major ups and some major downs; and the same may be true for you as well. Knowing that our minds can have this negativity biased, where the lows can overshadow what went well/is going well in our lives and in the past year, we can be proactive by processing what we need to about those moments, while also appreciating F*** out of the good things, because they truly are the sweet gifts life has brought us.
And what we focus on G R O W S.
So if we desire to dive into that feeling of a fresh start a new year can bring, if we’re ready and wanting to ‘move on’ from this year, the best way (In my opinion) to do this is by 1) appreciating alllllllll the good and beauty of the past year and 2) forgiving and letting go of everything else.
Part 1: Appreciating alllllllll the Good and Beauty of the Past Year
There are many ways to do this, so make this your own and let it feel good. There were 2 ways I did this:
Take out your journal or open up a fresh document on your computer; you may also want to take out your calendar, planner or reference your photos on your phone.
Now go through, Month-by-month, and list out any and all events and memories that occurred that you’re grateful for. Maybe you were grateful when things started opening up again, or when you hugged someone you loved that you haven’t seen for awhile, or when you were able to take a trip that your soul was craving, or when you had a new addition to your family. Maybe you had sweet coffee dates with people you adore in beautiful settings, or got out into nature for some rejuvenation and adventure. Have fun listing alllll the things!
Another way is to to do this is by going through the photos in your phone, and month by month, screen shot a few from each month, so that by the time your at the ‘end of your camera roll’ on your phone, you have a nice little collage that is a summary of your year’s highlights. (See mine below).
Part 2: Forgiving and Letting Go of Everything else.
Part 1 is important to do first because it creates an energy of appreciation and gratitude in your body, and this not only feels good, but is a powerful place to create transformation in your life.
The second ingredient for creating transformation in your life (moving and grooving into he new year) is letting go and forgiving people (including yourself), situations, and circumstances that don’t make you feel so great when you think about them.
Why?
Well, I like to sum it up with the quote
“refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die”
When we hold onto resentment, anger, etc and do not process these feelings, it can create a stress response in the body, and this does have a physiological impact on the body.
Feelings and emotions such as Anger, Sadness, Anxiety, etc are not bad in and of themselves; they are there, just like a hurt knee, to let us know that something needs our attention pronto and needs tending to.
If we injure ourselves doing an everyday activity, the pain we feel in our body might be trying to tell us that maybe we need to do a movement differently next time, orwork on our mobility or strength, etc.
The same for these feelings…they let us know that maybe we need boundaries in place, or that maybe we need to manage our expectation of something, or that a certain action(s) needs to be taken immediately.
These emotions serve us.
But they can also cause detriment if we don’t process them and address them properly.
So the process of forgiveness allows us to keep what we learned (ie taking action, setting boundaries, etc) while releasing the situation and letting it go, so we can then be energetically free to move forward and keep growing and experiencing the beauty and adventures of life.
There are many methodologies of forgiveness work; my go-to are the practices of Ho’oponopono and Tapping, also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT for short. There are many great YouTube videos you can search that can help guide you in these processes, and I use them regularly with my clients as well. The book “Judgement Detox” by Gabby Bernstein is also a great place to start as well.
With forgiveness work, the first step is to simply be willing; it doesn’t have to be forced or rushed. By simply starting with the intention or willingness, you will set the process in motion and be guided into the next steps.
AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE THINGS ARE AHEAD.
Now i’d love to hear from you! What are some of your fave ways to wrap up & review your year and prepare for the new year ahead? Share in the comments below or feel free to send a line to hello@jasmineraecoaching.com
I truly believe we are all here to learn and grow and play and experience the wild, beautiful adventure ride that is life, which means INCREDIBLE things are up ahead for us friend! It’s inevitable.
So I’m wishing you a beautiful wrap up to your year, as you get ready for the next chapter ;-)
Xo, Jasmine
