Last year began...
There was the usual excitement of a new year, accompanied by best wishes for an abundance of everything - love, health, joy, connection, wealth, family, friendship, laughter. I remember thinking one morning in January...this is my life and it is incredible. Being present to, and grateful for all the gifts. Like, I was literally having the time of my life. It was an explosion of colours and flavours and cultures. Joy on top of joy.
And then the unexpected happened and my world as I knew it shifted on its axis, forever altered. It would never be the same.
The twenty-eight days of February passed. As did the 31 days of March. And as March of 2022, came to an end, as I sat amongst the remnants of life...I decided on a redo…. a fresh start…energetically, so to speak, for me. No. It could not, would not, change the reality on the ground, but it, the decision to start over, gave me an opportunity to exhale and reboot. It felt right, it piggybacked on the fact that it was also the beginning of the astrological new year, there was a new moon, and it was the beginning of spring. It was, in my opinion, an aligned decision.
Over the last couple of years, I had come across several questions, and or comments from various mentors that caused several little sparks to light the embers of my weary soul. Questions like:
- Are you living intentionally?
- How much life is in your life?
- Can u feel in this moment that you want for nothing, and all is well?
- How grateful are you?
- Are you celebrating your wins?
- What have you learned?
- What are you making this mean?
- Are you willing to see things differently?
- Zoom out!!
To be honest, at first I was bemused....but in the absence of no other distractions...the world having slowed to a halt, and there being nothing but time, and silence...all was still. My curiosity got the better of me. I dived in ... I listened. I read. I listened some more. I cried. I grew. Life expanded. And I exhaled.
A takeaway from a master-class I did in January 2022 with one of my mentors resulted in my attempting to be more intentional, among other things, about the living of the months of 2022, with the ultimate objective of being in alignment with my intentions for the overall year. It was a process I adopted monthly, and quarterly, and it changed my life.
Taking the time at the end of each month, and quarter, to reflect on the previous month / quarter, using some of these questions to assess how I was doing in light of my overall intentions allowed me to adjust as needed and be more conscious in how I was living. Is this moving me towards or away from the life I desired for myself?
Now, to be clear, this is a work in progress, and it did and does feel extremely overwhelming at times, but it is progressing and on reflection, I think I was... marginally successful in the living of my 2022, in spite of the vicissitudes of life. That said, 2022 was quite frankly a win for me. Using the yearly quarters for simplicity then Q1 was a beautiful sadness; Q2 – a fresh start, Q3 - let’s go and Q4… epic. On the whole, 2022 was ahhhhmazing. And I am extremely grateful for all of it.
So here we are, with the end of the first quarter of 2023 two days away, and Friday (the 31st), an optimal day for celebrating. I am grateful for 2022, all of it ...and I stand ready to begin reflecting on Q1 of 2023.
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