Threshold of Something New.

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’…” Alfred Lord Tennyson

Resolutions. Goals. Priorities. The beginning of the new year is generally a time to reflect on the past year to celebrate the successes and to explore areas for improvements. There was a study performed to show what the top New Year’s Resolutions were which found the top 5 items were to: exercise more, lose weight, get more organized, learn a new skill or hobby, and live life to the fullest. Same study found the top 5 New Year’s Priorities were to: Save more money (spend less), quit smoking (quit bad habits), spend more time with family and friends, travel more, and read more.

What do you tend to focus on during the New Year? Shortcomings, successes, or both?

Does your New Year bring you hope?

For the last 7 years, I have wrote a long post on Facebook reflecting on the previous year and it occurred to me every year I had the same sentence. “The year had many challenges and celebrations.” Insert scrunchy nose and funky eyebrow look here….Seriously Noelle? I wouldn’t describe 2021 as the year that I conquered, but I wouldn’t say that it conquered me. I wouldn’t say that I survived this past year, but I wouldn’t say that I lived it either.

Don’t let the trials and achievements define your year, your life, or your personality. That’s not a definition. Hardships and accomplishments are bullet points on a letter. When you scrutinize yourself, remove the thoughts of what happened to you in the last 12 months. What’s left? Don’t get me wrong, I love reading those Christmas letters from friends and family. Especially the last few years, it’s been nice to hear what is happening in other’s lives. I always say that I will send a letter out the next year, but I don’t know that I’ve ever accomplished that one. It’s easy to sit down and make a list of “I didn’t do so well with this, so this year I will….” Or “last year I accomplished this, but this year I will…”

As we sit on the threshold of the new year, smile at who you’ve become. Despite what has happened to you, despite what you have done, remember that you have the control to be happier, to be better, and to be the exact person you would like to be.