Christmas: A Time to Reflect…
Another Christmas has come and gone, and with it another year draws to an end. As much as the New Year is about looking forward, Christmas is a time to reflect upon the year past. It’s a time to think about the personal journey that was in the year fading away.
Life is a journey, and each passing year composes a segment of that journey. As much as we enjoy looking to a fresh start with each coming New Year, it’s crucial we pay homage to the year just past. It’s in the years past that tell us much about what we look forward to in the years ahead.
At year’s end, whether health, family, relationships, finance or career, it’s worth our while to recall and consider everything that’s transpired. And in doing so, we must be willing to answer one overriding question. Answered in the affirmative, the coming year opens a realm of new possibilities. Answered in the negative, the coming year will likely be marked as just another year on the calendar of life.
What question do I write of? It’s simple – did we grow? Did the last twelve months cause us to grow as human beings? In other words, are we better people today, than we were at the start of this year? Remember, life is a journey, but it’s only a worthwhile journey, if during our short stint on this planet we are forever trying to become our better selves.
It’s easy to look back and say the year was a success. Yes, maybe we made more money, maybe we bought a new car, maybe we had some terrific vacations, but really, and did we grow? Did we truly become better people as a result of more money, more material things and more far flung vacations? Don’t get me wrong, these things are great and wonderful, but only if appreciated in the proper perspective.
Becoming a better person has nothing to do with the aforementioned externals, and everything to do with witnessing change from within. Change for the better can only come from within; for it is within that determines how our lives will play out.
To take stock of the past means to take responsibility. It means to owe up where mistakes have been made and it means to sincerely apologize for those mistakes. Whether the transgressed party agrees to forgive or not, is another question (see earlier blog on Forgiveness). The important matter is that we’ve learned from our mistakes, so as to move forward in a new and changed way – a better way.
Redemption must come from within, before it comes from without. Only then can we truly call the past twelve months a success, leading us into the next twelve months a changed and better human being. And with that, a whole new realm of possibilities opens up.
Yes, Christmas is a time to reflect…
Merry Christmas and for more check out The C.A.T. Principle: Change, Action, Trust – Words to Live By, a 2014 Global Ebook Awards Nominee, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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