By Michael Arndt, Alumni Coordinator, CAST Treatment Centers
Follow Michael on Instagram: @michaelcastcenters
As the year comes to an end, we naturally find ourselves reflecting back. This can be tricky for most of us. Sometimes we do not like to reflect, most of us have many ups and downs over the course of the year. Sometimes we have acted outside of integrity, or were wronged in ways that are painful. Sometimes we carry shame about parts of our years.
As much as we talk about living in the present, and staying connected to the moment we are currently in, there are ways in which reflecting on the past can be beneficial to us. The difference is the lens through which we decide to view our past. Do we decide to view it through the lens of a victim? Or do we do decide to view it through the lens of gratitude? Can we be compassionate with ourselves and with those we feel have wronged us?
We carry this mindset into the new year. If we chose to look back in anger or resentment, we will carry this anger and these resentments into the new year and they set the tone for what we can expect out of ourselves and out of new opportunities.
On the other hand, if we chose to look back with compassion, gratitude and acceptance, we will not only find that this helps heal some wounds we might still have, it also helps to lessen some of the shame we have, and we will carry this positivity into the new year.
So as the new year approaches, ask yourself, what do you want to take away from this year to carry with you into the next? This is the art of purposeful reflection and the choice is yours.
