Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash
Being a human was really hard this year. Don’t waste the opportunity to glean from that hard. Gleaning is the art of gathering in from what has already been harvested.
Yes, those days from 2020 have already been reaped. But, with reflection you can discover and process what you consumed along the way. Here are some questions to use as you reflect on the year.
What did you learn? (Information)
Where was courage required? (Affirmation)
How will you move forward with courage based on what you learned? (Application)
Who would you like to be one year from now? (Transformation)
Why does it take courage to reflect?
Reflection requires you to revisit memories that maybe you’d like to keep stuffed away.
But, when you choose to re-enter the painful, more difficult moments you’ve already experienced and learn from them, you cultivate courage for future experiences on the road ahead.
Always, when you allow your pain to have a purpose (even if that is acknowledging your own deficiency) you are living with courage. Wasted pain is the most tragic loss in the human experience.
Here are a few pointers when you take time to reflect.
Brave the outtakes : editing your life forces you to decide what doesn’t belong moving forward. This is the root of lasting personal growth and change.
Savor the highlights : everyone is motivated by desire. What sparked joy? What do you want more of? Where did you feel courageous? Take notes and make future plans accordingly.
Outtakes and highlights both have a role in the learning process.
Here are just a few of my own personal learnings I took from my own reflection time:
Suffering can produce joy. I experienced deep and meaningful moments while walking through a season of pain and heartache.
Long term dreaming is fine, long term planning isn’t wise right now. Keep most plans short term for the foreseeable future.
I don’t have complete control of the outcomes in my life. How I choose to live with that truth will help me manage frustration.
Increasing my patience and tolerance for processes and procedures helped me strengthen my foundation.
Cultivating courage led to becoming a more stable and capable version of myself.
Do yourself a favor this week, make your own list of “5 Things I Learned in 2020.” I guarantee it will help you refocus your perspective, refresh your energy, and restore your optimism for the days and months ahead.