Honest Reflections

A Look Back & Ahead for Opportunities to Learn & Grow

Dec 31, 2022

car side mirror with snow covered mountain in the distance — Photo by Vadim Velichko on Unsplash

In case you haven’t heard of it, Courtney Martin does a wonderful newsletter called The Examined Family. She recently shared a list of ten thought-provoking questions to reflect on as the old year winds down:

10 End-of-Year Reflection Questions

Perhaps they’ll teach you something about yourself or others that previously went unnoticed in 2022. So much of the contentment we feel (or don’t feel) in our lives depends on awareness. Awareness of ourselves and others.

We forego doing a deep dive into what our everyday choices tell us about ourselves. Why did that particular movie or book move us emotionally? How does the world at large affect our outlook on life? Am I too invested in pleasing others at the expense of my own happiness?

Maybe they’ll serve as writing prompts for a future post or inspiration to work towards a new goal.

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity, and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I have mixed feelings when it comes to the holidays. Great hope with tinges of despair, of time lost that can’t be recovered. It’s probably a part of growing older. But it’s also a part of my history and the dreams that weren’t realized. Memories of happy childhood Christmases interwoven with confusion about my mother’s sadness during the holidays. Lofty life goals that never came to fruition.

I’m working on a new section of this newsletter that will delve into my personal stories. The stories that shaped who I am today. These won’t be pretty, which is why I chose to write anonymously. Rather, they’ll tell the unvarnished truth about some of life’s most important lessons.

We are all works-in-progress, constantly evolving as we live and experience our individual journies. Hopefully, the topics covered will resonate with readers who have experienced similar things, both good and bad. I hope you’ll stay tuned for that in 2023.

My grandma often predicted there would be better days ahead and invoked this when something bad happened. However, she (also) often said, “What’s this world coming to?” She died in 1997 at the age of 83, and I wonder what she’d think of the world today. It’s changed a lot since then, and not necessarily for the better.

In my view, hope is a tricky business but a necessary one. Imagine life without hope. Without the belief that we’ll recover from illness or save an important relationship. The hope that we’ll succeed in our efforts to build a better, happier life, whatever that involves.

Therefore, here’s to hoping that 2023 is a year of greater self-awareness for everyone. Understanding our past successes and failures, so we can embrace the future with excitement and a true commitment to personal growth.

I initially didn’t plan a post for this week until I discovered the ten end-of-year questions. I wanted to share them and found some quiet time to do so. Also, enjoy the music video (with lyrics) below featuring the Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days. It’s a great ‘end-of-year tune.’

Cheers!

Honest Reflections

A Look Back & Ahead for Opportunities to Learn & Grow

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