This year has been tough. The holidays, especially the new year, is often a time of reflection. It’s a moment when we can look back at the past year and think of how we want to do things differently, or better, going forward. Some of us may even make resolutions. Personally, I can’t be bothered making them anymore.
I decided the end of this long, tumultuous year might be well served by practicing the act of forgiveness. The pandemic has challenged and stretched a lot of us in ways we never imagined. It’s been an exceptional year and perhaps that means a new approach.
I’m celebrating the end of this year, and cheering the start of the next one, with forgiveness. Forgiveness for things I did that I wished I hadn’t, it’s a long list. Forgiveness for things I didn’t do that I wished I had. Long ago I discovered that I can forgive others more easily than myself, but this year I’m giving myself a pass.
Loved ones are included for their actions, or lack of actions. With so many weird and stressful things about this year, everyone is getting a free pass from me. I like to think that we’ve all been doing our best to survive and just make it through another day.
Pretending the last year (or at least the last 9 months) didn’t happen isn’t an option. The best I can do is plod along free of grudges and resentments towards others and myself.
In tough times I like to remind myself that things are constantly changing. That they can, and will be, different. I do this without qualifying the change as something better or worse, simply different.
Happy New Year!
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