2021: This Is So Much More Than Your Instagram Top Nine . . .
As the year rolls to close, I am asking my clients what were their wins from 2021 and what will they be focusing on and manifesting in the year to come? While it’s hard to imagine any positive news coming out of 2021, there will be personal wins for us all, and even in the perceived fails, there will be learning and new paths for the future. This is where we learn, and this is where we grow. This, people, is so much more than your Instagram top nine . . .
It was another covid heavy year, that saw us all juggling adaptions to working environments, home-schooling at the beginning of it, and sitting outside to have dinner in freezing conditions all in the name of much needed social connection. We now live by the golden rule of ‘don’t discuss religion, politics, OR THE VACCINE,’ at dinner parties, with the country divided by the do’s and don’t, the have’s and the have nots.
It was the year that the queen lost Philip (which had me sob an entire road trip every time they played the national anthem, my 6-year-old loved the drama dearly). For a nation that has done so much grieving in the last couple of years, we all grieved with her. It was year of scandal within politics (yes, much more so than usual) and the end of the Trump reign too, which gave me a little bit of hope for the future.
For some, it will have been the first summer that you got back on a plane or were reunited with loved ones from overseas. Perhaps there have been personal milestones or decisions or changes in circumstance that wouldn’t have been made without some of the opportunities that covid has naturally brought us. When you think of all the covid babies, weddings and businesses that have sprung from such a time its possible to start to find silver linings when you look from a place of love.
Personally, for me, it’s been a year of new opportunities, new clients and new friendships – some I cant imagine my life without now. But it was also the chance to close the door on some behaviours and people that no longer added or brought value to my life. In short, it’s once again, been a year of change, growth and transformational process and I don’t regret a moment of all the lessons this year has brought me.
I often say to clients that despite growth being referred to in positive terms, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, growth can be truly painful and at times traumatic, but without it we grow stagnant, we don’t evolve, and we don’t speak up. It is essential to the transformation even if it doesn’t always feel wonderful at the time.
An Aubrey Marcus quote that puts this brilliantly is; ‘The transformation we are going through is a process. For true growth, you have to FEEL everything that comes up: Sadness. Fear. Frustration. Anger. Grief. If you skip the end, your journey will be incomplete. Honour your feelings, we’re all in this together.’
When you look back on your 2021 really assess your growth areas. They may not be the first thing that speaks to mind. . . They may well be the moments that you did in fact feel sadness, fear, frustration, anger and grief and so many other mixed emotions. We place a lot of value on getting that bonus, buying our dream car, or taking that picturesque holiday, but what about the soul expanding stuff? Where did you find your voice, and what impact did it have on your self-esteem and your life? Where have you been truly brave this year and what did you learn? Where were you a good human, how did that manifest and what impact have you had on others? What are you taking into 2022 and what will you be leaving behind?
Most importantly, are there areas that haven’t been entirely wonderful where, with hindsight, you can be kinder to yourself about? Beautiful things happen when you love YOU and your energy shifts into compassion and when you level up in gratitude for things that you do have and have gone well for you. There is no point in having regrets, you must give yourself permission to leave them behind. Keep pushing forward into 2022 with light and encouragement in your heart. 2022 is a new opportunity to take your wonderful self into new adventures and hope for the future. We have to trust in the universe and the alignment that will unfold naturally for you.
Remember, however 2021 has been for you, we are doing our best with what we have and that is always good enough and you should be so proud of how far you have come.