Happy Christmas
The big day is almost upon us. Are you all done or still running around buying gifts and food and wrapping presents?
As always as we approach this last couple of weeks of the year my mind turns not just to Christmas but to the New Year and thoughts about what my word, my intention for next year will be. I usually use the time between Christmas and New Year to make my decision.
Setting an intention for the whole year provides me with a word to guide, remind and inspire me. The first year I did this I chose embrace. I wanted to embrace what life had to offer, new opportunities, new experiences, the people I love.
Another year I chose health because through my coaching training I’d realised that my number one value was my mental and physical health and yet I was prioritising work, studying and other people ahead of that. Everything felt out of kilter as a result. Twelve months of reminding myself daily of the importance of health, making my decisions grounded in the value I place on it and I was healthier, happier, more relaxed, productive and creative. Everyone benefitted, not just me.
My word for 2020 was adventure. Little did I realise the wild ride that 2020 was going to supply. In April a month into lockdown and my grandfather passed away and adventure began to feel like the least appropriate word. I was home alone thanks to lockdown and grieving. I was reading a book called “Finding God in the Mess” and the very last line of the book was “It will be a great adventure”. And in that moment it was like a light bulb going off. I had a choice. Even in the midst of loss and grief and not knowing what the coming months would bring I had a choice and I made the choice to stick with that word adventure and view all the changes and different ways of being and working that 2020 necessitated as an adventure.
That word is the reason that my podcast was launched last December. It was on my list of 2020 adventures and I got it done with two weeks to spare!
This year I chose epic. It felt big and expansive and that’s what I wanted from the year after months of lockdown and stress. Little did any of us realise that there would be months more of lockdowns and restrictions and I certainly wasn’t expecting to finish the year mid way through chemotherapy. But, looking back over the year, reflecting on what I have achieved it has been epic in so many ways. Perhaps not the way I envisaged but epic none the less.
And do you know what? Whilst it’s been very hard living through what 2021 has thrown at us and me I think in years to come, or even in just months to come, I will look back on this year and say that it was epic. Epic in ways I never imagined or wished for but wow I survived and thrived despite the continuing pandemic and cancer. Sometimes that’s what life is like. We hope, wish, pray for something. We set our intentions and our goals and we do end up getting what we wanted but not in the way we imagined.
How about you? Do you choose a word for your year, to set the tone, to help guide you and make decisions?
I’m doing a deep dive into why it’s so helpful to have an intention for the year in next week’s podcast. Amongst other things I’ll be covering
how to go about choosing your word,
ways to keep it in mind as the year progresses
how it can help you in decision making, big and small
The episode will be released on 30th December. You can listen on all major podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Audible and Amazon Music.
Happy Christmas!
