I don't do resolutions anymore. I've let myself down too many times by putting grandiose expectations on myself and stressing out at the start of every year. I'm too old for that shit now! I do however reflect on the last year, my growth (or not) and how I want to move forward in the coming year. I tried a couple times to find a word or phrase to take me into the new year and that fell flat too, so reflection it is.
Thanks to therapy (and if you know me well enough, I talk about the holiness of therapy A LOT!) I have a better time self reflecting and giving myself grace for mistakes and evaluating how to avoid them in the future. I'm better, definitely not great, but coming from a lifetime of head in the sand self awareness, I now feel like Buddha with total enlightenment LOL. It is a double edged sword, as facing your own "stuff" often is. Once seen it can't be unseen or ignored. Over the last 5 years I have jumped head first into figuring "ME" out and getting my shit together...it's been a LOT! I turned 50 this year and I can honestly say I am emotionally the healthiest I've ever been (my body would like to lodge a complaint for its neglect though). It has benefited my relationship with my husband, my kids, and my family, but even better, with myself. I have gotten better at saying no, setting boundaries, and not sitting in my own discomfort to accommodate someone else. It's not an easy process and I still question myself. "Is this really so important that I need to say anything?" "Did that really bother me?" "Should I just ignore it and pretend it's not there?" The answers are YES, YES and NO. I have found that if it's enough to make me ask these questions that is answer enough. My lifelong habit of not creating conflict butts up against this philosophy and it creates some drama inside my head for sure. Thankfully, my therapist answers texts!
This year has been full. Full of good and bad as most people's years have. There are always degrees of course and perspective is important. I navigated a shoulder surgery, my baby graduating and moving to college, wonderful vacations, the buildup to my 50th birthday, and crushing disappointment in my countrymen.Through it all has been reflection. Can I do this, say this, accept this, and still feel good about myself? Can I make the hard choice, speak my truth, stand by my boundaries? Can I accept the consequences of my choices? How do I move forward after those choices have been made? That one I'm still figuring out. Loss is hard to say the least, but loss by your choice feels harder to navigate. I lost a best friend this year, by choice. Much like when I came to the epiphany around Rigel and his transitioning, my ultimate question surrounding this choice is could I have made another choice and been ok with it? The answer is still no. No matter how much I "what if" or second guess myself, I always come back to my truth. There isn't a day I don't wish things were different, but at no time do I feel I made the wrong choice, as excruciating as it was.
I am in this kind of limbo now. There is life before and now, life after. I'm trying to figure out what that looks like, where to lay my trust and heart and how to expand my circle to bring in people and activities that support and uplift me.
Reflecting on how I want to spend my time and who I want to spend it with, what is important to me, and how I can support my kids and my husband is what I'm moving into 2025 with. I have a bit of melancholic peace within me that I hope can turn into a joyful peace as the year progresses but I'm not putting any expectations on myself, I'm just going to move through it all as it comes...and keep my therapist on speed dial.