As someone who fancies herself to generally have an answer for everything (even if that answer is ‘I don’t know’ and I use that frequently!), it feels completely unsettling when even ‘I don’t know’ starts turning into ‘I don’t understand’. I think 2016 can be summed up by many of us by that simple statement.
And before you think I’m just getting on the ‘2016 sucked’ bandwagon, just bear with me here… I’d much rather look at 2016 more realistically, with some hope thrown in (of course).
It seems to be the general consensus (for most at least) that 2016 brought up a lot of things that were, and maybe still are, hard to understand. Maybe they were more challenging moments that totally threw you off balance, even for a minute, and brought up a whole bunch of ‘stuff’ to process. Or perhaps there were more happy, joyful moments that seemed to appear out of nowhere and took you by surprise at just how ‘perfect’ and effortless those moments were. It might have even been a mix of both surprising joys and utterly confusing crap.
There’s one theme however that’s running through these significant moments of the year, whether they were a high, low or somewhere in between for you.
The opportunity for growth and reprogramming of old patterns has been huge throughout 2016. Think of it as one big shedding of skin, where we learn to relinquish the idea of how we think our lives ‘should’ look and instead step a little more into what really serves us. When this happens, often what no longer serves you as we get closer to the new year is released, sometimes swiftly, other times with lingering grip. Sometimes this has been hugely uncomfortable, depending on your level of resistance to the change, whether that resistance has been unconscious or otherwise. And getting back to that confusion, often the discomfort, even in the changes we see more immediately as exciting, comes from that lack of understanding in what’s going on.
When we struggle to understand changes taking place, regardless of how we perceive them, we create a resistance that causes discomfort and friction. Then instead of the process feeling smooth and effortless, there becomes a feeling of ‘stuckness’ that makes us feel powerless over our own lives.
What a way to live, right?
Now more than ever I am convinced that perception really is reality (I’ve been banging on about this for years and still I get reminders). This year has been a huge reminder of that for me as I’ve swung from the struggle of trying to understand and the peace of trusting it’s all for the better (because it really is).
I say all of this not to dwell, but to bring perspective to the year that has been. So maybe instead of completely writing off 2016 as a disaster year, let’s look at it differently.
Those challenging times where you felt the rug was pulled from underneath you, what did you learn from that? Did you embrace the opportunity to grow, to change old habitual patterns, despite the discomfort presented? Maybe you learned a different way of responding, rather than those reactions that have never truly served you anyway. Or maybe, you’re still learning how to do that but a new awareness has been brought to light, and that’s alright too.
All in all, 2016 seems to have been the year that’s taught us how to have more trust in the process of life, how to roll with the things thrown at us, how to take chances and be brave despite the fear that resides in us all, and how to follow our guts and our hearts, with the knowing that while we maybe not quite understand the ‘why’ or ‘what’, it’s what will ultimately serve us and lift our lives closer to how we want them to look and feel. It’s creating and taking ownership over the lives we want to live.
In parting, 2016 was a year that for me was packed full of events, experiences, encounters, and everything in between that were mostly unexpected, unplanned, and both challenging and amazing. I can look back and absolutely say that I don’t understand it all. Yet. Or maybe I won’t ever, but instead of letting that drive me crazy, I’m choosing to be grateful because I can see a lot of what I’ve gained this year already. The tribe of incredible friends in my life has defined and strengthened itself even more and I’ll forever be thankful for their strength, support, softness, and guidance. I’ve learnt that it’s ok to be vulnerable and still step through fear towards what I want, what feels right for me, with full awareness that even if it doesn’t work out there’s incredible power in just taking that step.
Have a wonderful time celebrating the opportunity of another new year, however you celebrate. Try not to be too hard on 2016 as you do so. Take it for what it was, the good, bad and ugly, and celebrate instead that you’re here at the other end of it and give yourself a little credit.
