Christmas Colors, Reflections and New Years Hope

So, it’s that time of year again when people are talking about New Years Resolutions and what they want out of a new year, or what they hope to give to others in the upcoming months (ie. newer, better versions of themselves).  If you are a person who loves listing your goals for a new year- that’s wonderful!  Behavior modification and change is a difficult, beautiful thing! Personally, I have never really ascribed to that tradition.  It can feel like too much pressure to add one more thing to my days or like I am measuring myself through the lens of performance.

I do, however, like to reflect on the previous year.  I use Emily P. Freeman’s, “The Next Right Thing Guided Journal” to review past seasons in hopes to increase understanding on whether I planned for and responded to whatever came my way in a manner that I want to repeat.  Not in a shamed-based way such as, “I didn’t do all that I could”, or evaluating what could have made the experiences “better”- but just a gentle notice of my heart and mind’s desires, concerns and wonderings before happenstance occurred.  One of my favorite journal sections to review is the, “What was life-draining and life-giving during this season?” portion.  Even if we can’t decrease current stressors or responsibilities, we can perhaps notice, increase or appreciate the life-giving anchors that help us in the mundane and overwhelm.

More than merely reflecting on the previous year, I also value hoping for the next year.  Although my spiritual tradition understands that my true hope is not from worldly things or circumstances, but from God; hope for goodness, justice, mercy, love and change are essential practices.  Therefore, below is a list of 7 things I am thinking about adding to my Hopes for the New Year mixed in with Reflections from 2025.

1)          Encourage No Matter What- The attached picture is a photo of my Father and I before a High School Soccer Game.  He just happened to be the head coach for our rival team.  If there was an open position for him to coach on our town team, he would have obviously gone that route.  But, nevertheless, here we once stood together “pre-game” before the final outcome of the match.  I knew he was cheering for me above all else- beyond his ego, and his allegiance to his own team.  So, for 2026, I am setting an intention to Encourage No Matter What, especially for my own children, and for all other loved ones.  Even if I can’t figure out their path, motivations or difficulties and despite not having all of the answers, I will Encourage No Matter What.

2)          Become more familiar with Kendra Adachi’s work and book called, “The Lazy Genius Way; Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t and Get Stuff Done”.  I admit that I need better systems to set up my home organization, which includes actually meal prepping from time to time (from printed recipes), although I do value buying the produce my body craves when I see their colors in person.  Which leads me to #3.

3)          Meal Prep- Although I actually really dislike making dinner (and I know many other of you do as well), I know that my family deserves a variety of meals that I can be excited about offering to them.  Yeah I’ve got down Taco Tuesday at this point in my life, but one of my daughter’s doesn’t like Mexican that much.  And so it goes- I have given up on tracking everyone’s preferences and likes this Fall, but I want to come back in January with at least 3 new meals I can throw into the mix that is a win for everyone.  And- I am still not forfeiting having my kids take a night to cook after they are finished with the basketball season, or before they graduate from High School.

4)          Take a serious look at the concept of busyness as it relates to “overdrive”-  In, “How Did I Get So Busy; The 28-Day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most”, Valerie Burton asks readers to make a list of areas in their lives where they feel “overwhelmed, overloaded, and/or overdriven”.  Jot down how you spend the next 28 days and note what has contributed to your busyness.  Reflect on how you want the rushing and stress to change for the following month.  (And I realize that if you are a working Mom or Dad, perhaps change is not that simple).  This concept leads me to #5.

5)          Notice when you feel harried, try to settle your nervous system and tweak your cognitions.  The definition of harried is feeling strained from persistent demands.  A few months before my Dad was rescued from his disease, he described me as being harried.  I am going to sit with that one for a while.  I don’t want my family to experience me as being harried, and honestly, I don’t like the feeling anyway.  Paying attention to my body with breath work, stretching, foam rolling (and learning more about tapping), while doing less “busyness” in a day, staying home on designated days to play catch-up with the details of home and work life and celebrating little victories (like completed tasks) will help with my harried mind. My thoughts then will remind my body that Rome was not built in a day. I imagine #5 will take some mind-body work for many months and possibly well into 2027, but I’m ok with that.

6)          Lay on the Couch More Often to Watch TV- this may actually seem like a joke, but it’s not.  I don’t sit down that often.  I would like to blame our labradoodle for that, but more realistically, I don’t feel like I have a ton of excess time at the end of an evening to sit/relax.  During the winter months when it’s cold outside, I know part of my recovery from stress needs to include not-doing.  There is nothing like a PBS Special, or Megan Markle cooking that settles my brain.  Of course, a cup of tea and a fire would be a sweet trifecta. 

7)          Examine these questions from 2025-

(taken from Emily P. Freeman’s Work)

When was I most lonely?

How did my confidence grow?

What were my favorite yeses?

What were my most surest nos?

When did I feel most like myself?

That’s it for now, Friends.  I bet like me, you are entering a New Year tired with unmet longings.  It’s ok, new years were never meant to erase last year’s heartaches, hardships or mistakes.  They were meant to give us a fresh start- with wiser eyes and ears and more astute experience so we can face all the highs and lows of our next four seasons. 

LoveWell,

Kim