The Power of Looking Back
Have you ever listened to a podcast or read something online and some small truth just jumps out at you, prompting you to see things in a whole new light? I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love these moments! I tend to revere them with tenderness and awe, knowing this type of opportunity does not happen every day. Part of me desires to savor the entirety of the gift, leaving nothing unwrapped.
It feels especially poignant that this happened for me a few days after entering the New Year. This is in counterbalance to the ever-growing pressure to set your intentions and aspirations for the New Year so that you have something positive to work towards. We hope, above all odds, to hold some semblance of control over positive outcomes in our lives. Please do not get me wrong, we do need to set certain goals, whether it is to save more money, to spend more time with those we love, or just to have more fun.
Recently, while organizing some old papers, I was delighted to find a napkin with my husband’s and my intentions for 2018. It was amazing how many of those items came into existence with what seemed like little conscious effort on our end. Maybe just writing them out was the most powerful thing we could have done.
This demonstrated the power of looking back which happened to be the element of the podcast that impacted me so dearly. This podcast discussed the importance of being mindful of the mini victories we experienced during the past year. My ‘aha’ moment was realizing that my mini victories during the last year had absolutely nothing to do with the intentions I had set for the year. Rather, these mini victories were moments of opportunity that crossed my path unexpectedly. I was mindful of the possibility, tapped into my creativity, and then acted upon these opportunities with incredible results. These mini victories were not on my radar, yet they made my year feel joyful, lively, grateful, and more connected.
My realization is that sometimes we set our intentions and travel on our merry way hoping for positive outcomes. And there are many times where The Universe/God/the Great Mystery comes to us and brings us unexpected mini victories somewhere along our journey. We just need to be open to listening and receiving. To tell you the truth, this path is so much more fulfilling than any other that I could have ever imagined or intended on my own.
May your New Year be filled with many surprising mini victories.