As businesses shift gears and begin their year-end activities… so do I.
In what way, you might ask?
Well, as organizations tally up their financials and begin to close their books, I do my after-action-review (AAR).
October is an opportunity to begin your reflection on the wins, losses, and works-in-progress that have made up the entirety of your energy allocation this 2024 year.
I hope you’re proud of the energy management decisions that you’ve made this year.
I hope you take a moment to commemorate yourself. In October, I spend much of my free time reflecting on the past, while planning out the future.
You should too.
We often are so busy doing, we hardly have a sense of our own progress. Or the progress of the people, places, and situations that our time, energy, and resources have served to support, protect, and empower. The energy is spent and almost instantly forgotten, the sacrifices that were made, and the cost therein… all swept under the rug, without a second thought.
How tired do you feel right now?
Hmm, bone tired, maybe?
So much of the exhaustion we experiences comes from the lack of acknowledgment of the energy that we’re expending.
The lack of gratitude we feel towards ourselves, for somehow pushing through.
In truth, there is a certain underlying misery in doing, and not receiving any recognition for our efforts.
And this isn’t the recognition that others can give you, it’s the recognition you owe to yourself.
Celebrating the blood, sweat, and tears that you expended to be exactly where you are standing right now - good or bad, it took energy.
Moving the needle will also take energy, and I promise you’ll feel more energized when you adopt a daily habit of gratitude towards yourself.
Feel grateful for all the ways you show up mind, body, and spirit.
Be thankful for where you are, what is coming up next, and who you are becoming.
Every step along your journey and every decision that you’ve made… is charting your path forward.
We don’t need to wait until we’re sick to feel grateful for our health. We don’t need to lose important relationships to be grateful for the loved ones that we have in our circle. We don’t need to wait for loss, before recognizing all that we have, that we love, that we would hate to lose.
And it is in that spirit that I reflect back on the year that’s passed.
I will commemorate my wins along with my losses.
I will give myself the space to grieve, the space to laugh, and the space to breath…
As I reflect on the cost of progress.
I will celebrate my efforts, I will commemorate my wins, and I will memorialize my losses.
For what they have made of me, pushing through the fear within and the surrounding challenges.
Wit this backdrop in view, I begin my pivot towards the future.
I am hopeful that the lessons of today bring a promise of a brighter tomorrow.
And even still, I’ll be grateful for the growth involved if it doesn’t.
Comments