2021 Year-in-Review: A Life Well-Lived
Algarve, Portugal, Credit: Emily Giacomini
As 2021 draws to a close, what do you want to hold onto from this year? In that space between life slowing down (hopefully) at work and speeding up at home, with family and friends gathering in-person or virtually to celebrate the holidays, what would it take to pause and take a look back at what has unfolded in your life over the course of the last 12 months? As author John C. Maxwell says, “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.”
Pick your favorite winter drink- for me that’s probably a hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick- get comfortable with a notepad and pen and wind back to January 2021. It may be helpful to have your work and personal calendars on hand, as well as any journals you keep, articles you’ve written, photos you’ve taken or reflections you’ve recorded on day-to-day happenings or momentous occasions.
As you refresh your memory looking back at each month, make a note of:
· major life events
· beginnings and endings
· trips and projects
· important people or relationships
· wins and losses
If it’s easier to separate out professional, personal, and civic spheres of life, by all means do what works. Following is one example that uses a few columns to recall an event and what you’d like to remember about it, for example:
January 2021
In this format, you'd summarize key points in each column.
What Happened column: write a few words to remind yourself of the event.
Proud of/Grateful for column: capture what warms your heart about it. Perhaps you achieved a long-term goal. Give yourself a moment to celebrate and list the people who contributed to your success.
Lessons/Gifts column: reflect on what you’d like to take away to apply in the future. For episodes that occurred as less-than-pleasant at the time, how could you turn them into a gift? Think about what good could come from the incident or challenge yourself to get creative about what positive outcome you could create because that thing happened, eg. not having your offer on that dream house accepted means you have more time to pack (and purge!) for the next house coming around the bend.
Priorities: If you’ve already identified your top 3-5 priorities in life- for me those are Faith, Family, Friends, Fun and Fitness- jot down which priorities were impacted, so you can see how key events from 2021 align with what’s most important to you.
This exercise is yours, so feel free to customize it to meet your needs. Create your own section headers if you like. Sketch out a picture of each event if you enjoy drawing. Take your time to work through it over several sessions if necessary. If you’re a person of faith, you could add that dimension by asking yourself what God has been showing you throughout the year. Be flexible and design a framework that is meaningful to you as you sift 2021 for gems to take with you into 2022.
Joyous Reflections and Season’s Greetings!