The clock struck midnight, and in the blink of an eye the calendar flipped and a new year arrived, along with the official declaration that the time had come to bid farewell to its predecessor.
The holiday season that comes with the end of the year brings joys, pains, excitement, sadness, delight and regret….you get the picture. There’s a dichotomy of emotions and feelings that exists as we approach the end of a 365 day cycle that traditionally prompts reflection, inspection, introspection, and all kind of other -tions. We sit and look at what we’ve done, what we didn’t do and what we could’ve done based on a 365 day clock that is often accompanied by a clock of comparison and a clock of expectation.
None of us are perfect, but when we arrive at this calendar flip, we square up to engage in a battle with clocks of time, clocks of comparisons and clocks of expectation. In doing so, we declare that it’s a new year so therefore there has to be a “new me”. I think this may be the case for some of the people some of the time, but it’s the case for all of the people all of the time. Y’all, I think we get this wrong sometimes. At least, I know for me I’ve gotten this wrong.
I don’t know about you, but I am extremely hard on myself when it comes to looking at where I am or why I’m there and I think that it’s very easy to confuse renewal and restoration. Just stay with me a sec. It’s easy to think of all the things we need to make new or better, without realizing that sometimes we have to restore some crucial components to get there.
I know what’s in me, but I also know the experiences I’ve had that have launched me into being a far more superior overthinker than I’d like to be (ignore the fact that I’m an Aquarius), a more avid self-sabateur than I could ever dreamed of, and a swifter detacher than I should be. So when I think of some of my missteps this year, I know that a restored me is more essential to me than a new me.
Restoration for me involves getting back to the faith I once had, along with the revival of the trusting heart I once knew. I can totally allow myself to be shook by the comparison or expectation, since the 365 day deadline has arrived, but I won’t. I think sometimes you have to get back to what makes you you…so new year, restored me. Sometimes the restoration precedes the renewal.
The clock struck midnight, the calendar flipped….embrace the you that you are and glow from there!
Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023!
Song Reference: Alessia Cara-How Far I’ll Go
Song Reference: Ledisi-Pieces of Me
Life Is But A Song 