How I Calmed the Chaos

The greatest thing that 2020 taught me was that journaling is the most powerful thing I could do for myself.  It helped me release a lot of insecurities and a whole lot of anger.  And a daily practice of stream of consciousness writing allowed me to get clear on what I want out of life and that I shouldn’t waste my energy on things that don’t serve me.

Since we are halfway through January and 2020 is now firmly in the past, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on just what last year has given me (the answer is a great many gifts). And to set up some solid intentions for this year.

I understand that not many of us will say that 2020 was a great year, personally. And that’s ok.  It was a year of a great deal of tragedy.  But I think that many people may not be reviewing the past 12 months with an accurate eye.

Because I am addicted to journaling and its benefits for mental/spiritual health, I wanted to share something I found.

It’s quite a lengthy exercise.  In fact, at the moment of writing this post, I am only halfway through it.  Already it’s proven to be so helpful and inspiring that I would like to ask you to do a bit of homework and join me in completing a workbook from SYPartners It will help guide your reflections of 2020 and look ahead to a new year.

So far, my favourite prompt has been – A book was made of your past year, write down its title.
My answer is, How I Calmed the Chaos.  Perhaps this should be a book that I write in the future.

How I Calmed the Chaos (a side note).

1.  Journaling became the most important thing I did for myself every day.
2. I worked with a coach who helped me get clear on what I want out of life.
3. Forgiveness became a focus not only for myself but for others.
4. I learned to ask for what I want.
5. If people couldn’t read my mind, I stopped being angry at them.

I know that it’s easy to think that we get a clean slate or a do-over because the calendar turned a page. But the fact is we are still facing some genuine problems. They aren’t going to disappear tomorrow.  Our attitudes can. If we start the year with some strong ideas of what we want to accomplish and work hard at creating them, chances are greater that this year will resemble our vision.

Of course, you don’t have to do the homework.  It’s hard to find the time. We work hard all day, and we have families and other things to attend to.  But our mental and emotional health is important. And wouldn’t it be great to revisit the good stuff that came out of 2020 – and make magic happen in 2021. I think we deserve to do this for ourselves.

But if you do decide to wander around the workbook, won’t you share some of your successes of 2o2o and intentions for 2021 with us;
I would love to hear all about what you discovered about yourself.