Happy New Year!

We eagerly turned the calendar page to a NEW year and a NEW month last Friday and many of us danced for joy as we said goodbye to a year that changed life as we know it. We enter this new year with personal declarations and affirmations for a better year; a healthy year; a year filled with happiness, love, peace and a return to our “normal” lives? But what if, 2020 was the disturbance to the status quo so many of us secretly needed.

Mountaintop experiences provide inspiration, happiness and great views, but I contend that we learn some of our best lessons and achieve some of our biggest growth spurts in the valley when we’re forced out of our boxes of comfort, have to find a way to heal from pain and trauma or when we’re forced to pivot. The truth is we need mountaintop and valley experiences.

Our lives are like mosaics, when you look at each experience individually you may only see a piece of something colorful, dinners at home, binging the newest and hottest show (HELLO Bridgerton), heartache, a perceived failure, a fun virtual night with loved ones, working from home, not seeing family members and friends in-person, road trips instead of plane rides or a piece of broken glass, but when you put them ALL together you have a beautiful picture or pattern produced by arranging together small pieces of material and ALL OF YOUR experiences together. ALL OF OUR EXPERIENCES HAVE VALUE and they come together to make the beautiful pictures and patterns that are our lives. 

There’s an old saying, “don’t throw the baby out with the water,” which means don’t throw out something valuable with those things and experiences you deem undesirable. In our excitement for 2021 let’s remember that ALL of our experiences have value. 

You can read about one of the habits I intentionally carried from 2020 into 2021 with me, here.  I would love to know what you plan to continue in 2021.