Begin well. End well. Part 1

Life as we know it has 2 bookends…birth and death.

A beginning and an end.

And such is life.

This is a fact.

It doesn’t need to be or to feel depressing but maybe it is or it does?

We naturally grieve what didn’t eventuate, what we missed and what we lost between these bookends. It can be helpful to reflect on our disappointments and the frustrations we have experienced. The things that are both fleeting or lasting that leave us at a loss and are part of the happenings, the pages and the chapters of our life story in the year that was.

We mourn the loss, the death, the moving on of a loved one.

We remember the trip that was cancelled, the event that we couldn’t attend, the recipe or special something that we still cannot find.

We might feel helpless or even hopeless as we immerse ourselves in these thoughts.

Yet they mattered, they are worthy of our attention and they impact us.

As we reflect on the year that is almost done…what losses have you felt and sadness have you experienced? Please know that these feelings might continue, they will likely come and go as waves on the shore, along with various forms of cloud and rain too. Much like the seasons with their favoured and not so favoured elements.

And finally the sun begins to shine…at least it did in Melbourne this week…grateful sigh!

It is healthy to grieve and helpful to be grateful as we begin and end this year.

It is good for us to interact, to connect, to join with others. To support and care for others and to let them do this for us too. To give and receive. And to know that along with the bad, the hard, the hurts and the uncertainty we live with, that ‘the dawn follows the night’, and we will rise again to face whatever we will and we won’t be doing this alone.

There are things we can all gratefully reflect on…that which was good, what we gained and that which enriched our senses. Where have you gained hope and felt grateful?

May these things give us all hope and may we grow stronger as we recognise our capacity to both grieve life and celebrate life while holding the tension of these together.

And that was 2022.

If you’re stuck?

Let’s talk!