There is a gift that isn’t wrapped neatly under the tree on Christmas morning. Its cost requires more than the money in your wallet. No one hands it to you. This is a gift you give yourself. It only takes a few minutes and there is nothing more valuable than this.
I don’t know what happened in your life this year, but there was probably a lot going on. Some of it may have been fantastic and exciting and happy, but some of it may have been very difficult and challenging. But if you take just a moment to look back over this year, you’ll find a lesson, a theme, a message that is uniquely meant for you to unwrap. Even though the process of getting that message may not have been what you wanted, the message itself is a gift – a nugget of wisdom you can choose as your own.
Embrace it. Even if you don’t like it. You can use it as you move forward and it is guaranteed to make your life richer and your decision wiser as you move into a New Year. Reject the gift and you may find it showing up again next year – same message, different method. So take a moment right now to give yourself this priceless gift by asking yourself this question?
What do I know today that I didn’t know this time last year?
To “know” something is to have experienced it. It isn’t just something someone told you. It isn’t something you read in a book. You can actually say, “I have lived this. I experienced it. I know with all of my heart this is true.”
One of the beautiful truths of life occurs when we go through challenges and walk away not even feeling bitter because we realize that we are better as a result of it. We are wiser, kinder, more grateful, bolder and even more courageous.
And even when the experience that makes us better is full of goodness and happiness, there is wisdom in savoring it and gleaning a lesson from it rather than moving on without truly celebrating the blessing.
