Reflecting on this past year: How did you grow? What made you come alive?

The second of four articles to guide you in spiritual reflection.

(Update in 2020: I wrote this post originally in 2018 and have now included a video to reference all that has happened this past year, although the content in this article is still relevant. I’ve also created a new course launching in January 2021 that incorporates these questions and moves into visioning your best life for the new year. You can read more about that course by clicking here.)

The spiritual practice of reflection is one of my important regular practices, especially as I complete a cycle. With reflection, you get to see where you started at the beginning of the cycle and you witness how you’ve been transformed.

In my last blog post, I mentioned two different ways you can use to reflect on this past year.

One way is to do a chronological review, and another way to reflect this year is to examine the different areas of your life.

You could read more about those two types of reviews here.

I’ve put together six key questions to help you reflect more deliberately and to help you honor and celebrate this past year. For the last blog post, one of the questions was “What surprised you this past year?”

Here are two more questions to add to the list.

How did you grow this past year?

Thinking through each month of this past year and in different areas of your life, how did you grow?

One of the best ways to acknowledge growth is to uncover the lessons you gained from your experiences.

Whether you had challenges or accomplishments, you most likely picked up a few key insights and were transformed by your experiences.

If you can, write some of these lessons down. Ask yourself how you’ve grown as a result of these experiences.

How are you different now than when you started out the year?

I asked one of my clients recently about how he grew since he started working with me. In the beginning, he said he felt as if he were in a slumber. He wasn’t clear where he wanted to direct his energy, and he didn’t feel particularly enthused.

Within a few weeks of working together, he realized he was able to tap into his own passion and to say yes to the inspiration that his heart was naturally guiding him to experience more fully.

Now, he feels more purposeful and in flow with the rhythm of Life itself.

Purpose and flow are good indicators that something is working in your life. This leads to the next question to help you honor and celebrate this past year.

What made you come alive this year?

As you reflect on this past year, where do you feel the juice? What made you feel fully present in the moment?

Aliveness is a quality that speaks to your own uniqueness.

You are a unique expression of life. You show up in the world in only the way that you can.

As a result of your uniqueness, your joy is also unique to you.

When you recognize what brings you joy and that feeling of aliveness, you open up your awareness to a greater understanding of what brings you meaning in the world.

Where did you feel an energy and zest to life?

The stirrings in your heart are signposts to the real you.

For these last weeks of this year, I’ll be sharing three more questions that help you to honor and celebrate this last year. Keep a journal with your responses to these questions. They’ll help you as you’ll eventually be looking into next year.

Click on the link to read the next article titled: Reflecting on this past year: What can you celebrate?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about today’s post. Please leave a comment below. Feel free to give some “claps” while you’re at it!

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Note: This article was originally posted on AbundantGood.com