Reflecting on this past year: What can you celebrate?

The third 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.)

As part of my spiritual practice at the end of every year, I answer a set of key questions to honor and celebrate the year.

So far, we’ve covered three (click on the question to read those posts):

Question 1: What surprised you this year?

Question 2: How did you grow?

Question 3: What made you feel alive?

Today, I share with you the fourth question as you reflect on this past year.

What can you celebrate?

Bring to mind the months from January until now.

Contemplate the changes and growth in the different areas of your life, from relationships to your health, your career to your finances — breathe it all in and reminisce.

What were the milestones?

What accomplishments did you make?

What experiences make you look back and think, “Wow, that happened!”?

Celebration is a form of gratitude. You get to breathe in and breathe out a life-affirming Thank You!

Celebration marks a movement in a journey where you started off at one point and achieved reaching another point.

From a spiritual perspective, celebration reflects a spiritual journey as well — the journey of you becoming more receptive to good.

Before any good can show up in your life, there must be a part of you that is open to receiving it and that believes you are equal to it.

It’s a simple concept.

Imagine someone trying to hand you a gift and your fists are closed and your arms are crossed.

No matter how much this person tries to give you a gift, if you are not ready and open to receive it, you won’t be able to accept it.

That’s how the Universe operates.

There is an infinite storehouse of good always wanting to make itself more available to you.

Your ability to partake of this good is dependent on your own consciousness of receptivity.

If you can think of one thing you can celebrate this year, then that means you enlarged your consciousness of receptivity.

Celebration is a signal that you have become more open to abundant good in your life!

Here’s the other spiritual lesson about celebration.

When you openly celebrate and acknowledge the good in your life, you affirm to others and to the world around you what matters to you.

You say to the Universe, this is what’s important to me and I want more of this in my life.

And guess what? The Universe, always listening, takes note and says, Yes.

So take a moment now and celebrate. And be comforted in knowing that there is an eternal and infinite Presence that is right there celebrating with you.

For my next post, I’ll share the final key questions to help you honor and celebrate this past year, and it’s about taking your reflections and looking forward to next year.

I hope you’ve been keeping notes. These first questions are building up to these final questions that will help you feel more complete with this year and open to possibility for this coming year.

Click on the link to read the next article: Two final questions as you prepare to leave this year behind

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