Begin By Looking Back—The Value of Reflection

Korba, Tunisia

I love new beginnings. New years are my favorite. There’s something so exciting about buying a new agenda or a new wall calendar. There’s something fresh and exciting about empty space, blank paper, a fresh start. 

Even if last year was horribly difficult and challenging, there’s something wonderful about the beginning of the year—January 1. 

I can start over again. 

They say that in order to move ahead well, you have to finish well. Before you can start the next chapter or the next year, you have to close the last chapter or the last year well. 

Katie Reid of See Beyond says, “Reflecting helps me finish off a period of time, gather the pertinent insights, and have them ready to use as I move into the future.”

So, I’ve been thinking as we head into this year—What do I need to look back on? How can I look back at last year? How can I survey the last 12 months of my life?

Looking at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

How can I identify what was good? What I can rejoice in? What I can be thankful for—the things that have brought me joy in life? 

And what are the things that have been really difficult, really challenging—hard things that I, quite frankly, wondered if I could survive?

Maybe I can learn from the bad and the ugly things too. Maybe there are lessons in those challenges that might perhaps be the key to moving ahead well in this next year?   

January 1 is a time to reflect and a time to look back. Then, it’s a time to turn the page, to start over, to move ahead, to dream again, to imagine what I want for this next year. 

What are the things that I hope will happen again? What are the things that fed my soul and gave me great joy and peace in life?

What are the things that I want to be completely different?

Dream and Imagine—Are You Ready?

Where do I want to be at the end of this new year? Who do I want to be? 

Is anyone as excited as I am about this new season and what’s potentially around the corner?

This is a time to look back on the past months—the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s time to remember, to be thankful for the things that have happened, the lessons learned, the things accomplished.

It’s time to re-read last year’s life chapter—celebrate, learn, and then turn the page. 

I can’t wait to get out my pen and start writing this new year’s chapter. The page is blank and clean. It’s a new beginning. I can already feel the dreams, visions, and hopes rising up in my heart and mind.

I’m ready to go! Wanna join me?

Here’s our free gift to you—Download See Beyond’s Reflection Guide of Emotions. 

Guest author, Marci Renée, along with her French husband and four boys, is a global nomad who has traveled to more than 30 countries and has lived in the United States, France, Morocco, and Spain. She loves to travel, speak foreign languages, experience different cultures, eat ethnic foods, meet people from faraway lands, and of course, write and tell stories. She is a published author of children's picture books, memoirs, short stories, and poetry.

You can find Marci and her books on her website.

"The Cultural Story-Weaver," at www.culturalstoryweaver.com