I’d say buckle up — it’s time to raise our vibration, align our energy, reflect, let go, and reset our inner selves to prepare for the new year.

December’s festive energy is infectious, and many are swept through it without a care, straight into the new year. Yet, many quietly feel the blues of beginnings and endings, and the non-diminishing weight of everything they carry.

In the winter, the days grow shorter and the nights stretch longer.

The world lives longer under the influence of the moon than the sun.

The moon is a facilitator of our emotions, like it creates high tides and low tides in the oceans; similarly, as we are 70 percent water, it starts affecting our inner states more profoundly in the colder months.

We feel nostalgic, tender, creative, intuitive, and at times even melancholic.

It’s also because of a lack of sun on our skin, but it’s also a quiet invitation of the season to turn inward.

A beautiful time to contemplate and understand our inner world better.

December is also the last month of the year, and many naturally weigh in on the year gone by. Many are also resolute about starting fresh in the coming new year.

Temporal events do that, time-bound landmarks, like birthdays, New Years, anniversaries, etc. They help us organize the various chapters of our lives and often inspire a sense of optimism and hope.

Well, however, the world we live in now has become disenchanted. People have also given up on temporal events. Perhaps that’s why they are more important now than ever. A collective upsurge of optimistic energy that can support change for everyone.

Whatever your goals or griefs, use this month to reflect, let go, and reset, because it will help you show up stronger for yourself in the new year and ensure that you stay steadfast on the path of growth and fulfilment.

 

To Reflect, Minimize Noise and Distractions

 

Let’s be honest, we live in the age of endless content, but we were never meant to consume this much.

So many stories, plots, people, events, opinions, triumphs, and tragedies.

Just 15 years ago, people were mostly distracted by the people around them and their local issues.

Newspapers came once a day, the TVs ran a few programs – not all worth watching, films and entertainment came around at a pace that let people be. Even after accounting for books and other publications, an individual probably consumed 50 pieces of long-form content in a year. A sane quantity for our brains.

But now it’s an unending barrage, enough material to occupy a hundred lifetimes, all cramped into an apathetic scrolling feed. No wonder there’s no space for contemplation on our lives and reality.

Systems like the reels and shorts are profoundly dissociating. One moment, a funny clip; the next a tragedy. Each tugs at our emotions, flooding our body with chemical reactions, and before we can process that, we are onto the third completely irrelevant piece of content. This is what’s causing brain rot.

The dissociative nature of short-form content is dehumanizing our society.

A tsunami of irrelevance that’s sweeping away our attention span, our capacity for reflection, and the anchors that tether us to our true interests and self.

This needs to be minimized or stopped first if you want a sane, peaceful, and thoughtful mind.

Start here. Plan for how you will achieve that before the next year begins, and move ahead from there.

A step in this direction will take us a long way, I am sure. I am working on this as I am writing this article.

 

Let Go to Get Going

 

I am writing this article because I believe in the power of this topic. It’s so helpful in its introspective nature, and many fail to understand that. I have realized that before balancing our inner world, we cannot do meaningful work on the outside.

An important part of balancing our inner scale is to let go of things that are holding us back.

The things I will ask you now are the same things that I am reflecting on, and the answer to them, I think, will let us move ahead with fortitude.

  • What fears do you need to let go of?
  • What regrets do you need to let go of?
  • What comfort is holding you back that you need to let go of?
  • What resentment do you need to let go of?
  • What limiting belief do you need to let go of?
  • What unhealthy habits do you need to let go of?
  • What expectations do you need to let go of?
  • What pain do you need to let go of?
  • What battles do you need to let go of?
  • What desire do you need to let go of?

So many things that we can let go of that will actually make our lives better.

A clear head and a clear heart can do wonders.

I also believe that we need to stop chasing so many things. The constant chase is draining us mentally, physically, and spiritually.

We need to let go of the need for receiving validation. The world can believe what it wants, and we can believe what we want. Neither’s belief will affect the other’s journey unless they let it.

We need to let go of the need to acquire and hoard and find contentment in being and doing.

One achievement after the other, one thing after the other, our quest for things is never-ending, and that we must let go.

“I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go.” – Life of Pi

Do it — let go of whatever’s holding you back. Let go of that anxious energy. I suggest you try taking the aid of pranayam. You will feel lighter and energized, ready to begin a new chapter in your life.

A symbolic wardrobe cleaning and getting rid of unnecessary items from your house can also be a good start.

 

Stop Rushing and Reset Before the New Year

 

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

The line brings me a sense of tranquillity and calmness. I find myself taking fuller lung-filling breaths.

Even amid the city, I connect from within to the sounds of a forest, the shade of an elder tree, looking up to the canopy of a great jungle, and every aspect of nature that exudes strength, timelessness, wonder, and effortless presence.

People, I have noticed, myself included, not long ago, often live driven by narrow goals conjured from narrow perspectives.

They have told themselves a story, and that story somehow justifies all the anxieties and trouble they go through for the happily ever after in that story.

Not realizing life isn’t a single story to complete; it’s a living, changing narrative meant to be experienced, not achieved.

Just rushing from one goalpost to another.

After making space for reflection and noting down things to let go, it’s time to stop rushing, reset, and renew our commitments. With more meaning and better direction. Aligned with our values and vision for our lives.

Reset your mindset for renewed enthusiasm and confidence.

Reset your grit and show up committed to your plans, just like when you first started.

Reset your routine, align it with how you want to live.

Reset your diet to meet your health and wellness goals.

Reset your outlook on life to live more mindfully and purposefully.

Rest, even your goals if they are too rushed. Juggle fewer things to improve your quality of life.

Aim for a complete renewal of your being so that the new year doesn’t just arrive but awakens something new within you.

 

A Conclusive End to the Year and All the Clutter of the Past

 

It is unrealistic to believe that just a month’s worth of contemplation will clear the heart and mind of all its darkness, but lighting a single lamp is a defining act.

The light from a single lamp defies darkness. It defies the darkness of ignorance, lethargy, and purposelessness.

But like a lamp needs timely oiling, so do you.

To stay on the path, we must refuel our minds with uplifting thoughts, our bodies with healthy food, and our souls with solitude and good company. We must inculcate gratitude for what we have and acceptance of what we don’t. Practice the art of enough and let go of the need for more.

Through reflection and contemplation, I’ve come to realize that in times of deep darkness, we can probably rise above our own woes by serving others. Through service, we invite the divine into our lives, rise above self-centeredness, and rediscover the meaning of life.

Often, I think the cause of many people’s problems is their self-centeredness—their lack of awareness of the world beyond themselves.

Their inability to view the world as it is, instead of through preconceived notions, is what causes them to be stuck in the confines of their own making.

So again, I invite you to reflect, let go, and reset this December – to prepare for a brighter, more grounded new year. It will be wise of you to prep your mindset before making a New Year’s resolution.

I think I have released this post in time for your December reflections, and when January arrives, I’ll be here with a post to help you turn that reflection into momentum.

Until then, I leave you with a few quotes to aid your contemplation. Adios!

 

December Reflections: Quotes to End the Year With Grace

 

We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience. — John Dewey

What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year. — Vern McLellan

Gratitude turns what we have into enough. — Aesop

Be willing to be a beginner every single morning. — Meister Eckhart

Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, you serve the world better. — Eleanor Brownn

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. — C.S. Lewis

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. — Viktor E. Frankl

And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that never were. — Rainer Maria Rilke

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ― Mahatma Gandhi

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. ― Confucious

The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward. ― Steve Maraboli

The outer world is a reflection of the inner world. Other people’s perception of you is a reflection of them; your response to them is an awareness of you. ― Roy T. Bennett

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful. ― Margaret J. Wheatley

Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ― Charles Dickens

Self-reflection is a humbling process. It’s essential to find out why you think, say, and do certain things…. then better yourself. ― Sonya Teclai

Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. ― William Faulkner

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. ― Aldos Huxley

Dwell not on the faults and shortcomings of others; instead, seek clarity about your own. ― Buddha

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. ― Ernest Hemingway

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. —Hal Borland

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love. ― Carl Sagan

Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd. ― Rumi

We have a duty to show up in the world with meaning and purpose and commitment to doing good. And to use any privilege that we have to make positive change and to disrupt oppressive systems. ― Meena Harris

It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? ― Henry David Thoreau

Whenever you become anxious or stressed, outer purpose has taken over, and you lost sight of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that your state of consciousness is primary, all else secondary. ― Eckhart Tolle

To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. ― Robert M. Pirsig

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. ― Chuck Palahniuk

The only time you look in your neighbor’s bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don’t look in your neighbor’s bowl to see if you have as much as them. ― Louis C.K.

Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. ― Les Brown

Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it. ― Julia Child

 

P.S. Everything highlighted in orange links to related content on Soulo for this post’s theme. Do check it out for further exploration.