We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill
Each year at this time, our society pauses for a few moments. There’s something about the shortened days, the colder nights – the comfort of an old quilt and a cup of tea that make moments of reflection easier to come by. And while it can be hard to slow ourselves down, to wrestle our iPhones from our hands and our laptops from our couches… there’s no app or shortcut for self-reflection.
It just takes a little time, and a little focus – things that can be hard to come by if you don’t make some space for them.
So this week, I hope that you stay informed (I think that’s a given, isn’t it?) and engaged. But I also hope that rather than giving yourself a list of calls to make or actions to take, you will join me in doing something that will give us direction and motivation for the next year.
I hope you’ll join me in being reflective about where we’ve been, and aspirational about where we can go. It means thinking through successes and failures – both on a personal level and as a movement. It means considering what works for us personally – what fuels our own souls – and what works for us as a society.
It may sound simple, or a little too new-age-y and hippie.
But by making goals for yourself that are both achievable and aspirational – and that you create through intentional self-reflection – you create a road map that will carry you forward through 2018. Forging ahead with intention, you’ll be able to make better decisions for how to spend your limited time and energy. We are in this for the long haul, after all.
So, as another short day closes, I’ll sip tea out of my biggest mug, pull out my old quilt and ask myself the biggest question: What do I need to do in the next 12 months so that on December 26, 2018, I know that I left it all on the table?
I hope you will join me, and ask that question of yourself. Because once this seasonal pause has ended, we’ll be rested, ready, and with a personalized map to follow.
Enjoy these moments of quiet.
I’ll see you on the other side.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for writing. I read and respond to every e-mail. (Really! I really do!) We’re in this together.
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Small Deeds Done 