Good day team,
Today is the winter solstice and as I look out my office window, I see a landscape covered in many feet of beautiful, white snow that has fallen on Oregon over the past few days. We don’t get too much of this stuff and so when we do, the city pretty much shuts down. A few inches of snow here and everything slows way down.
Snow has a silence about it that is like none other. It gives us an opportunity to stop all of our normal external activity and burrow inside of ourselves to listen to what’s going on in our interior world. Sometimes it’s quiet in there and often it’s not. But, I always see it as an opportunity to do a little soul searching when my regular life is interrupted and I get to sit and ponder. Nothing like a cup of tea and some introspection on a cold winter’s eve!
In that spirit, I offer you some good end-of-the-year questions to ask yourself as you gaze at the firelight and ponder this past year. These come from a post by Ariane de Bonvoisin on the Huffington Post. My husband was good enough to forward them on to me for this last Coach’s Challenge of 2008.
* What was the best thing that happened to me this year?
* What did I do this year that I’m really proud of?
* Who did I really help?
* Who do I need to thank and acknowledge for having been there for me?
* What are the top three lessons I learned?
* What increased my happiness and joy this year?
* What’s something I got through that was really tough?
* What did I avoid that I must pay more attention to in 2009?
* What character trait did I develop most this year?
* What new people did I meet that are now in my life?
“Some of these questions may take some time and thought to answer, and that’s OK. At the end you should be able to see that you’ve made some progress on at least one front in your life! Give yourself a bit of credit for that.”
I love that last sentence she wrote. Add a little bit of brandy to that hot beverage of your choice and give yourself some credit for all that you’ve accomplished this year. It’s been a doozy and we should all celebrate that we’re still here for each other.
I wish all of you Happy Holidays filled with light and love! Let’s all pray for more peace and prosperity in the coming year.
Kathleen
Note: I’ll be back with the first challenge of 2009 on January 4.