Between spending more time indoors, the holidays, sentimental Christmas music, and extra glasses of wine that tend to accompany the latter weeks of December, I tend to spend a good portion of my thought life reflecting on the past year.
This particular year has been eventful to say the least. Our family started and finished construction on a new home and we started a new business. On top of “mom”ing, “wife”ing, and blogging, I’m feeling somewhere in the middle of frazzled and tired. These feelings led me to my current state of mind which could be described in one word, “unresolved.” I started to wonder how I could top this year (NO, MOM, I’m NOT having another baby). Basically I’ve gone from one day to the next not really living in the moment. Instead of enjoying the moment, I was planning for the next moment. Even on vacation, I was planning our next vacation.
For much of the year, during the day to day activities, I never felt as though I was accomplishing anything, until I started to reflect on the past year. Because of this overall feeling of “what the heck just happened this year”, my husband and I decided to start doing a family evaluation. (It sounds more formal that it actually is, I promise.)
Basically, we’ve broken down our year into a few categories, and came up with a few questions to evaluate the past year. These questions are by no means all inclusive and may not apply to your family situation, but I’ll share our questions (and a few pictures) with you. Feel free to use them to reflect back on your year, or use them as a spring board to deeper questions. Take the time to really reflect, think back on your year, and appreciate the moments.
End of the Year Reflection Questions
Marriage/Partnership
What was the most thoughtful thing I did for you this year?
What was something you learned from me?
Parenting
What is the one thing you did together that you know you will remember forever?
Finances
How is our financial situation now compared to one year ago? Where could we spend more or less?
Faith
How have you grown in your faith this year?
Health
What’s one goal you set that you accomplished?
Reflecting on this past year helps me to feel as though I actually accomplished something. It allows me to look back in thankfulness and realize that while in the thick of life, living was happening. This year, I resolve to reflect on the old year with gratitude.
Happy (almost) New Year, Red Stick Moms!!
