For so many people, the last year has been replete with both challenges and successes, ups and downs, peaks and valleys. This likely can be said of any year, but with COVID still looming, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, wildfires, flooding, mass murders, economic uncertainty, the past year may have felt as though it was more bad than good for so many people. Still, there was good for many of us, if only we choose to look at it.

Life has a funny way of leaving us with all the feelings … happy, mad, sad, glad, ugly, other. And, that is okay. Whatever we are feeling is fair and valid. It may seem as though one day we are feeling just fine, and the next day we are struggling. That is normal. None of us feels great all day, every day. That is part and parcel of being part of this amazing adventure we call life. It is not perfect. It never was intended to be. But, we can learn from it and take those lessons into the future with us.

If we permit it, life can be our greatest teacher. We can learn from our mistakes, our perceived failures, our successes and everything in between. What did this past year teach you about you? Perhaps you learned that you are stronger and more resilient than you give yourself credit for. Perhaps you learned that failure is not final; that failure is part of success. Perhaps you learned that it is okay to seek assistance when you need it, for whatever you need. Perhaps you learned that it takes more courage to ask for help than it does to suffer in silence.

Life is full of lessons. However, life does ask of us to look at our challenges, our perceived failures, as lessons, things from which to learn rather than stopping points or road blocks. If we give ourselves permission to learn from life, we can move forward. Life asks us to have a growth mindset, so that we can move forward. If we view our challenges, our perceived failures as final, we will not grow and become the people we always were meant to be. And, life is about becoming the people we were meant to be.

Life wants us to find some measure of happiness despite all the bad with which we are confronted. We can choose to focus on what often seems as though a constant stream of negativity or we can choose to focus on what still is good in the world. We can give ourselves permission to find joy, to find happiness.

What has life taught you about you in 2023? And what of those lessons can you carry with you into 2024? As we let go of another year and ring in the start of a new year, what is your take-away? You can choose to let life be your best teacher.

Let the end of this year serve as a lesson, teaching you what you want the new year to look, sound and feel like. Give yourself permission to use those lessons to work toward becoming the person you always were meant to be. You are in control of you, of your life, of your future. Take charge!

~ Karri Christiansen, MSW, LSW, CADC, CCTP