Simple Year-End Thoughts
I had the privilege this last weekend of hearing Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder of Gift of the Givers, speak at the Speech Day of my son’s school. At a time of year where energy is flagging, chapters are coming to an end, people are parting ways, and a year that has asked much of us is mostly behind us, he imparted some simple, yet powerful thoughts. I’d like to share two of them with you.
Come December, it’s easy to either allow ourselves to be consumed by all that remains to be done, or to have already switched our brains off in surrender. Whichever end of that spectrum you’re on, it can be hard to find the capacity to read and process long-winded thought processes that require us to engage further.
And yet, there are 29 days, plus change, left of this year – and none of us are promised any of them. Our biggest challenge is to stay present and to life fully and joyfully in the moment of every day that we’re gifted. I hope that these two thoughts will help us to do so today.
The first thought is “Remember that whatever you do is done through you and not by you.”
None of us is here of our own accord, or by our own strength. Not one of us. Each of us is here because of the people who’ve supported us to be here. Those who educated us, who pushed us, who imparted knowledge to us, who gave us openings, opportunities and time. Those who sacrificed so that we could succeed. Each of us is here by the grace of God, because of our God-given strengths and talents, for the purpose we were made to satisfy. It’s worth thought – what comes through us and how we come to be where we are.
The second thought is “Better together.”
None of us is an island, no matter how it may feel so occasionally. We are built to operate in relationship with others. As families, as villages, as tribes. Our strength is in our individual diversity and it’s something to be celebrated. Together, we can do so much more. Understand so much more. Achieve synergy that is impossible alone.
So, at this point of the year, I challenge you to pause and think about all the people behind you, in support of you. Give thought to what comes through you and take your own ego out of it. Give thought to who you’re involved with and how valuable those ties are regardless of distance, of time, or of circumstance.
These simple thoughts are powerful ones. They take seconds to consider, they hold the weight of our past and future, and yet the only time we can be truly appreciative of them is right now, in this moment, in the present.
by Christen Killick
December 2nd, 2019