Whose Year Was It Anyway?

You’ve been given this year, and now - whether you’ve realized it or not - the time has come to reflect on what you’ve actually done with it. Whose values have your days been invested in furthering? What are you building, and for whom?

Were you living in alignment with what you claim to care about? Did you show up for the people who matter to you? Or did you hand your time away like loose change, unused, unacknowledged? Did your energy and passion go towards something that made your heart beat faster, or did you let it dissipate in the mundane, the obligatory, the distractions?

How do you feel now the year is over: pride, relief, exhaustion, regret? Are you ready to do it all over again, or are you ready for something more?

To Which Values Has Your Effort Contributed?

Think back on the year that’s slipping through your fingers. Where did your energy go? To what values did your work, your effort, your passion contribute? Was it to a cause greater than yourself? Or was it spent on others' priorities, quietly giving your life over to an ideal that wasn’t truly yours?

There’s a cruel irony in how we spend time. How often do we invest it in things that don't matter to us? How many days have you put into obligations, tasks, and projects that don’t make your heart sing? How much of your precious time has gone into things that aren't an authentic reflection of who you are, or the person you are trying to become?

Values are the bedrock of our lives.If you haven’t been actively living in alignment with your values, then this year was, at best, a placeholder, a year that slipped by unnoticed, like water running through your fingers.

Which People Have Taken Up Your Time?

You cannot move through life without other people influencing your direction, your choices, and your time. But ask yourself: which people have you invested time in this year? And more importantly, what kind of people have taken up your energy and your attention?

Time spent with the right people — the ones who challenge you, encourage you, help you grow, and allow you to be your true self — this is time well spent. But how much of your time has been wasted on those who value in you only what you can deliver for them, or whose priorities and morals are not admirable to you, or who do not come alive when you speak of your innermost desires? Have you allowed negativity, old ideas, small thinking to occupy your space? Have you let toxic dynamics seep into your days, allowing those with power to define your worth and potential in hostile terms, robbing you of your life force?

You have a choice, and with that choice comes responsibility. You choose, consciously or unconsciously, who gets your time. You decide who will take up space in your life. The year is ending, and it’s time to assess those relationships. What are you doing with your time and energy? Are you spending it on people who help you become the person you want to be? How can you connect with someone, or a group of people, who share your desire to make something of beauty with their lives, people who live their values, who have courage and integrity and can support you in the year ahead?