No surprises on where I was yesterday - Dec 31.
We are there every year-end to review the year that passed and think about upcoming one.
I haven’t thought about my Word of the Year yet, though I have thought about some of the lessons from experiences in 2023.
One of them is on the importance of being part of, and maintaining, good communities.
Perhaps for the worse, I haven’t been part of many good communities in a long time. Many of them always felt distant, indifferent, or self-absorbed.
Of course, I was certainly a common denominator, so maybe it was just me.
And, of course, over the years, I just decided that maintaining such relationships wasn’t worth it. Why would you want to invest time and energy into a relationship with someone who wasn’t investing anything nearly as much?
I’m not saying that everything has to be exactly 50%, right down the middle. That would be unrealistic and pretty unreasonable.
At the very least, you want to feel accepted and that people are trying to understand you, or parts of you.
You also want to want to give back. I think that this 2nd part is increasingly an important criterion for me.
Having gone through 2023 with a few good communities, I’m happy to say that I am happy to give back to these communities.
Carrying on into 2024, I will endeavour to do this.
Wishing you and yours a fruitful 2024 ahead, filled with learning, meaning, and joy. Have a great one!