Mindfully Embracing the New Year with Hope - Serenity in Suffering
Praising God for new beginnings, my eye falls upon a fresh, new journal. Its stark pages beckon me come, linger, adorn the barreness with heart words, thought words, His words. Mindfully embracing the new year with hope begins with a retrospective glance, a final caress of the old year, a gentle release, and a reaching forward to grasp the hand of the new year.
Welcome to Mindfulness Monday! Where we learn some easy ways to be more present “in the moment” at our jobs, in our homes, with our families and friends. Learning to recognize God and what He has for us in each divine moment He offers. We acknowledge the belief that God is with us always. We confess His presence is available to us, lifting our spirit and helping us with power and grace. Learning to “be still”, so we can hear His voice and view ourselves, others and our surroundings through His eyes.
Mindfully retrospective
My personal practice for mindfully embracing the new year with hope involves taking the time for proper closure of the old year. Choosing a Year End Mindful Review looks different for me each year.
Some years I spend more time savoring, other years I move more quickly through my retrospection. But one thing remains constant: gratitude.
Whether the year held manifold blessings or many rough, dry wilderness walks, sitting quietly holding my year in review reveals hidden gems. Once I step back and view circumstances from a distance, God’s hand in my life becomes much clearer.
Often, the memories pushing to the front are not the obvious milestone events of birthdays, weddings, or major failures or trials. The intimate moments; sunshine through my granddaughter’s curly hair, the smell of summer rain or pre-dawn stolen moments with my Savior, surface more readily.
Even the hard places speak gratitude, for they remind me God’s hands held me, preserved me and refined me.
a mindful release
Tempting me with extending my retrospect, my sweet moments plead lingering, while the hard places solicit endless scrutiny. Yet, mindfully embracing the new year with hope requires not only retrospect, but release.
Just as repeated handling of a delicate flower wilts and mars its beauty, so lingering too long with sweet moments from the past dims and alters their reality. Savoring even the best things in life provides the ultimate enjoyment when done for but a time and no more.
Likewise, standing in the hard places lures me into over-analyzation and endless questions driving the pain deeper still, in a macabre dance of hopelessness.
Solely employing a retrospective view of the old year contents you with faded glory, while wounding you with broken thorns; fastening you firmly in an immutable past.
Combining thoughtful reflection with gentle, gratitude filled release brings peaceful closure to the old year, while positioning you in a hopeful stance eager to embrace the fullness of a new year.
embracing the new year with hope
Making space for fully acknowledging both the pleasurable and distressing aspects of the old year through the lens of gratitude reaps a harvest of hope. A Retrospective view of the past reveals God’s steadfast love, mercy and faithfulness; pouring forth gratitude, resulting in gentle release.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
Using a mindful approach further enables a positive, gentle reflection and peace-filled release of emotions. The exercises below provide thoughtful and elegant methods for embracing the new year with hope.
mindfully embracing the new year
As with all mindfulness exercises, set aside a specific time and place free of distractions. Spend as much or as little time as you desire. I prefer spending fifteen to twenty minutes each day over a period of two or three days.
Begin each session with at least five minutes of mindful breathing: keep your exhale twice as long as your inhale. Inhale for a count of four, slowly exhale for a count of eight. Transition into a quiet few moments of prayer inviting the Lord into your reflection.
Seek God’s sovereignty over the past year; ask Him to reveal His Presence and instruction. Trust His guidance for every situation and emotion arising as you sit with your retrospection.
Keep your Bible, journal and a box of tissues nearby!
New Year Mindfulness
- Breathe the old year. Take a full, deep breath. Imagine breathing in all of the past year; briefly hold the breath, then slowly exhale.
- Hold the memories. Welcome the memories coming to mind. Remain open to all memories without resistance. Remember God’s Presence with you now.
- Feel the memories. Welcome all emotions to the table; feel the marvelous, wondrous, and joyful along with the disappointment, sorrow and regret.
- Savor and Seek. Savor the beauty, joy, splendor of your retrospection. Seek God’s Presence, provision and promises along the rough paths.
- Wrap in Gratitude. Wrap each circumstance in heart-felt gratitude. Feel the fullness of the year; praise God for all the year held for you.
- Release. Through a series of deep breaths, release the fullness of the past year to God. Open your hands in your lap as a physical sign of complete release. Acknowledge His sovereign care for you both in the past year and the coming new year.
- Embrace hope. Eyes closed, imagine an unending field of pure, white snow before you. Remembering God’s faithfulness in the old year, gaze upon the pure beauty of a new beginning in the snow covered field. In a closing prayer ask God to reveal a specific intention for the new year.
Close your time in quiet rest before God. After a few moments, journal any thoughts bringing closure to the past year. Include God revealed insight from your mindfulness exercise; how was God present with you this past year?
a hope-filled embrace of the new year
Rather than recklessly bounding into a new year, one final journey through the old year with a keen eye towards God’s eternal faithfulness reframes everything with Hope.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lingering in one last caress of the old year in God’s Presence reminds me of His faithfulness both in joy-filled times and those tinged with grief. Revealing Himself as the covenant keeping God of unfailing love and faithfulness, He adorns me with unshakable Hope as I stretch forth my hands, embracing the new year.
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