I can make all kinds of promises to myself in the New Year – promises to be kinder, to be more patient, to be less emotional, to not let people get me down, to think things through before acting, to be a better person, to lose weight, to play with my dog more. The list goes on.
Often, the most challenging promises we make to ourselves have to do with forgiveness – forgiving others and forgiving ourselves when we make mistakes.
I don’t know about you, but I make mistakes more often than I’d like. They can be simple mistakes like getting a dent my car or forgetting to take something with me before I leave the house. But the mistakes I have the most difficulty with are those that involve how I handle myself with a particular person or situation.
Someone very smart told me that making mistakes is part of life – that we all make mistakes. We make mistakes when we try new things, learn new things, and push ourselves. We make mistakes because we are alive, because we are at least doing something, and in some way, we are changing the world.
This year, my greatest wish for all of us is to make some mistakes, to learn from those mistakes, to realize that mistakes are absolutely a part of life, and that we are all, in our own way, doing the best we can. Most of all, I hope that we can learn to forgive one another, and especially ourselves, as we welcome a year of new lessons, new promises, new mistakes, and new beginnings.
Have a happy and healthy New Year,
Sincerely,
Annette
