As 2019 hurtles to a close many people, including myself, like to take some time to review the year and think about the upcoming one. It’s an annual ritual that coincides with the busiest time of year when there is always so much to do. Often minds are as cluttered as datebooks.
    Time, I have come to believe, accelerates as you age. Every year it strikes me how much faster the same number of days, weeks and months seemed to go by than they did even the year before.     
    Making the effort to slow down and contemplate all that has happened over the last 12 months  helps me to gain some perspective. I try to look at every single photo I’ve taken from the year – not just the ones on Facebook, but the ones that didn’t get posted too. The ones that capture all those little moments, like a cool  looking rock on a hiking trail, or the series of funny face selfies snapped with my neices and nephews.
    I also spend hours re-reading my journal entries from the past year, or even the years before. I’m often struck by how far I’ve come or how little progress I’ve made resolving the problems or emotions that weigh on me. (I spend some time writing my thoughts and feelings about this too.)
Remembering everything that has happened, both planned and unplanned, good and bad, inspires and recharges me for the year ahead.  It helps me to prioritize, recognize and recommit myself to what I value. It also helps me identify what I need to let go of…  
    Often this process elicits strong feelings of gratitude and satisfaction with my life and how I am living it. I recognize how rich my life truly is and resolve to appreciate it more in the moment.
    Sure there are always many things I haven’t accomplished and things that I’ve screwed up or shouldn’t have done. But over the years, I’ve come to understand that it is never the things I’ve done in a year that I regret – it is the things I didn’t do.
    Often what I miss out on, and what I regret most, is not taking the time to really reflect on an experience and what it means in the context of my life and my relationships. By doing something and then immediately moving on to the next thing, and then the next thing, without some time for thoughtful contemplation robs the experiences of their full potential to enrich my life.
    Time will always march on, stopping for no one and nothing. It’s precious and scarce and there is no guarantee of more than the moment you are in. That’s why it’s important to take a glance behind and beside you on occasion instead of only looking ahead...