Grateful but thankful it’s over: 2022 in review
It’s December, the time of festive cheer and reflection on the year that has been. And what a year 2022 was. Even if you just look at the global events that occurred, it feels as though this year has been a huge year. Then, to add to that, you have your own personal life events, and 2022 starts to feel absolutely massive. You find yourself looking back at last December and thinking… that was only 12 months ago?
I get it, and I feel you. It can also be very easy, when faced with the enormity of this year, to focus on the bad stuff. Everything that went wrong, all the things that made 2022 crazy and wild. Which is why, when you read stuff like ✨be thankful✨ it can feel very frustrating.
This is why I present a slightly more realistic option for reflection:
Thankful, but grateful it’s over.
How does one practice this reflective technique?
Ask all the classic reflective questions, such as the ones we touched on in our recent blog post, How Spotify wrapped can help your career:
- What are your highlights of this year?
- What are you most proud of this year?
- How have you grown since this time last year?
- Who are you thankful for this year?
- What is something that emerged this year that you didn’t expect?
- What have you learned this year?
- How will you continue working towards your goals in the new year?
But then, also let yourself reflect on what went wrong.
- What are you glad is over?
- What do you hope you never have to do again?
- What are you thankful to leave behind this year?
Because thankfulness doesn’t necessarily have to be all positive. Life isn’t sunshine and rainbows all of the time, and it doesn’t have to be. But, if you apply the ‘glad it’s over’ lens to the bad stuff, you can find a silver lining in any dark cloud. However bad it was, it’s over.
Whatever happened in your 2022, the year is almost done. I hereby give you permission to treat 2023 as a clean slate.
To finish out 2022, I quote Ariana Grande:
thank u, next
Featured image courtesy of Unsplash
Amelia Bussing
Communications Assistant
Amelia is a Sydney-based writing and communications enthusiast working at UTS Careers as a Communications Assistant. She is a current UTS Student, studying a Bachelor of Communications (Creative Writing & Advertising), and a Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation. She is passionate about creativity, storytelling, and the art of a well-timed gif, and has a vast collection of crazy socks.
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