What is your takeaway from this year?

Singing on the top of her voice, she woke me up. She was singing a Christmas Carol. The year has quickly rolled itself into December. We are finally in one of my most favourite times because normally, things slow down a little and it is also a month of reflection and planning.

Unlike people who plan and make New Year resolutions in January, I like to take November and December as time for deep reflection and planning for the New Year.

Dear parent, please allow me to reflect with you. Now that we are at the tail end of 2021, what is your biggest takeaway from the year? What did you find most challenging and how did you overcome it as a parent?

What are some of your biggest highlights and points of celebration? What has God done for you, your family and especially your children? There have been mountains to climb or overcome but there have been things that call for celebration and thanksgiving.

Someone once said to me that as a people, we need to embrace gratitude as a tool for our overall wellbeing.  I have a friend who regularly writes things she is grateful for. Her lists carry some of the smallest and mundane things and yet other times, the list has some really amazing things.

She writes about the warm weather, the blossoming flowers in her garden, the hug and little note that her son wrote to her, the thoughtfulness of her domestic worker, who ensures that their home is organised and always makes a hot cup of tea for her.

She writes about the blessings of having healthy children. She writes about being thankful that they are in school that they play and thrive in different spaces. She writes about going through the day and accomplishing different tasks. She writes about being thankful for elderly parents and the ability to look after them.

There are many things that challenge us in life. There are many things that we can point to as pain points. The imperfections are many and it is natural to be drawn into complaining and continually commenting on what has gone wrong.

The consequence of a complaining mindset, however, is that it is energy draining and it cuts off our ability to creatively deal with the challenges. When all the focus is around what is not going right, it affects our mental health and well-being.  Regardless of the circumstances, let us find things to be thankful about and teach this same mindset to our children. May December remind us of all the beautiful and priceless things God has given us, particularly life.