Today I am celebrating the Full Moon in Gemini. As with all full moons, this is a potent time to go within, to reflect on what has been completed, and to acknowledge all that has been created in this cycle.
This is the last full moon of the year, and being such, this week is a powerful time to initiate a year-in-review and to celebrate your accomplishments that you have achieved throughout the year.
Often December comes, and you get so busy thinking of others during this hectic season, that celebrating yourself and your accomplishments throughout the year gets overlooked. Somehow it’s easy to skip over acknowledging and celebrating all that you have created during the last 11 months, and jump ahead to what you want to create in the new year. Have you done this? I know I have.
This month, starting today (if you haven’t already) I invite you to begin your year-in-review. Find a time and space where you can get comfortable, reflective, and quiet. Bring a cup of tea, your journal or sketchbook, and most importantly your open heart. Come back to this space throughout the week, the month, to acknowledge and celebrate yourself and all that you bring to this amazing world.
Begin to ask yourself questions about the past 11 months. Some questions that might be relevant could be:
- ∞ What obstacles have you overcome?
- ∞ What are your top three accomplishments?
- ∞ How did you cultivate self-love and respect?
- ∞ In what ways have you changed?
- ∞ What are your top three joyful moments?
- ∞ What have you learned about yourself?
- ∞ How do you feel about yourself at the end of the year?
Enjoy this process, and resist the urge to jump ahead into planning the new year. Allow yourself to bask in the glow of your accomplishments for a few days or weeks.
3 RADICAL REASONS TO CELEBRATE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
- FEEL GOOD
Acknowledging your achievements, even in a small way, increases your positive emotions such as self-respect, happiness, and confidence. When you celebrate, endorphins are released inside your body, which cause you to feel great. A growing body of research is proving that cultivating positive emotions, such as feeling good about what you have accomplished, has a direct association with your psychological well being and your resilience to the challenges that life presents. When you fail to celebrate accomplishments, you train your brain that what you are doing isn’t exciting or important. This lack of celebration leads to feelings of emptiness inside of you that fosters a lack of focus and decreases happiness over time. - FIND COURAGE TO BEGIN AGAIN
When you find yourself thinking about what you did not achieve, find the value in what you did accomplish and give yourself some extra love. A few kind words to yourself is enough to acknowledge the things that you did well in cultivation of that “thing” that did not manifest as you had intended. By focusing on all that you did accomplish leading up to the missed expectation, you activate positive emotions that give you the courage and confidence needed for future success. - CULTIVATE A SUCCESS MINDSET
When you take the time to acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments you are exercising a success mindset. When you practice noticing and celebrating your accomplishments you see yourself as someone who is successful rather than someone who’s striving to become successful. Your acknowledgement of your accomplishments allows you to cultivate a success mindset and to create added momentum to your life dreams. Celebrating your accomplishments reinforce the positive aspects of what and why you are doing what you are doing.
So, with the Full Moon upon us today, and as the year comes to a close, how can you savor and celebrate yourself and all that you created in the year past? I’d love to hear other questions you ask yourself, and how you will celebrate yourself during the final month of this year. I invite you to share your own end of year review ideas, processes, and rituals with us in the comments below.