Start 2023 with a Thank You 2022 and Celebrate Yourself
How are you going to Start 2023? How do you typically start each new year? Do you tend to look over the year and think about all of the tough things that life threw at you? Do you feel like you are just waiting to be able to say, “Adios 2022?”
If so, I am going to challenge you with a way to start 2023 differently than you have other years. Think about how you analyze your year when a new one is approaching. For most of us, we think about all of the difficult times, the things we didn’t do well, or the things we wish hadn’t happened.
Why do we do that? Well, I think it’s indicative of how negative our society is, and it shows how collectively, we have huge piles of Not Good Enough Stuff. If you don’t know what Not Good Enough Stuff is, you probably have a lot of it. Click here for an explanation of Not Good Enough Stuff.
We get lost in all that we haven’t done well in and the struggles we faced throughout the year. Our hopes are that the next year will be a better year. There’s nothing wrong with hoping for a good year.
The problem with that arises when that hope has been bathed in our negative energy and thoughts about the previous year. Hope should like a big, bright, and beautiful light guiding us to a peaceful, magical place. It should not feel like a small, little light that we have to look really hard to see because when something is hard to see, we often give up on finding it.
Start 2023 Different Than Every Other Year
Please don’t start 2023 off that way or any year afterwards, for that matter. When we analyze all the negatives of the year, we then start making all of these promises or resolutions of how we are going to be better or by naming all that we are going to accomplish next year. If you do that now, what will happen at the end of 2022?
Well, you certainly won’t start 2023 off with positive energy. Instead, you will be hanging on to that negative energy with a sarcastic “Adios 2022.” I was guilty of ending many years like that and also making a bunch of resolutions that I knew I wouldn’t maintain. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Isn’t that what a new year is for? My answer to that is a big, fat “NO!”
My failed resolutions are probably some of the same you’ve had over the years. I told myself that the next year I would lose weight, work out, manage my finances better, take more time for self-care, and all of the other things that I thought I had failed in from the previous year.
How to Properly Say, “Adios 2022”
The keyword there is fail. In creating resolutions based on what I didn’t do from the previous year, I was actually telling myself that I had been a failure. Well, that is just a big ‘ol pile of disgustingness and not something that ever helped me and probably not you either. You might argue that you are just trying to see ways to improve for the next year.
That’s a good argument, but I believe there’s a much better way to start 2023. I really hope you’ll be open to changing how you end 2022 and start 2023. If are willing, think about this.
Celebrate Yourself
You celebrate the new year, but do you celebrate yourself for all the great things that you did the previous year? Probably not because we aren’t really taught to do that. If you struggle to celebrate yourself, I encourage you to read my post, Learning How to Be Proud of Yourself.
In order to start 2023 off in a new and positive way, without any negative energy from 2022, I want you to think about how you can truly celebrate yourself. I’ll use myself as an example of how you can do that by listing some of the things in which I am proud of myself for from this year.
Thank you 2022 List:
• I grew my private practice from two therapists to six and added some amazing alternative healing modalities for my Wellness Studio.
• I created more time for me to work on my blog, which I love doing.
• I found a way to exercise that promotes strength in a way that is safe for my body.
• I finished my first rough draft of the book I am writing.
• I spent time enjoying and playing with my baby every day.
• I set boundaries in relationships and stuck to them.
• I created a safe place for family members to talk about their feelings.
• I created a plan to have more time for myself to do things I enjoy for next year.
• I maintained relationships that are important to me.
• I ended a toxic friendship.
Just sitting and writing these down and also thinking of so many other amazing things I did in 2022 brings such warmth to my heart. I really hope that you will also do this because I think it will bring the same feeling to you.
Now, let’s go a step further to celebrate yourself. What if you threw a party to do that? Now, for those of you who are introverted like me, don’t panic. Your 2022 Celebrate Yourself Party can be a party of one or for just a few friends or family members. There’s only one rule I want you to follow to celebrate yourself.
DO NOT BRING THE NEGATIVES OF 2022 TO YOUR 2022 CELEBRATION PARTY!!!
You already know the tough things that happened to you in 2022. You are well aware of their impact on you. So, why would you spend any more time focusing on that? Instead, throw a Celebrate Yourself Party and only allow the positives to be present. If you want to invite others to celebrate themselves with you, do that! One of my favorite ways to celebrate things is with fire.
Light a fire or build a fire pit. Take all of your accomplishments of 2022 and burn them so that they are released above as a Thank You 2022. That will allow you to say “Hello 2023! I am ready for all of the beauty you are bringing me.”
Hello 2023
There are endless ways you could say “Thank You 2022 and Hello 2023.” If a party isn’t your thing, you could just spend time journaling, coloring, listening to music or whatever feels good and is healthy for you to say, “Adios 2022.” Just make sure your “Adios 2022” isn’t done with sarcasm. I know I tend to use “adios” to something I want to go away as a way to really say, “You suck. Buh-bye.” That’s not what we want this year.
Teaching Children to say How to Ring in a New Year
Remember you do not want to start 2023 off with any negative energy or negative thoughts from 2022. You want to celebrate yourself and the things that you accomplished throughout the year.
As with most things I write about, I also want to give you a way to also include children with a “Thank you 2022” for them as well. Children tend to focus on the present moment, which is something we should learn from them. It’s wonderful that they do that, but because of that, they may need a little guidance on how to remember their accomplishments throughout the year.
To do that, have them think about each month. For example, in January, they may have started another semester in school. In May, they may have finished another year of school. In the Spring, they may have scored three goals in a soccer game. During the summer, they may have learned how to do a flip off the diving board. There are endless things a child has done that he or she can be proud of themselves for that happened throughout the year!
Help them walk through each month to see the great things that they accomplished. You will probably be amazed at how many things they are able to come up with. Children are much better at being proud of themselves than us adults are.
There’s a lesson for us in that. If you can remember starting a new year in your childhood or just imagine it, I doubt it would look anything like the way you have done it as an adult.
Children aren’t sitting and thinking about all of the negative things the year had. They aren’t sitting and promising themselves that they will do better, unless you taught them to do that.
So, maybe we shouldn’t either. You already know what was tough for you throughout the year. It’s not about pretending the tough things didn’t happen. They did. You’re well aware of all of them. You’re not discounting the struggles. You are choosing to focus on the positive ways you handled things and the good things that you did.
Welcome 2023
Start 2023 off in a new and better way than all the years past. Say, “Hello 2023,” “Thank You 2022, “Adios 2022,” or whatever feels good and is emotionally healthy for you to celebrate yourself from 2022.
As always, I’d love to hear from you. Comment some of the wonderful things that you did in 2022. It’s also okay and still an accomplishment if you are simply choosing to continue into 2023 because you are open to love for yourself.
If you have a Celebrate Yourself Party, PLEASE send me a picture of that! I would love to see how you’re celebrating yourself. Hello 2023! We are on our way to an amazing year!
DISCLAIMER:
This site is only intended for people who are truly willing to look at themselves with an open mind and have the ability to truly be vulnerable with themselves and others. Please understand that this site is in NO WAY THERAPEUTIC ADVICE. However, this site can be very beneficial in learning the causes of your Not Good Enough Stuff. This site is not intended to provide or replace medical or psychiatric treatment. Mary Beth HIGHLY RECOMMENDS finding a licensed therapist to help you process the information from this site and all that you learn about yourself. Visit Psychology Today to find a licensed therapist in your area.
