Spend time with the feelings wheel before 2020 disappears from your rearview mirror

Feeling excited that in less than 18 days the calendar will turn the page on 2020? 

Feeling excited in December may be an annual event for you. Annual traditions of fun family gatherings, gifts, work bonuses, travel, downtime, and taking in the glow of festive decorations can be warmly remembered, embodied, and unleashed with the turn of the calendar.   

But yet this year is different. The embodied warmth and excitement from years past can feel a bit trapped; the feels are there but facing lots of obstacles to come out. Obstacles such as not getting together with family, co-workers, friends due to Covid restrictions or not having the financial resources (or certainty) to spend freely on your loved ones. 

With all this trapped joy wanting to be experienced again, especially this time of year, your body may look ahead to 2021 as if there is a package that will be delivered to your front door on January 1st marked “Promises of Fun, Good Health, and Financial Security”. Your body may even be anticipating the arrival of 2021 as it awaits to unleash all the trapped feels of radiance and bliss. 

But if we slow down and connect to our current experience through a mindfulness lens we might be able to connect with bliss right here, right now without speeding towards 2021.  

Pausing and reflecting on the little joys of 2020, while the year is still unfolding, can help to unleash the radiant feels of past holidays, even if we have lost loved ones or employment this year. This is not dismissive of the suffering many have experienced this year; in fact, we can have feelings of peace and calm when we accept the pain and suffering we have experienced. We can also feel inspired and fortunate in knowing we were able to survive the challenges of trudging through 2020 with resiliency and strength. 

So before you run towards 2021, try to spend some time with 2020 and the feelings wheel before it disappears from your rearview mirror.