How do you want 2022 to feel?
At the turn of a new year, reflecting on the previous 12 months has only been something I’ve done in the last few years or so, and looking ahead has always felt jaded by the limits of a chronic illness or by the forceful need to achieve. Yes, I have felt excitement and opportunity on the cusp of a brand new year but, until the last few years, it was never about what I truly wanted because I didn’t know. And because I was always trying to please.
Last year, I learnt to think about the year ahead in terms of how I wanted it to feel. My word for 2021 was Joy and, although it didn’t approach me in the way I thought it would, the reality of 2021 actually taught me a whole lot about true joy.
My words for this year
For 2022, I have settled on two words - Ease and Truth. They came about because of the heavy pressure I’m still putting on myself and because of the weight of a heavy few years. I am neither expecting nor wanting the year to be easy, but I would like to navigate it with a feeling of ease, of allowing, of nurturing the space where things can be let go.
Regardless of how hard the external challenges are that I face, I will guide my actions with the notion of ease. Truth is about authenticity, continuing the learning of the past few years and showing up as my true self in all areas of my life.
Ask yourself…
How do you want to feel this year? Not what do you want to achieve or gain because, from experience, these can be based on expectations of others or on the need to prove, to make the year profitable somehow. Achievements are external outcomes, they may or may not happen. If we get to the end of the year and they haven’t happened, we can feel we’ve failed, we’ve wasted time, we’ve not done enough, yet we can’t always control the circumstances that affect our outcomes. We can, however, choose how we want to approach these things, how we want to feel about them.
Reflecting on the year to come with an awareness of how you want it to feel makes us look more inwardly. It makes us go into the body and feel what we want from it so that when challenges arise, we can return to the body, remember that feeling and think how we can bring that feeling into whatever’s going on.
A feeling word can guide us on a more intuitive level rather than thinking of the boxes we want to tick and the, sometimes, forceful, masculine energy of ‘smashing goals’. And whilst I’m all for having goals to move us forward, it’s how we move that matters. It’s with what energy and feeling we create and do and act.
What will be your word for 2022?
If you’re yet to look forward to 2022 - I don’t blame you given what last year threw at us - I invite you to think about how you’d like it to feel.
WIthout overthinking or picking the perfect word, how do you want 2022 to feel? What does your gut say? What feeling are you yearning for? What feeling inspires you, comforts you, holds you, motivates you?
And then think, how does that word make you feel? If you truly embodied your word for the year, what would you be doing differently?
I hope these questions can bring some insight to the year that lies ahead of you. And if it feels difficult to think too far ahead, focus on the moment in front of you. How can your word guide you simply from one moment to the next?
With love,
Suzi x
If you’d like help creating intentions for the year ahead or adopting new beliefs that will help you move forward, I’m now taking on case studies as part of my Coaching Diploma to be a Wellness & Resilience Coach. I’d love to hear from you and see how we can work together. Get in touch if you’re interested.
