It’s that time again. The end of the year, and that time when we naturally look back at the last 12 months and reflect on all we have, and haven’t, achieved. It depends on your perspective whether you see success or disappointment, and your mood at the time of reflection.
Social media can have a part to play in helping you to look back. Facebook loves to show your highlights, quite often with a yearbook of favourite posts. Strava creates a reel of your exercise stats for the year, which can be interesting for data nerds like me. In 2021 I cycled 2800 less miles than in 2020, but then 2020 was quite exceptional for me. And in 2021 I rediscovered the joy of off road riding, and that equates to many less miles travelled in the same time as a road ride. So, all about perspective.
Why do we reflect?
An optimist might argue that it’s pointless to look back, after all, the past is done and it can’t be changed, we should focus on the future. And to an extent I’m inclined to agree. If we look back at the past and only see the failures, disappointment and things that haven’t happened, it can be a recipe for very poor mental health outcomes, and depression. But if we look back at those things with an enquiring mind then we can learn from them. We can…
