The Answer May Be Simpler Than You Think
Reflecting on my 2022 mantras
Part of my end-of-year review and new-year planning includes writing down mantras I need to keep in mind throughout the coming year. I gather these throughout the year as I learn lessons, find quotes that resonate, and embark on my endless journey to be the best version of myself. I also write them based on my astrological outlook for the year ahead—pre-coaching myself for the challenges that may come.
These mantras are reminders of how I want to show up in the world and for myself and guiding questions I use to keep myself grounded. They are also a way for my past self to help my present and future self—when I’m floundering and need help, I often turn to these mantras for guidance. I also add to them as the year progresses and new lessons become apparent.
At the beginning of 2022, I made quite the list, and as I look back on the year, I’m reflecting on how I implemented these guideposts for my life. I’m also reflecting on the headspace I was in a year ago when I wrote these.
Here’s what I had:
Do I need this?
Stay humble and curious
Surrender
Love is the war to end all wars
What is rigid will break
Everything I want is on the other side of fear
Keen clarity of purpose
The answer may be simpler than you think
Do everything for its own sake
Unremittingly follow your passions
As you can see, there is no consistent format, theme, or outlook—I just write them down as they come, trying to pay attention to what I might need to come back to over the next year.
Do we ever learn?
As humans, we have some fixed characteristics inherent to who we are, which means that we inevitably need to learn the same lessons repeatedly. There are mantras on this list that show up in some for me every year…and that’s ok.
It will never be easy for me to surrender, I have to think about it in almost every interaction I have with myself and others. I can accept that I’m a control freak, which is part of what makes me who I am. Simultaneously I can try to be less rigid and let things go while knowing that I will never be an easy-going, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of person. It is a constant balancing act to recognize the parts of you that will fundamentally never change and also make sure that those aspects don’t take over your life.
Kicking the can down the road
There are also items on this list that I didn’t embody as much as I wanted to that will make it onto next year’s list. They are things that I refuse to give up on (like buying less dumb shit that I don’t need) but maybe didn’t follow as closely as I should have. Having them on the list helps me remember why I put them there in the first place and renew my dedication to being better at that in 2023.
Listening to the universe
These mantras also allow me to see themes and patterns manifest in real-time. Love is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about. The power of love to heal ourselves and others, the fact that love as an action is simultaneously one of the most accessible and most challenging things to do, and the way that simple acts of love completely transform an experience. I’ve watched this come up for me throughout the year in books I’ve read, people I’ve interacted with, and experiences I’ve had.
When I look back at my December 2021 self and know that I was thinking about this then, I can trace the ways that message has been reinforced by events around me, which reinforces that it was the right thing to focus on. I can also see the way my interpretation of the power of love has shifted and deepened over time.
Poetry in action
The mantras are more abstract than a list of goals or values I want to focus on throughout the year. They are snippets of things that moved me, words I want to hang on to because I know they mean something or will mean something in the future. I supposed it is one of my attempts to be less rigid, to live by a loose set of words strung together that remind me of what I’m aiming for.
© Sarah Duran 2022
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Image by Louis Maniquet from Unsplash
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