Hi K-J-S
I find there can be a lot of mixed emotions regarding the new year, as well as the year left behind. Can be so hard to make sense of it all at times, which can really start to mess with perspective and mental health. I think what helps me manage better understanding, when it comes to why and how I think and feel the way I do, comes from a book by Jamie Catto, called 'Insanely Gifted - Turn Your Demons Into Creative Rocket Fuel'. He offers the idea that we are multifaceted in nature, therefor our different natures can be triggered to life under different circumstances. So, while the optimist in me may be insisting 'This new year is going to be filled with achievements like never before', when the new year actually does come in, cue the stresser, pessimist or some other part of me. I imagine it sounds weird but there could be what resembles an entire play going on, with a number of different facets playing out at once. With the old saying 'To be in 2 minds', could actually be in 5 minds at once, going from positive to negative to more negative and back to positive etc. If you imagine the players (with very different dialogue and different feel to them)...
The optimist: Next year is going to be filled with even greater achievements
The pessimist: But where did last year really get you? What was it all for? What was the point?
The stresser: What if next year is even more stressful. It could be unbearable
The sage: Everything will be fine. It will be challenging but in the end there will be an even greater sense of achievement. So, what's the plan? For a start, there has to be a good routine as a solid foundation to work from
The pessimist and the stresser (in unison): But routines don't work!
and on it goes. While it appears I missed one, that would be the director. Without a director in us, some disciplinarian keeping our multifaceted nature in check, some facets can get completely out of control and take over as 'the main character'. Take the harsh inner critic for example, it can play out for days on end or even years on end in some cases. It can be depressing, horrible, cruel and more. 'You're hopeless. Nothing you do matters. You think you're achieving great things but you're kidding yourself'. A nasty depressing facet of self, for sure, and even soul destroying in some ways (one of those so called 'inner demons').
I suppose it's about choosing our 'players' consciously. For example, if we choose the optimist, the visionary/seer and the adventurer in us, to work together in constructive ways, there'll be no choice but to see the next great positive adventure. If it's about making a new financial investment, that may involve the financial manager, the visionary/seer and the analyst in us and maybe a bit of our intuitive self (when it comes to getting a feel for the best investment/s). All players need a cue (a trigger). Whether the cue or trigger is a holiday brochure or a financial investment guide book for beginners, every facet needs a prompt, prompting it to come to life. Of course it's all just theory, that we have a multifaceted nature but the question remains 'Can such a theory work in our favour?'. Only one way to find out.🙂
