Monthly Summeries

I was so annoyed with the stupid last night that I forgot to mention that I went back to therapy for the first time in a month. Between some bad stuff happening and the holidays, therapy kept getting put off. I'm glad I went back. I feel more focused and centered. I was starting to come apart at the seems.  It was good to sit in my therapy room and talk about how things were going, even if I did end up crying a few times.

This whole process made me think about how useful that might be as a way to really consider the direction of my life. Maybe it's a good idea to, once every four weeks or so, actually take some time to speak out loud about what has happened in my life over the last month. I suppose it's something you could do with friends or family as well, but that wouldn't be necessary. In some cases, being alone might be best anyway. Just you, by yourself, talking about what has happened to you in the last month. How did it change you? What are your thoughts on it now? What do you still need to do to resolve any lingering problems?

And yes, I know for some of us, it might seem that the days would all be the same. We have routines and quite often, we stick to them either by choice or obligation. However, if we start to pay more attention to what is going on around us, maybe we'll see things outside the usual mundane routines.

For example, the other day when I was driving my roommate to the store, I saw several birds sitting in a neighbor's yard. The birds were all poofed out for winter and just as adorable as they could be. I pointed them out to my roommate and he got to see them as well. When he did, I felt a certain delight in the fact that not only did I get to see the neat thing, but the timing worked out to where he got to see it as well. Sometimes there is nothing cooler than getting to witness a small moment of beauty with someone else.

We make this trip twice a week, every week. We take the same route and see the same houses and pass the same trees.  But this time, I managed to notice a cute something along the way and so did he. I also got a moment of insight into one of the things that makes me truly happy. When I look at it that way, this trip was far from usual, even though in many ways, it was.

You know, maybe if doing the summery of a whole month seems daunting to you, maybe it would be better to narrow it to just a weekly summery of your life. Take time once a week to consider what has been happening, celebrate your blessings and let the bad stuff melt away. In a way, it would help to give things a bit of emotional finality and allow us to have a sense of starting fresh with the days to follow.