The way you respond to things and the thoughts that you have are far more often a learned pattern than you realize. But you can shift or interrupt the pattern. You can change the way you’ve “always” responded or reacted.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, and something they’re sharing about their own life is landing on a sensitive place in you? Or maybe it landed on a sensitive place that you didn’t realize existed until the other person was in the middle of sharing? How do we stay present to ourselves and to others when that happens?

I am usually a glass half full kind of person. I find joy in the little things. It doesn’t take much to make me laugh. I delight in the ordinary. So, it took me by surprise when I didn't have an answer to my husband's question: What are you looking forward to today?

As we look forward to the New Year and all it may bring, take a moment to pause and look back at what has been. Looking back through a lens of curiosity can bring a sense of peace that you may not be expecting.