 We made it through 2021. So last year I did a video on my New Year's jar and unfortunately I did not do that this year and I really, really regret that. So I'm definitely going to be doing that moving forward. If you didn't see that video, I highly suggest checking it out. It was the most amazing year long thing I did. That doesn't really require a lot of work and I will put that into the description below. If you're new here, I'm Sarah and I help teach people how to find inner happiness through fitness and spirituality. And today we're going to talk about the New Year but not in your traditional, oh, how do I make a New Year's resolutions? How do I stick to New Year's resolutions kind of thing? Instead, we're going to do what I truly believe is the most important thing you can do not only on New Year's but also throughout the rest of the year and that is reflecting. Isn't it crazy that on a day-to-day basis we wake up and we feel like we're just kind of going through the same motions and then all of a sudden a year goes by and you're like, what the heck? So much changed. I met so many people. I lost some people. I started these new habits. I kicked these habits and all of a sudden you're like, holy shit. I'm a whole new person. But you can't realize those things unless you reflect, unless you actually go back and start putting those things together which again is a reason why I do recommend doing some form of the New Year's jar which again is below. On top of doing the New Year's jar or instead of doing the New Year's jar this coming year, I want you to keep a journal, use it. You don't have to use it every day. Don't put that pressure on yourself. Just write in it when you feel like writing it and write in it whatever you feel like writing. It could be a sentence. It could be 10 pages. It could be whatever you want. And then at the end of the year, you can go back and you can reflect and you can look at all of the things, all of the changes that happened in your life that past year. Another thing I highly recommend is right now sit down and write a letter to yourself from the beginning of 2021. You're looking at, you know, the last day of 2021 James is going to write a letter to the beginning of 2021 James. And write about all the exciting things that happened for you, even if they were small. Maybe you started a new job. Maybe you left a job. Maybe you had a child. Maybe you grew. Maybe you just had so much spiritual growth and mental growth. And that was a huge thing for you like it was for me. You know, I'll tell you guys the truth. I didn't hit a lot of my New Year's resolutions this year. But there were so many things that I gained and that I changed that I didn't expect to. So I'm going to write a letter to myself and explain, hey, like these are the amazing things that happened to you this year that are so exciting. And what that does is that builds gratitude for the things that really did occur for you this past year that it might not seem like really happened because like I said, every day we're waking up and it feels like just another day. And you want to think about even if you didn't hit some of your New Year's resolutions like myself, you still want to give yourself credit for the progress you made and that you can extend that New Year's resolution to this coming year. So an example of that for myself is, you know, I wanted to, I really wanted to grow my YouTube channel. Okay. It did not grow much. It grew a lot less than I really expected it to. And instead of focusing on the fact that it didn't grow the way I wanted or that my goal and it didn't hit the goal that I was looking for, I am so proud of myself for sticking to it anyway. Because what I realized is that as much as I want to grow this channel, I just really enjoy making videos for you guys. And I really enjoy editing the videos and I really enjoy sitting down and coming up and being inspired with new ideas. And as small as this channel is right now that the messages that I get every once in a while just, they make it all worthwhile and they warm my heart. And on top of that, I proved to myself that I can post every single week because I did it. So I want you to look back at the things that you wanted to do in 2021. And regardless if you hit those goals or not, find a way to be proud of yourself in some way. If you made, if you took one baby step, okay? That is something to celebrate. I wanted to meditate every day, going from zero to every day, okay? And that was my plan. Do I meditate every day? No, but I do meditate probably about four times a week about every other day. And I'm so stinking proud of myself for that. And I want you guys to find the things to be proud of yourselves more because even if it doesn't seem like it, when you first sit down and think about it, maybe you're listening to this video and you're like, meh, not really. I can guarantee you, you made a different choice this past year. You made some kind of small feat even if it doesn't seem like what you were expecting. You know, a year ago, I was very, I didn't really have a relationship with God. I was raised Catholic and I haven't been in church in about 10 years. It just wasn't something that I was focused on. And it wasn't something that I had in my New Year's resolutions to find God again. It just wasn't, it didn't seem important to me at that time. It wasn't something that happened. Well, starting at the end of January, I've been going to church almost every single week and I re-found him. I re-kindled my relationship and it's so much deeper. And just, oh, amazing than it ever was even before. And that's something I could have never guessed that would have happened to me this year and that I would have built upon this year and that is just so exciting. So think about the things that you didn't even expect to happen to you. That did. You know, and even if you didn't hit some of the goals that you wanted to, that doesn't mean that God or the universe didn't course correct you on a different path. You know, everything truly does happen for a reason. There are no coincidences and you just have to believe that as long as you are connected with yourself and listening to your intuition and listening to your heart, that you are making the right decision for yourself. And if you're getting anxiety or you're feeling down about something or whatever, it's probably not the right decision for you. So listen to your heart and listen to your gut and let life guide you, okay? Let go of the control you have of it and stop being so hard on yourself because we're alive, right? Like we made it through another year, another crazy year with everything going on in the world. That's a fricking feat in itself. You know, I'm feeling so good but as you guys have seen and I've posted on here, I've gone through probably one of the lowest, if not the lowest point in my life this year and I could focus on that, you know? I could be like, oh well, screw everything else that happened this year. I'm gonna focus on the fact that like I felt like I hit rock bottom. But I'm not gonna do that. That's not helping me and you're not helping yourself if you're focusing on the negative. If you're not learning and growing from the negative because all that negative thing is is a learning curve. It is something for you to grow on. It is a stepping stool and you should be so proud of yourself when you make it through those dark moments. So happy new year. I love you guys so much. Thanks for hanging out with me for the past year. I get really emotional for like new beginnings and like endings and things like that. Like I'm really weird about that kind of stuff. So like new years is such a powerful time to me and I hope that I can spread that to you too because you should be so happy about what happened for you this past year and look forward to all of the things that you don't even know are going to unfold and happen for you in 2022. So hopefully we'll still be hanging out and you're still here and I hope you guys really enjoyed this video. I love you so, so much and don't forget, be limitlessly yourself.