How to Prepare for a New Season Mentally and Emotionally
The seasons are changing, and the year is coming to an end. I feel a shift in the air and my life, so I’m taking an active step to prepare myself emotionally and mentally. This month, I encourage you to press pause, taking time to re-center. Here are a few tips on preparing yourself mentally and emotionally for the new season.
Take time to process your feelings
An essential part of self-care is taking time to think about your thoughts. This process is called Metacognition. Before you jump into the next season of your life, reflect on the lessons you have learned. What happened this past season, and what is your emotional interpretation of what happened? Write down the list of significant life events this past season and write a positive emotional interpretation of those events. We often view life’s changes negatively because change is uncomfortable. We may see a lost relationship as rejection, a new job as a burden, or a change in our physical appearance as a sign of failure. Below I have provided some examples of positive emotional interpretations of life events.
Life Event —> Emotional Interpretation
I got a new job —> I transitioned to a healthier work environment
My relationships have changed —> I am aligning myself with people that genuinely care about me
My body is changing —> My body is doing its best to take care of me
I’m going back to school —> I am investing in myself and my career advancement
Once you have correctly processed the previous season of your life, you can set an intention for what you want the next season of your life to bring. For example, in this new season, I intend to trust my gut more and make better decisions. I plan to focus on my priorities rather than be consumed by distractions.
Release Control
The allusion to control is a powerful thing. People with control issues need to maintain power over nearly every aspect of their life, including personal and romantic relationships, family dynamics, and events in the workplace (OpenPathCollective.org). Control issues stem from an irrational fear of instability. For some of us, instability is not unreasonable at all because we grew up in unstable environments. In my life, I had to let go of the burden of being in control because I realized that wanting to control everything was making it harder for me to manage my life. I also had to let go of my need to be the savior! Do you know those people that try to save everyone around them instead of minding their business and facing their front? Trying to help everyone around me was part of my control issues, and that had to go too. Releasing control can be scary, but bringing new blessings and opportunities into your life is necessary. If it helps, you were never really in control; you just convinced yourself that you were.
“Crisis allows us to decide what we want to hold on to and what we want to let go of”
Let go of dead things
“Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.”
Old things must make way for the new stuff in your life. Take time to assess your priorities and decide what needs to be released. We often hold on to dead things for fear that nothing else is coming, but all that does is limit us. Your future will always be brighter than the past. It would help if you believed that the best is yet to come. Pray God gives you a fresh revelation for what he has in store for you this new season, so you don’t hold on to dead things. What old habits, ways of thinking, or operating practices do you need to let go of? Let go of the dead things in your life and open yourself up to something new.
Live with an abundant mindset
Live as if you already have everything you need to be happy. One of the mistakes I made when I was younger was focusing on things I didn’t have, making me grumpy and bitter. As we step into the new season, let’s maintain an attitude of gratitude, a cliché but a mighty mindset. Life is a cycle of problem-solving, so whatever issue you’re facing, there is a solution, and you will find it. Live in a mindset of abundance so you can attract positivity. You are becoming someone who is making better choices in your life, you are setting healthy boundaries, you are aligning yourself with your purpose, and you are bringing in the new season in abundance.
Stay Original,
Ori
