It’s almost December. Are you there yet?

  When was the last time you celebrated yourself? 

When was the last time you did something for You?

When was the last time you spent time with yourself? 

When was the last time you cried out so loud you scared your roommate? Or got your Mom worried? Drew your friends away? Drew some others closer? 

When was the last time you ran to toe house only so could reach your pillow and sob in it? 

When was the last time you asked yourself if you were really happy being you? 

When was the last time you got yourself a bar of chocolate, sat yourself down and ate it without staring into a screen, without thinking of how fat you’ve become or without thinking of how you were eating the chocolate to drive your grief away? 

When was the last time you picked up a book and didn’t stop reading till you finished?

When was the last time you did something for yourself?

The last time you ignored a phone call because you didn’t want to talk? The last time you said ‘no’ to someone because you didn’t want to go without them, because you didn’t want to force yourself to watch that movie, because you wanted to spend the evening doing something You were interested in. 

When did you look at yourself in the mirror last and told yourself you’re a beautiful person – on the inside, on the outside and everywhere along the line. 

When did you give yourself preference over the needs of your boss, your friends, your siblings, your neighbor or your parents? 

When did you look up from the paper and found yourself lost in a thought you no longer remembered? 

It’s almost the end of the year. 

Like every other year, most of us are going to sit and wonder “how is it December so soon?” “How has another year passed by so quickly?” Or “how have I got through another year and not realized it’s almost ended?”

Well, it is December. And it is the last month of another long-short, happy-glum, exciting-lulled, dreadful-cheerful year. 

It’s probably the best time to try and look back at the heat and think of all the great things you’ve done. Think of all the things you’d wanted to do at the beginning of the year and the ones you accomplished. They difficult times you sailed through, the top-drawer moments you want to relive, the blue-chip gentlemen and ladies you want to run shoulders with again, the moments you played boss, the decisions you are proud you made, the choices you know are right for you. 

Look back. 

Look back at the year. 

Look back at yourself. 

With respect. With kindness. With joy and glory. 

Look back at every step you took towards your growth. At every boundary you stepped into or stepped out of to ensure your safety. 

There will be a hundred things you haven’t been able to do this year. A hundred things you’ve done wrong, people glove disappointed, feelings you’ve hurt. And that’s why you get to step into the next year, to rectify, to change, to strike a balance. 

Fix it, but only when you’ve fixed yourself. 

Repair the damaged. Build the bridges, but cut yourself some slack. 

Happy December!