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A Year of Reflection and Growth

للمقال باللغة العربية باللغة العبرية

Dear Afifi Group Community,

I would like to wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New year.

To those of you who don't know me, my name is Rasha Afifi-Talleh. I am a professional coach, a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, specializing in personal growth and wellness, and currently training in Relationship Organizations and Systems Coaching. I am a Coaching Consultant for Afifi Group, and I am part of ACT- Afifi Center for Training's founding team.

Starting this month, you will hear monthly about different topics relevant to our individual and collective growth. With this being the start of a new year, I would like to talk to you about the value of pausing, reflecting on our year, and the lessons we can learn from it moving forward.

Up until COVID, most of us globally lived fast passed lives. We lived in a world that forced us to run at high speed continuously. Whether it's the demanding, fast-moving work environments, the high expectations of parenting, the hectic social lives, or the pressure technology and social media put on us, most of us were barely keeping up. So many of us were burned out and overwhelmed. We lived lives lacking balance, intention, awareness, mindfulness, and any sense of being or reflection. We were living our lives but not being present in our lives or our relationships. Many felt stretched thin. We forgot what it's like to live in the moment. We forgot what it means to experience joyful living.

Then COVID happened, and everything came to a full stop. We all know that it came with a mix of challenges and drastic changes, this caused a lot of unrest, and it kicked us out of our comfort zones, and for many, it caused suffering. Without downplaying the severity of COVID and its impact on us, this pause, also created space and time for reflection. Space and time for us to sit and notice:

• How do we feel?
• What do we value in life?
• What is working for us and what is not?
• What is holding us back?
• What is possible for us and what is available to us?
• What do we need to live fully?

 

When we pause and ask questions, we create that space for reflection, which builds our awareness and helps us truly know who we are, what we want in life, and ultimately grow into a better version of ourselves.

We're all familiar with the tradition of New Year's resolution. At the beginning of every year, we start making lists of goals we would like to achieve in the coming year. This year specifically, before you jump into New year's resolutions and list-making, I'd like to ask you to do one thing first, and that is to pause. Pause and take a minute to sit with your thoughts, reflect on how this year has affected you, find the hidden lessons it offered you, and make sure whatever you do next, you never forget the value of slowing down and pausing when you need to.

In the coming months we will learn about many different topics, such as, the elasticity of our brain and how we can learn anything and achieve anything when we have a growth mindset. We will also learn about perspectives and the power of choice, about mindfulness and how we can bring it into our daily lives, and about gratitude as a powerful tool to reduce stress, and increase happiness.

With that, I would like to wish all of you and your loved ones a happy New Year. May 2021 be the year of possibilities, self-reflection, and growth to become the best version of ourselves.