“Looking forward, looking back. I’ve come a long way down the track,” sings Australian country singer Slim Dusty. It’s a great song for the New Year, writes Linda Kavelin-Popov.

To receive maximum blessings as we begin a new year, it’s essential to reflect on the past year and then to set intentions for the year ahead. Only by looking back can we receive the lessons in our tests. What were our challenges, our losses? What were the most significant teachable moments? If we don’t pause to think about it, we lose the treasure of wisdom that can come only from conscious awareness of our life journey.

Think about it. What life lesson arose for you in 2023? Mine had to do with my lifelong habit of over-responsibility. I became so caught up, that I nearly had a stroke. I truly believe it was only divine intervention that saved me. One morning, I heard in meditation, “Protect your heart, literally.” Turns out my blood pressure was sky high. It took several days to bring it down to normal. I looked deeply at why I was taking on others’ burdens to the point where I was endangering my own life. The truth emerged suddenly, having to do with rescuing my mother from self-harm starting when I was four.

Then, the task was to create a new boundary around my time and energy. I restructured my work and restricted how people were allowed to contact me as a mental health and wellbeing volunteer. Are you laughing yet? A saying often attributed to Albert Einstein is: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”

I wrote a book about balance, entitled: A Pace of Grace: The Virtues of a Sustainable Life. I believe what I wrote. Time to remember, “Physician, heal thyself” and set a new action plan. The biggest challenge was doing it with compassion for myself and a big dose of accountability, rather than wallow in guilt for falling into the same mistake again. Guilt is an exhausting emotion, and its only useful purpose is as a signal for change.

Those new boundaries serve me well, and the humility to fully receive the lesson was a precious gift. “For wisdom is better than rubies…I, wisdom, am mistress of discretion, inventor of lucidity of thought. Good advice and sound judgment belong to me, perception to me, strength to me…I walk in the way of virtue, in the paths of justice, enriching those who love me, filling their treasuries.” (Proverbs 8:11-14)

Another virtue to reflect on is gratitude. What were your special blessings of 2023? Buddha said, “Happiness never comes to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.” Looking forward, what are your intentions for 2024? Do you want to express and receive more love, do something creative, and forgive someone in this world or the next whose hurt still causes you pain? I intend to gain mastery in moderation. The only way to do that is to initiate daily habits that allow me to nurture my own pace of grace. How do you want your garden to grow this year? Tap into the virtue of wisdom to set new intentions. Abdu’l Baha said, “So long as the thoughts of an individual are scattered, he will achieve no results, but if his thinking be concentrated on a single point, wonderful will be the fruits thereof.” Focus on a positive vision of your new narrative and life can only get better.