With the end of the year quickly approaching, there’s a good chance you’re finding yourself reflecting on the past year. What did you accomplish? What did you want to accomplish but never got around to doing? You might reflect on your mental state of the past year, your friendships, and your career, and you will most likely find yourself reflecting on your romantic life.
A year isn’t a year if it isn’t tumultuous, made up of exhilarating highs and painful lows. Even if you think you have the perfect relationship, it wouldn’t be perfect if it didn’t have some lows thrown into the mix. Whether you’re riding on a romantic high into the new year or cruising by on a low, these are some questions you can ask yourself if you want to reflect on your love life of the past year:
1. What did you accomplish in the past year?
Maybe at the start of the year, you told yourself you were going to be more outgoing and put yourself out there. Perhaps you had some fun experimenting with dating apps. Maybe you spent the last year alone after realizing you needed time to be single. We can accomplish things in terms of our love lives without even realizing it. It’s essential to think about all the things you accomplished in the past year, big or small, and pat yourself on the back.
2. How would you describe your love life of the past year in one word?
If you and your long-term boyfriend broke up, you might describe your past year as tragic. If you and your toxic boyfriend broke up, you might describe your past year as groundbreaking. If you spent the past year single and learning to love yourself, you might describe the past year as freeing. Putting a single-word description to your love life of the previous year can help you decide your feelings about it and can even help you set goals for the next year.
3. What do you wish you had done?
Thinking about the what if’s of a situation is typically a negative thing, but when it’s done in the right way, it can actually be constructive. Don’t beat yourself up over not doing something, instead think of the things you wish you had done in a way that will empower you to do them in the new year. If you regret not telling someone your true feelings for them, make it a point to make those feelings clear the next time a similar situation happens. Think about what you wish you had done, make a point to do that in the new year, and then move on from it.
4. What is one major life lesson you learned from the past year?
Even if you feel like you had the most draining, uneventful love life of the past year, that is a lesson in itself. Every situation we have can be a lesson if you think about the way it affects you. If you really tried to make a relationship work with someone, but it just wouldn’t, that’s a lesson about who you’re compatible with. If you spent the majority of your year alone, you probably learned a lesson about valuing your time and putting yourself first. Don’t go into the new year with the idea that you learned nothing from the past year, because you can definitely think of one major life lesson that will be helpful to you in the long run.
