Now that the New Year is in, it is important to let go of 2016. Holding on to old pains is not a healthy thing as Lot’s wife powerfully demonstrated when she turned around to take a last glance at Soddom and turned into a pillar of salt. Forward! One good way for moving on is to explore your present feelings. I just finished reading the Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman. They hold the copyright to what they call “The Grief Recovery Completion Letter”. Basically they suggest to pick an important person – dead or alive – with whom you have unresolved issues. You write that letter for yourself and do not send it to the person it is directed to. Instead James and Friedman suggest you read it to somebody you trust and who can keep it confidential. They suggest to get three categories off your chest: words of apology, words of forgiveness, and other significant emotional statements. Maybe it would not hurt to treat the year 2016 as a recipient of such a completion letter. So the rest of this article will provide space for you to fill in the blanks:
Dear 2016,
2016, I apologize for …
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2016, I apologize for …
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2016, I apologize for …
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2016, I forgive you for …
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2016, I forgive you for …
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2016, I forgive you for …
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2016, I want you to know … (significant emotional statement)
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2016, I want you to know … (significant emotional statement)
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2016, I want you to know … (significant emotional statement)
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I have to go now, 2016, and I have to let go of what you brought. Good-bye, 2016.
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