How Do You Measure a Year?

The following song, Seasons of Love, from the Broadway musical and movie Rent provides some compelling answers:

It’s only natural to use New Year’s Eve as a marker. This year is ending tonight and a fresh, new year begins tomorrow. Some of us use this day to take an inventory of our lives– to see where we have been and to think about where we are going.

Be careful, though, with your unit of measurement. It can be dangerous to measure yourself with where you are now compared to where you want to be. When this unit of measurement is used, there is a tendency to doubt your progress and question your value.

Stay away from statements like, “I should have lost more weight by now,” or, “I should be making more money.” These statements are self-limiting because they do not contemplate the whole picture of what you are doing.

A better unit of measurement to use is to look at where you were this time last year compared to where you are right now, today. Give yourself grace and compassion. Celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how big or small. Recognize the fact you are moving forward, learning, and trying.

So, we come back to the question of how do you measure a year? Measure it in the times you felt comfortable in your own skin; when you had the answer to the question no else could answer.

Measure it in the moments of quiet gratitude and knowing; and peace. Measure it with the days when you got knocked down, but found a way to get back up again. Measure it in teaspoons of regret, but in gallons of purpose and happiness.

How do you measure a year? Measure it in love.

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