By: Gabriela Yareliz
December was filled with walks to see the lights, revisiting old places, tree lightings and thoughtful gifts. There was Christmas cheer and magic in the air in Midtown Manhattan.
These days, I have been planning and reading. My planner is jam-packed with little lists and scribbles. I am determined to make it to 67 books total for the year. I got back into the groove with working out and found programs that don’t bore me. (Thank you T-F Studio and Join Reset). My 31-day pilates challenge is coming to an end, and fun continues in January. I feel stronger than I have in a long time, emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally.
That’s the thing about December– it isn’t just another month– it’s the end of a year cycle. And sometimes, it is a year that really changes you and changes things.
2023 was a year of loss, grief, healing, releasing fears, and learning that: if others get grace, you should, too; you get to decide who you will be and what thoughts you will think and what strength will look like to you.
2024 holds promise of dreams, family, unity, new experiences, travel. There is a lot in store.
As I reflect, I think of that Ed Mylett quote: “You will never know how much pain, hurt and anger it took to become this calm.”
I raise my glass to the ones who are no longer here and are missed– you are never forgotten (para los que no estan); to the ones still here who lean in when the world is on fire– your presence is everything (para los que se quedan y apoyan siempre); to the coaches who challenge us to become who God created us to be– your wisdom has transformed me (para los que nos guian); to God’s provision and restoration, always (siempre fiel). He makes all things new.
Raising a glass to 2024. I’ll see you there.
Quotes
Here are many quotes that meant something to me as I read through the month:
“Consider how precious a soul must be when both God and the devil are after it.” Charles Spurgeon
“A huge measure of integrity are the promises you make and keep. Levels of humility usually match levels of integrity.” Erwin Raphael McManus
“One of the best ways to achieve justice is to expose injustice.” Julian Assange
“Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited.” Thomas Merton
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
“Great men are those who see that thoughts rule the world.” Emerson
“The highest form of love is consideration. If someone thinks about how things would make you feel. Pays attention to detail. Holds you in regard when making decisions that could affect you. In any bond, how much they care about you can be found in how much they consider you.” @safespacemo
“We were never called to superficial happiness– we are called to adventure.” Dr. Edie Wadsworth
“Be grateful for any breakdowns this year. It’s setting you up for a massive breakthrough. Your mission is getting clear.” Lewis Howes
“Negative thoughts actually change the brain for the worse, yet concentrating on thankfulness literally makes you grateful for your brain.” Dr. Daniel Amen
“Someone asked me, ‘What is your weakness?’ ‘I’m sensitive. Smallest things hurt me.’ ‘What’s your strength?’ ‘Little things make me happy, too.'” Unknown
“Sometimes the best things begin from endings that were bad.” Lori Harder
“Repressing your pain is rarely the most painful form of self abandoment. Repressing your light is. Shutting down your heart and your joy is.” Xavier Dagba
“Hope is not soft. Hope is not shallow toxic positivity. Hope is strong. Hope is stretching. Hope is a war cry, painful prayer, a courageous choice.” Lynette Allcock Yoon
“Just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandoment. No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Every story has conflict. Don’t forget that the hard parts are just chapters. Keep going.” Unknown
“Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored.” Marcus Aurelius
“Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s the absence of self.” Erwin Raphael McManus
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself.” Fydor Dostoevsky
“The real Christmas gift, for which Advent is the process, is learning to hum hope, learning to dance the divine.” Joan Chittister
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” Albert Einstein
“You know you are doing something important when it feels like it is all falling apart.” Dr. Edie Wadsworth
“The measure of your life is the amount of beauty of which you are aware.” Agnes Martin
“Jesus comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Joy is a rebellious act of defiance against the pain and the darkness of this world. Joy can pierce through any pain and shine the light of hope into any darkness because true joy is rooted in a deep trust that God is with us and that all that He promised will come true.” Jennifer Tucker
“Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.” Janet Erskine Stuart
“When you can’t understand the extravangance of love, you’ve missed the whole point.” Erwin R. McManus
“Bison are the only animal that turn into a snowstorm rather than away from it because they instinctively know that walking into the storm will get them out of the weather quicker. There may be a life lesson for humans in this.” Jeremy Wayne Tate
“I wondered whether part of my reticence to let this book go was because of the version of me it had brought to the surface. Perhaps I was afraid she might get trapped in the pages of the book when I let it go. This is it.” Beth Kempton
“The purely righteous do not complain of the dark, but increase the light; they do not complain of evil, but increase justice; they do not complain of heresy, but increase faith, they do not complain of ignorance, but increase knowledge.” Abraham Isaac Kook
“When we raise our hopes and lower our expectations, we establish a resilient way forward.” Seth Godin
“Every American should be troubled by the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove President Trump from the ballot. The court has deprived him of a consequential right without having been convicted of a crime. This was done without an evidentiary hearing in which he is given the basic right of confronting his accusers. When any candidate is deprived of his right to run, the American people are deprived of their right to choose.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“In life you must be a warrior, and war requires realism. While others may find beauty in endless dreams, warriors find it in reality, in awareness of limits, in making the most of what they have.” Robert Greene
“We forgive people not because they deserve forgiveness but because we deserve peace.” Ed Mylett
“The biggest coward is a man who awakens a woman’s love with no intention of loving her.” Bob Marley
“We endure the hard now by trusting there is something else up ahead. Even if it’s only a line.” Sarah Dessen
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need a photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough.” Toni Morrison
“Courage is a love affair with the unknown.” Travelers, Poets and Friends
“You love differently when you know God.” Malanda
“Anger is a killing thing; it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before– it takes something from him.” Louis L’Amour
“This is who the cancel culture crowd is. They are people who don’t know God, and as a result, they are filled with chaos, confusion and anger. I’m not mad at them any more than Jesus was when he prayed for their forgiveness (even though they hadn’t asked for it).” Phil Robertson
Articles & Things
Not Offended By Christmas by Dr. Naomi Wolf
Paul Kingsnorth: I Didn’t Want to Be a Christian. But I Had No Choice. “But I knew who was after me, and I knew it wasn’t over.” [Kingsworth writes: After years of atheism, I went searching for the truth. I found Buddhism, then witchcraft, and eventually, Christianity.]
People I am Intrigued By
Julian Assange
Jack Canfield (Co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul)
Blessings to you and yours as we begin our next adventure. If you would like to share, drop in the comments what this year meant to you. xx
GABRIELA YARELIZ 