ACCEPT what is, LET GO of what was, and HAVE FAITH in what will be.

2022 has been an exceptional year; maybe it was the end of a cycle of world-changing events that introduced us to a new era of living, or just another year that came to remind us of what mattered in our lives.

I have personally experienced loss on multiple levels during that year, and I wish I could say that I had more learnings than losses; the truth is that at some point in time, no matter how optimistic you would like to be and how positive you want to be, there is not much you can do. You need to realize that the best course of action is to ACCEPT what is, LET GO of what was, and HAVE FAITH in what will be. Still, the step before that is to Pause and Reflect, and in this last Monday Tip of the year 2022, I would like to share my top 3 reflections.

?1)?Realize who is the only one who can help you when you are powerless

We all will be in a situation where we will become powerless; it may be a situation in your 30s or your 70s, and it could be in the physical sense or the metaphorical sense; there will come a time when you will not be able to do anything to help yourself, and during that time, there will be just ONE person who can have the most credit and influence to get you out or get you through your situation. That one person is the Younger version of You.

?I have come to this realization from observing my own life and the lives of my friends, family, and others. To explain this, from an early age, you are the one responsible for building and keeping relationships with others; you will have control over how you treat your direct family, partner, and friends and the impact you can make on your community, whether you are a big spender or a conservative saver, lead a healthy life or not, whether you lived life to the max or just didn’t. Everything you made a priority will come back to pay you back—the Good and Bad.

When you become powerless, who will be there? Will your friends come to support you? Will your children invest their time in taking care of you? When things are bad, will your partner stick around? And the list goes on and on… Think about this for a second...

So, remember that when this day comes (and trust me, it will!), the younger version of you, and the sum of all your decisions and priorities and how you invested your time when you were younger will come to pay the dividends, so help the future you and start cleaning up your life and move to live a life with no regrets DAILY!

?"Live Everyday with no regrets, so you don't regret it one day." ~Samer Chidiac

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2)?People are not good because you are good to them; they are just good.

Another realization and reflection I had this year was regarding loved ones and those whom we consider “close.”

I’ve heard many versions of this sentence over the years, “in bad times, you know who your true friends are,” because during the good times, anyone can be your friend, but during bad times you will see who will stick around and who will show you their real face.

I recall conversations I had with my mother and sister when my father was on his death-bed; they were sharing their disappointment from how some of our relatives and close friends never showed up or offered support, despite all the good deeds we’ve done for them throughout the years, and in contrast, some went above and beyond despite that we have relatively didn’t do anything in comparison.

A great conclusion we collectively had, was that GOOD people are not good because of how you treated them in the past; they are just GOOD by nature, and some people are just not, no matter how much good you have done for them.

3) Some of your most significant relationships are not meant to last

I have been through so many cycles in my life and can’t stress how they were equally filled with the highs and the lows, but I guess the most significant can always be traced back to relationships, whether a romantic partner or a business partner, a friend or a boss… Some enter our life and become the catalyst for it to change course, and then they leave.

One of the best quotes I’ve heard about this was, “Some you meet for a REASON and some you meet for a SEASON,” and a great explanation I’ve heard this year was to compare some people to rocket boosters; when a rocket is launched, it will need a booster that will augment the rocket capacity and is essential for it actually to push the rocket outside the orbit of the earth, and then it is dropped back to earth; the booster is NOT INTENETED to continue the journey of the rocket. ?The same thing comes with some people in our life; no matter how important they were in our lives, they just came in it to give us the necessary boost, and when their role is done, we need to let them go and continue our journey.

One of my realizations this year around this topic was very much related to the booster example, as, in general, we tend to visualize “what is holding us back” as a ROCK, and we are tied to it; therefore, we need to let go. But this rocket analogy has changed my whole perspective; I now have a deep appreciation for some relationships and people that had to play an essential role in navigating my life toward a better future.

So whether it lasted a day or a decade, be grateful that it happened and that it was a reason for you to move forward.

As I conclude this end-of-year Monday tip, I would like to thank you for reading and supporting my newsletter and being part of making me a better person and would like to remind you that the final tip for this year is:

ACCEPT what is, LET GO of what was, and HAVE FAITH in what will be

Have a wonderful year ahead!

Samer Chidiac