Some thoughts on New Year

I love New Year. A fresh start, new possibilities. I don't exactly make resolutions but I do think about what I'd like to to do more of, or do better, or indeed, do less of.

Do more exercise. Eat more healthily. Be in touch with friends more. Get more fresh air. Help people. Laugh more. Be more creative.

Waste food less. Don't waste hours on social media (fortunately I've already stopped the wasting of time on Candy Crush). Use the car less. Don't be grumpy.

Actually, the lists could get really long if I spend too much time thinking about it. And then I would need to add 'don't spend so long thinking about things' to the list and it would become a vicious cycle.

I know many people who say 2013 was a bad year so good riddance - welcome 2014. It is good if we can mark the passing of a year in such a way that it gives us that opportunity to leave its baggage behind.

For me, 2013 was a mixture of course. I still spend enough of the time generally being glad to be alive, so in that way it was definitely a good year. I achieved something I will always be chuffed about (a good distinction in my ballet exam). But, for various other reasons it has not been easy, and we've not known whether we would even be living in the same place this time next year which is an unsettling prospect.

When it comes to New Year, perhaps we only really need one thing on our list of resolutions: treat each new day as a new beginning. That way we can leave behind things we might beat ourselves up about without waiting for a major event in the calendar. Similarly, we don't need to wait for some future date to start being that better person we'd like to morph into.

A challenge does work for me though - as long as it is not too ambitious, and I'd like to do some more fundraising. Perhaps a cycle challenge for Bowel Cancer UK? Anyone want to join me? Other ideas?


Treating each new day as a new beginning appeals to the optimist in me, but I'm a realist too so I know it is more easily said than done. Sleep deprivation or illness make it particularly hard. However, I like the idea of trying to keep a fresh perspective.

Someone recently shared an image on facebook that really appealed to me, but when I looked for it again today I couldn't find it. So I searched google images and found the following version. If this belongs to someone and shouldn't be posted, please let me know and I'll happily swap it for another version. Otherwise, thank you to the anonymous illustrator.

http://www.volunteerweekly.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/glass-half-empty-glass-half-full-always-full.jpg

Anyway, what appealed to me was that actually a glass isn't half full nor half empty. Technically, it is always full. What I like about this is that it is a fresh, and even more optimistic way of looking at things. We just need to learn to see and appreciate the air. 

So, here I am, raising my metaphorically full glass to wish you all the best for 2014. May it be full of new beginnings, fresh starts, and novel ways of looking at things.

xxx

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