Get Inspired by a New Beginning!
The coming of a new year means renewal and rejuvenation for many people.
It is perhaps the only time of year where most everyone winds down and takes a few days off to spend with family and friends.
The end of the year brings upon reflection about the past 12 months – how did you do, were your expectations met, did you do the things you wanted to do?
It is perhaps because you have some time off that you can finally get quiet enough to think about things. And, it is probably the first time in a long time that you’re out of the fast-paced, daily routine that you are so used to.
It is then that your mind finally starts to settle and still and all the things that were so important to you a year ago come back.
Remember all the things you wanted to do and places you wanted to go?
It’s hard to keep all the balls in the air when you’re making lunches, preparing reports after dinner and making sure that everyone’s got clean laundry. The plans of a girlfriend’s getaway, to put together that photo album for once and for all, and to take that pottery course get forgotten as you and everyone else gets busy and busier.
The important thing I’ve learned after this happening year after year is not to beat yourself up about it.
First of all, we do way too much of that already and we really have to stop.
Secondly, there’s no possible way to do it all each and every year. And besides, what would you have to look forward to if you accomplished absolutely every little thing?! Maybe starting the process of throwing things out was a good enough start. Maybe 2010 will be your threshold year, where you say, “Alright, that’s it!” and you throw it all out. Maybe this really will be the year you break off ties with people who aren’t good for you, that you make a space just for you at home or that you learn to drive after decades of being afraid.
Thirdly, things have a way of working out. Perhaps you weren’t meant to go to Cuba this year because a bigger, better trip is going to present itself and there’s no way you could have afforded both. Things come when they’re supposed to, I think.
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that just because something didn’t happen this year, doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future. So if you’ve got a list of things you want to do – whether you call them resolutions, goals or to-dos – keep putting the stuff on that didn’t get done!
After all, this could be the year that it finally comes to fruition.
And that’s the best thing about a new year – the possibility and hope for what you deem important, what really matters to making you happy.
You’ve got 365 brand new days coming – what are you going to do with yours?
Stephanie Dickison is the author of the recent book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, which covers her career as book, music and restaurant critic. She has been a journalist for over a decade and now spends much of her time writing about travel, food, beauty, style and celebrities for various publications and websites.
When she’s not writing, she’s eating, cooking, organizing, filing, making lists in sumptuous notebooks (you must use your beautiful journals) and colour-coding her ever evolving calendar.
She is one of the few writers still using technology AND paper. But at least her paper is organized into pretty file folders…
