Another Year Over And A New One Just Begun
Christmas is traditionally a time to be with friends and family but for various reasons this year I spent Christmas home alone – well, I had company in the form of small, furry creatures but no other people – and no I don’t have a rat infestation.
It was the first time in my life I’d ever been alone for Christmas and the idea was at first daunting – I imagined people’s reaction when I told them I’d spent Christmas alone.
Oh, the poor thing, does she have no friends or family? Or worse – Wow, what a loser!
But with a bit of planning I still had a very nice day and spoke to friends and family on the phone, some even sounded a tad jealous that I was doing what they wished to do but felt the need to go along with tradition.
And that got me thinking, why do some of us only get together with our loved ones at Christmas? Shouldn’t we be doing all that nice Christmassy stuff all year round?
Since I had a quiet Christmas I vowed to whoop it up for New Year and I did exactly that. After all I’m planning on having my best year yet so I wanted to bring in 2015 with plenty of hoopla and fanfare.
But still, I will make more of an effort to spend time with friends and family and to keep in touch all year, not just a concentrated effort around special occasions and holidays.
I also like to get as much as I can done in that ‘nothing’ time between Christmas and New Year.
That’s the time most people chill out and relax, maybe review their year and make plans and resolutions for the coming twelve months.
Not me, I like to go against convention and get my house, office and mindset organised and clean so I go into the new year uncluttered and ready for action.
This brings me to the business of resolutions. Many people aim for starting their new habits and rituals right on January 1st and feel like they’ve failed if they start to waver a few days later.
I say ease into it. It doesn’t matter if you start a few days later. It doesn’t matter if you’re still partying on the 2nd of January. There’s plenty of time to get it right and it’s more important than being rigid and starting on a given date.
What really matters is that you succeed in whatever it is you want to change. You’re not a failure if you start a few days later, be kind to yourself, change can be hard and if you find an easier way then more power to you.
So, for me, this year’s theme will be people and kindness. Putting in a bigger effort to connect and spend time with the people closest to me, as well as being of greater service to my wonderful clients and those I’ve yet to meet. And being kinder to myself, not being so regimented with my time, taking time to smell the roses.
I’d like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year and may we all stay safe and be good to ourselves, not just in the holiday season but all year round.
And for now I wish warm, crackling fires for those in the northern hemisphere and cool breezes and rain for those down here in the heat with me.
KEEP THE FAITH