I tend to make new beginnings out of whatever suits me - a morning, a season, a Monday...life is full of second chances and new opportunities if you're open to forgiveness and possibilities.
The first Monday of a New Year looms large as a new beginning, a traditional time to reflect on specific goals, or to simply contemplate what was and what may be.
I lost some very good friends in 2021, that really makes you hone in on people you are grateful for and what is (or should be) important as we begin a new year.
My grandmother always called December 31st "Old Years' Night". Give those past 365 days a proper send-off before you even think of starting fresh, I like it.
I usually make an entry in my handwritten journal around the new year. Looking back at past years is not always an uplifting experience, all the repetitious efforts - lose weight, finish writing that book, stay focused on the positive!!
I ended the year short of my weight goal for 2021, but my yoyo went down and up by the same amount, so in a pandemic year of comfort food, perhaps I can count the status quo as a win.
For many years, Quit Smoking! topped the resolution to-do list. What an accomplishment, still so grateful to have that huge challenge behind me; but it's a dozen years ago now, it may be time to let go of at least I quit smoking as a deferral for other behaviours of well-being.
Internally, I'm inclined to dwell on failure and feel shy about success. I'll work on that (again) in 2022, starting with making note of a few accomplishments: designing and developing content for this new website Lake Life Lore; getting better at photographing landscapes and wildlife, learning more about the nature that surrounds us; staying active and healthy through Year Two of a global pandemic (we made it so far, is the end in sight?); and best of all, applying my creative talents to a musical collaboration with my equally talented husband Michael. "Sunset Smoke" - an album of songs that we composed and recorded, along with a few lyric videos, and we're really pleased with how it turned out. Rock on!
So now we've passed the first day of the year, and the first Monday of the year, and my goals are still fuzzy and undefined. But I am a Capricorn with an upcoming birthday (a big one) and that's just one more chance for another new beginning, right there. Actually, I believe it's time now to leave resolutions behind for good This short-list of words have always served me well whenever I choose to focus on the beautiful, big picture. Good goals.
Love
Laugh
Create
Simplify
Appreciate
Here's to 2022!