We here we are its finally February! We’ve crawled, tiptoed and dawdled through dreary January. A month that seems to have lasted a year.
I decided at the start of this year not to burden myself with resolutions and the whole “New Year – New You” thing. I didn’t want to begin 2020 by overwhelming myself with lists, to do’s, and targets that I will inevitably fail by the 6th of January. I have been thinking about this and is New Year’s Day really that good a day to start being the new you? I’m not saying people can’t change, we can, and there is always something we can do to better ourselves. I’m saying that the 1st of January might not be the best day to start. We’re likely to be slightly hungover on this day, with a house that is filled with stilton, fancy biscuits, after eight mints and seven types of gin, when for breakfast you don’t really fancy a green smoothie but would rather have a snowball?
It’s cold outside, dark and grey all the time and I’d rather be reading, curled up on the sofa, in the warm, or working our way through all the Christmas telly we’ve recorded. I’m very unenthused about putting on my trainers and power walking through the meadows at this point in the year. It’s just not going to happen so I’m not going to set myself up for failure.
In my writing sessions in January we’ve written letters and reflected upon 2019 of our highs and lows and what we’ve learnt and a letter to the coming year of what we might do and we might hope for. In our group discussions one participant mentioned reading an article that it was better to start resolutions in Septembers, as you’ve had your summer holiday (cocktails in the garden at 4pm and such) and you’re back at work, and children are despatched back to school or university and normal service resumes. It’s the start of a new school year and the weather is warm enough still to get any exercise routines begun. It’s a thought if I don’t get myself organised in the next few months.
I was interested to read about the Gaelic festival of Imbolc – a festival on the 1st of February that marks the end of winter, a time of change when the nights become lighter and we begin thoughts of venturing back outside as spring appears. We dust of our winter cobwebs (spring cleaning anyone?) and blink into the pale sun. Perhaps this might be a better time to start those resolutions. We are all back at work after the Christmas break and routines are back in full swing, we’ve settled slowly into the New Year. There are a few things I’d like to do, projects to start, books to be written, weight to be lost, skills to learn but I’ve decided not to turn myself into knots trying to do them all and feel disappointed when they don’t come to fruition. I’m just going to be more accepting of myself, faults and all and that’s my new year’s resolution.