Okay, this may be more of a rant than an inappropriate notion but I just HAVE to address this. It’s the 31st of December, 11:51 AM and I am sitting all alone in my house with no plans for today or to bring in the new year. You may gasp. You may sigh with sadness and place a hand over your heart and say, ‘oh poor she!’. I get it, I would’ve done the same had it been a few months back. So what has changed?
How I wish I had an interesting epiphany to share or a realisation that struck me or even a purpose for this but honestly? I have nothing. There is no reason, nothing has changed. I am not sad or upset. I am not going through sOmEtHiNg, nor am I escaping anything. I am just weird enough to do this and that’s okay. This year, I do not have the energy for new year celebrations and frankly, I am scared that my body clock will make me sleepy even before the new year starts so I plan on spending it in my bedroom, in my pyjamas, sipping on cranberry juice (pretending it’s wine), watching one of my favourite movies and falling asleep at a decent hour. And I look forward to it.
So now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the most cliched question that I am going to be asked once I exit hibernation mode – ‘any new resolutions?’. I used to get really excited though, I’ll be honest. I enjoyed planning for the entire year (nearly fell off the bed laughing at that one) and thinking of all that I’ll achieve and accomplish and when I failed, I’d like to tell myself, ‘next year, for sure!’.
I’ll let you in on a little secret that I learned along the way, humans get disappointed not by the failure to achieve something but by the expectation of not achieving it at a certain time (you can quote me on this). We put these timelines and deadlines on ourselves and when they don’t follow through, we deem ourselves worthless. Get this – while you’re busy feeling disappointed at planned failure, you’re forgetting to give yourself credit for achievements you didn’t even see coming.
You may not have lost weight this year, but what about that time you sat up all night holding your friend’s hand when they were going through a rough time? Celebrate that. You may not have got that dream job or the big promotion you were waiting on, but remember when you shared your food with someone who couldn’t afford a hot meal? Celebrate that. You may not have managed to go on that vacation you wanted to, but how can you forget the time you left work early just to spend time with your family? Celebrate that.
Your achievements come in the most unexpected and beautiful ways. They creep up even when you’re not looking for them. You’re going to lose weight, get that promotion and go for the vacation OR YOU WON’T and that’s okay because something better is on its way. Stop timing everything and stop letting yourself get intimidated by other people’s progress. You’re on your own path and your own journey so take a moment and look around. Sniff that flower, collect those pebbles, take a swim in the river and cherish it because once you move on, it isn’t going to be the same flower, same pebble or same river. Above all, trust the process – you are more than just a ticking clock.
Happy New Year! x
