You know the drill. As we head towards the end of the year, people start thinking about resolutions, about a word for the new year, about goals.
There are loads of old and new videos and articles out there telling you how to do achieve goals and make resolutions stick.
In 2014, I wrote about not being one of those people. If it works for you, that's great, but we all have to find our own ways.
For me a new year really is just learning how to write a new number, not a clean slate. I don't need New Year's Day to set goals or make resolutions, actually I feel it works better for me if I do that whenever I'm ready for it throughout the year.
Times are so hard for many people, so much is happening in the world, and as a notorious overthinker and born pessimist I often struggle with processing that without it making me fall right into a big dark hole.
So I figured that if I thought about the New Year, it would be better if I tried to make it about the things I was looking forward to (in random order and without a claim on completeness).
Supercozy naps. Who needs a weighted blanket if you can get yourself pinned down by the supernappers.
Bonus - snuggle sessions.
Books, books, books!
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| Picture via pxhere |
Watching more silent movies (and talkies).
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| Doug is looking forward to it, too. |
Crafting if I can.
Going down rabbit holes, learning new things, ...
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| Valerie Hinojosa from Washington DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons "Down the Rabbit Hole" |
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... and blogging about them.
Smiling and laughing (yes, that's actually me in an old picture). Extra points for laughing until I cry and my stomach hurts.
Nostalgia and memories.
I don't see the past through rose-tinted glasses, but that doesn't mean it can't be nice to go back in time every, now and then.
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| No, I'm NOT in this picture (one of my parcel guys once asked me if I was when he saw it in the house hallway 😂 We got it because the cat looked so much like our Dude.). |
Noticing beauty and joy in the world around me.
Feeling spring in the air, listening to autumn leaves crunching under my feet, seeing dew drops in a spider web.
Exchanging a few friendly words with a stranger on the bus. Singing along to a favorite song.
Hearing a bird sing, smelling a flower, having one of my night visitors at the window.
Communicating with my favorite people. Sorry, no picture for that for privacy reasons.
Well, and of course I'm looking forward to interacting with you!
What's something you are looking forward to?
I love ❤️ all the photos. I don't do New Year resolutions because I try to be better on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to set myself up to fail so I work on things each day.
One thing at a time, at my pace.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Exactly, Linda. For me, that's more realistic. Good luck to us both for doing one step at a time!
DeleteWhat a beautiful post! You really don’t need a first of January to start enjoying it! May I borrow your wishes? Except for the bit about exchanging sentences with a stranger on the bus, and that other thing about nocturnal visitors—depending on who/what they are XD.
ReplyDeleteWell, I’ll be happy if I can make it to the bus stop. That will mean I’m moving better, that I’m feeling better overall, and that should bring me better doses of patience, serenity, contemplation, and acknowledgement… recovering my sense of humour and being better to myself and to others.
Have a glorious 2026!
Thank you! I'll happily give you half of my wishes!
DeleteMy bus rides are few, usually the way home after an appointment, and the small talk is a lot shorter and more rare than what I had been used to from all my commutes.
I hope you'll be having a wonderful 2026!
I'm looking forward to feeling stronger again and getting back into the gym after a long recovery from Covid this time. Of course the gym will be full of people doing resolution stuff but they will fade away! And it's been redecorated, so I will have new street art (gym art?) to look at and photograph. I am also looking forward to reading all Iris Murdoch's novels in order again, which I like to do every decade of my life, and planning what to write about for the next IM Society Conference but one, while working on my paper for the one in August 2026! And reading everyone's blogs, though I'm going to read what I can from the newest ones backwards now then delete everything that's left at the end of the year as I'm SO behind!
ReplyDeleteI wish you all the best, Liz. Have fun in the gym, with the books, and writing!
DeleteThank you for sharing!
Weird as it will sound, I look forward to New Year's Day to take down the Christmas, give the house a fresh cleaning, make something delicious to eat, and getting to bed early in some warm flannel sheets. The stress and pressure of the holidays feel "over" and I couldn't be happier. (:
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't sound weird at all.
DeleteFor me the holidays aren't stressful - also because that's when I take my vacation - so I'd like them to go on forever, especially the vacation part, but I totally get if it's not the same for others.
I have never thought of New Year's as a way to anticipate all the good things! I love this, Cat! I am like you in that I don't make resolutions because I know, sooner or later, I'll break them. That's setting me up for failure. I had a Word of the Year one year (it may have been this year). I don't even remember what it was...that's how much it meant to me. I think, when those things work for people, it's a good thing. They just aren't for me, and that's OK, too! BTW...I met someone today at the museum who loves rainy moody days, too! Isn't it nice to know there are more of us out there?
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
Absolutely. After all we are all different and have to do what works for us.
DeleteThat's really nice to know ... no rain for me now, though, because that would be turning into ice too quickly!
I love opening a new calendar and filling in all the empty boxes, I think that's leftover from my teaching days! However, I don't do resolutions or words of year anymore. Like you I take it day by day. PS- love you weighted blanket. My daughter and her boyfriend got a kitten for Christmas and they are enjoying theirs now, as well! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI'm also terrible with calendars and planners, always have been. The last wall calendar I got is three years old now and still on January because I like the photo so much.
DeleteHappy New Year to you, too!
Perfect! I’ve never found New Year’s resolutions to be particularly motivating. Like you, I’m motivated when inspiration hits. I like your approach about what you’re looking forward to. I may do the same. Critter snuggles are the best!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michelle!
DeleteThe "weighted blanket" was in fact chosen for the top spot because yes, snuggles are the best!
I don't set new year goals or resolutions either since I am definitely one of those people who will start a new goal at any time.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be more of us than I would have thought.
DeleteI love this! I don't do resolutions either and like your way much better! I tend to overthink things too, so I know what you mean.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could stop that. Overthinking can be so exhausting!
DeleteI'm looking forward to a stronger version of me, even as I cope with chronic illness. Thank you for a heart lifting Post. God bless🌱🌿
ReplyDeleteI wish you all the best with that. I have a chronic illness myself and it can be so hard at times.
DeleteI really like your list and I think a lot of the things I look forward to are the same as yours. Here's to looking forward to things that bring us happiness and contentment and enjoying those things.
ReplyDeletewww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Cheers to that, Mireille!
DeleteLove all your favourite things. Roses, cats, books...bring it on. I'm looking to do more things than bring me joy. This includes day trips, cinema, theatre and art museum trips.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! I wish I could still do day trips and museums, that's something I really miss. I hope you'll manage and enjoy them.
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