New Year, New Ways

Changing it up, moving things around and doing things your way.  I guess everyone sees January 1st as a chance to start fresh. I like the idea of standing on the starting line now and looking back in December to see how far I have come or what goals I have attained or what goals have fallen by the wayside.

I have been away from my blog for quite some time as my day job required all of my free time from Thanksgiving till Christmas. During that time I kept thinking, “Ugh when will I have time to write posts for my blog.”  However, I had to prioritize things since my income is what pays the bills for internet access!  I was working morning, noon and night with breaks for meals and the gym and that is about it.  It was slightly poetic because as I was winding up my workload for 2013 and getting ready to start my Christmas vacation, I was thinking about blog topics…and BOOM!  Hard drive crashed and was toast.  I am very fortunate to have brothers who are technically savvy so they dug me out of that technology inconvenience.  My younger brother found me a good deal on a hard drive and software and my older brother retrieved everything on my old hard drive and rebuilt my computer.  Team effort for sure.  My computer was all ready for me right before Christmas and since I was busy wrapping, grocery shopping, cooking and celebrating I decided to put off writing till after Christmas…or not.  I woke up early in the morning on Boxing Day with a stomach virus (my 4th stomach virus of 2013, it has to be a record).  I was buried in bed till 4pm the day after Christmas and was not back to myself for several days.  I just decided it was a sign that I needed to be offline for the duration of the holiday season.  I worked a bazillion hours in December and was running at full speed up through Christmas so it was just my time to slow down. Thus here I am.  

It is January 1st and I suspect my workload will be monumental as soon as everyone resurfaces from the holiday haze.  However, I have made a little promise to myself to get back to writing regularly.  I am hesitant to say ‘resolution’ as it is more of a get back in the saddle thing.  This is how I see starting the New Year versus the concept of setting New Year’s resolutions.  Resolve to do something?  Or just begin to do something different, in your own way.  You can look at it any way you wish.  I just know the start of new year makes me think about what I want to do in the next 12 months and even perhaps beyond 12 months.  Anything that happens is up to me whether it means changing my approach, changing my perspective or doing what suits me without being to rigid.  Someone I know always says, “No one ever says things are so amazing, I think I will change!”  I believe the impetus for change is something in your life that is less than optimal. It could be anything from the way your jeans fit to how you spend money to the color of the paint on your walls.  “This is not working for me” leads to “what and how can I change” (if not, you need to reassess, in my opinion).  Figure out what has been holding you back or what has been bothering you or the things you have wanted to do and think through how to make things happen – differently and  in a way that suits you.  It need not be a resolution but more of a goal.  For example, I would like to write at least once a week, it is my goal versus something I will resolve to do.  Resolution suggests obligation, goal suggests working towards a successful outcome.  If I can write twice or three times in a week that is a bonus.  If something happens and I am unable to write one week, perhaps I can recycle a previous post or just give myself a break.  It works best if I set myself up to succeed versus creating stringent guidelines and rules.  That is my way and what works for me.  Something else might work for you, though all I can say is set yourself up to succeed so you feel good about what you reflect on at the end of 2014.  Be forgiving if something falls by the wayside and if you have to change things up half way through the year, that is okay too!  Happy New Year to you and best wishes for a joyous and successful 2014.  Thank you for reading this blog!

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