New Years Eve is upon us once more.
The day where we all seem to put our minds into panic mode and hope that when the clock finally strikes midnight that all will change for the better. Resolutions are made that will make us better people, mistakes of the past are sworn never to be repeated. The moment the clock strikes twelve, the fireworks commence and choruses of ’Auld Lang Syne’ are sung nationwide.
Yet not for me.
New Years eve is a day that I often hide away from. I don’t think that I have been to a big party since 2006/7. That was in London. Instead, I take the day to write a personal diary entry about the year and what it has meant for me in terms of personal achievement.
This year has, unlike many before, gone slow. When I look back to twelve months before life is certainly calmer with an aura of stability. The last few months of 2012 were a bit of a whirlwind, and I found myself clinging to a part of my life that I knew that I had to bid farewell to.
It’s been a year where there have been many tests, a lot of pressure workwise and above all significant changes in friendships and relationships. Friends arrived, friends departed, and even some acquaintances were forged once more out of adversity.
If there is one thing that I have been guilty of this year, it’s using that adage, of being ”too busy” to come home to meet friends and family. Of course, I have been back from Sweden to London a lot, but when I think of the fact that, besides this past week, I have only seen my parents for one afternoon all year makes me want to change that.
As we get older people that surround our lives, since children, becomes less and less each year. Those people that we cannot imagine our lives without suddenly are no longer there and the generations shift like feathers on an ocean.
This year was one where I had to make several adjustments in life. The comfort and stability of personal situations were no longer there. When these moments come in life we have a natural pattern of ”fight or flight”, fight for what you want or run away to feel safe a secure.
I chose to fight. I am not going to say this year has been easy, far from it. There have been days where all I wanted to do was put my tail between my legs and come home like a kicked dog. But I stuck it out, I rose to the challenges and, somehow, I ended up coming out on top.
I worked too hard in 2013. Almost to the point of exhaustion. Of course, I have been rewarded for that but at the cost where I had to make one sacrifice too many.
2014 won’t see much change for me. I will still be working hard, albeit with more relaxation inbetween. I know that I will lose and gain friends along the next twelve months just like I did this year.
I will make some great choices; I will also make some stupid mistakes and risks. But that is part of the beauty in living. We cannot plan the future, we can only live it. Living in the moment with an air of optimism is always a good way to be.
No matter what 2014 holds in store for me I will be here in one years time hiding from the fireworks and Auld Lang Syne, with a quiet whisky on the rocks smiling about the year that has just past.
If I did have to make a resolution it would be ”Don’t plan things too seriously”. For a new year is what you want it to be, there is no right or wrong way to start it.
Changes in life begin when you want them to be, on what day you want it to start. That is the beauty of life; it can change for the better at any given time.
Wherever you are, however, you have been part of my life. I wish you all a peaceful, prosperous and happy 2014!
Happy New Year!
