 Happy Twixmas… Joyous Crimbo Limbo (one of the best ads of the season: explains it all) Never a more legitimate excuse to watch TV and eat chocolate, so all the more impressed and thrilled with myself was I this morning when I felt the urge to put down the remote and instead write to you with my good tidings. I have to keep the spirit going because, like a Hobbit with breakfasts, I still have Second Christmas to look forward to (one of the joys of being divorced with children). But between then and now, there’s the little matter of NEW YEAR’S EVE. Written in capitals to emphasis it’s over-hype (and often accompanying anti-climax)… Yet still as good a time as any for a little reflection and figuring out what I’d like to focus on in the coming year. I’m not sorry to kiss 2017 goodbye – Not that I want to wish my time away but this last year rather floundered and flopped… Truth is, I’m not sure how present I was in it, so no surprise it whizzed by without me. Did I make new years resolutions last January? If so, I don’t even remember them. Probably the old stand-bys: eat less, exercise more, be happier. Vague and ill-defined, uninspiring and quickly forgotten. So – let’s try again, shall we? Wait… is this just a futile annual exercise inevitably leading to disappointment? Perhaps. I tell myself I’m going to do all sorts of stuff that I never actually finish or follow-through on - all the time, not just at new years… September: resume my strict dietary regime post Hawaii (binge) Adventure – um… pass the M&S mini chocolate bites would you? October: create weekly blog posts – ha! Sadly you can see for yourself November: write for an hour at 6am every morning – that lasted 6 days December: be organized and ready for Christmas before the 25th – I’ve still got bloody presents to wrap and my office Secret Santa to deliver – no guesses there! My therapist says I have a problem with boundaries… that’s why I keep moving the goal posts for myself and I let shit slide, despite my good intentions. I’ve put it on my list of things to work on but… So you might think that my making resolutions is a total waste of time, but I figure if I aim for nothing, then that’s all I have a chance of getting. At least if I try, something might stick?! Shoot for the moon and all that… I know about setting goals – I help people set them for a living (yes, I see the irony). So I know they have to be specific and engaging, actionable and result orientated – and (very importantly) written down. My first ever column post was all about setting goals. (Awww, Bless!) - from a long time ago. And of course, publicly declaring your goals can be helpful too, in terms of accountability, so here goes. In 2018 I am going to: #1 Play More Sometimes I feel so middle-aged I could cry. Nothing to do with the wrinkles and sun-damage but the heavy, boring weight that has no relation to how much chocolate I eat but the burden of responsibility and grown-up, real world living – reality I think they call it. Laughter, joy, joking and creating are the anti-dote. So I intend to make time EVERY DAY for some silly, inconsequential, creative fun – doing shit that makes me laugh or get excited, just for the sake of.  Like the fluffy unicorns. OMG I loved seeing these guys every day – ridiculous presents bought for my Writing Group gal-pals a whole month before Crimbo, just so I could hang out with their cute little selves for as long as poss.  #2 Consume Less I have a fear of lack… Somewhere I’m terrified that I will have to do without, miss out, be left empty-handed. I’m pretty sure it’s this that fuels the hoarding – and the crazy buying sprees I launch into every time I’m away from Bermuda and the prices seem reasonable. I buy shit just because I can afford to. But that is CRAZY, because trust me: I HAVE ENOUGH!!! (Well, as we’ve established, WAY MORE than enough!) So, like Ann Patchett (see earlier facebook post) the consuming has got to stop! Can I really go a whole year without shopping? Umm… let’s start with a month – good timing as the credit card is maxed out anyway – and we’ll go from there. Plus – NO MORE FOOD WASTE. I over-buy at the grocery store too. My plan is to empty the cupboards and the freezer – use it all up, and even though it’s Bermuda and stuff goes off faster than Trumps twitter feed, my aim is to not let anything go to waste… which means more organized meal plans, shopping trips and an end to Fridge Jenga – my fun game of stacking the refrigerator so full that you have to catch things from dropping every time you open the door – and it’s so stuffed that you don’t even see the molding zucchini at the back of the shelf until 3 sloppy months later. #3 Tidy Up This is the year. I suspect I am actually a minimalist at heart, the idea of throwing everything in my house away fills me with a mixture of thrill and panic. I swear by the Marie Condo method – it really worked wonders on my wardrobe (apart from all the new stuff I’ve just bought on this trip!) but I got a bit stuck on the books and so lost momentum.  But the plan is to go back and tackle the rest. I’m giving myself six months. I want to have my mid-year Christmas party ‘Yuly’ – which you are all invited to of course - and I want the house to be sorted by then. The freedom from ‘stuff’ is so enticing I hope that, category-by-category and day-by-day, I will finally get it done. And of course I will eat less, exercise more and be happy… but that goes without saying.
What about you???? What are your resolutions for 2018? What do you want to focus on… Have happen… Bring to the world? Dare to share your hopes and aspirations here for the coming year – and we can keep each other posted on our progress, ok? Enjoy the Taint (he-he!) and here's to a happy, healthy (joyful, free and tidy) New Year!!
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