New Year; New You?

Who gets to January and thinks yey, it’s a new year…that means a new me?  Or who gets to January and thinks I just can’t be bothered with a new year’s resolution; they never come to anything and the thought of another failure is just too much?  I think I fall somewhere in the middle.  I tend to avoid making a new year’s resolution but am always excited about the prospects of a new year and the exciting times it might hold.

However, I do think it’s incredibly valuable to have goals in our lives and things we want to work towards.  As a mother, I have had to relearn what it means to have an achievable goal.  It is so different to pre-motherhood.  I remember in the early days when Poppi was tiny and I had just started maternity leave I would think to myself…right, a totally free day.  No music groups, no breastfeeding workshops, no plans arranged.  And so I’d make a list.  Get up early and go to the gym, clean (the entire house), do the food shop, feed the 5000, get the sewing machine out and sew Poppi a blanket, make cards for upcoming birthdays, read some of my book/magazines, enjoy a cup of tea etc etc.  You get the idea.  Too many times did I get to the end of the day and not one single thing had been crossed off.  Poppi didn’t nap, I was exhausted and couldn’t bring myself to do anything, she’d have an explosive nappy as I was about to leave the house, other things would crop up.  Initially, I was so frustrated by this and was cross with myself for not doing better. 

But, over time, I learnt.  Sometimes, to get up, to get to the end of the day with a baby that is still alive and a mother that is still functioning enough to string half a sentence together is an achievement!  I feel very much the same about a new year’s resolution.  I may not achieve all I want to this year, but let’s remember that life is a journey and every step in the right direction is one step closer to the end goal.  A desire of mine for all the years I’ve been a mother (now 4.5) is to be more patient.  Such an immeasurable goal!  How do I know I’m getting closer?  Maybe I don’t.  But, the point is I’m trying!  I can’t imagine by the end of 2020 I’ll be writing saying I’m now the most chilled, horizontal person you’ll ever meet.  But I hope, with the help of those close by, I will have taken steps on the journey of learning patience.  And surely, that’ll be better than when I started the year.

What are you working towards?  Perhaps, try telling yourself we are all a work in progress.  You mustn’t feel this is an excuse to let you off the hook.  On the contrary.  It’s an encouragement to keep you on the hook so that you don’t fall off completely by the end of January and think there is just no point.  Baby steps.  Like your little one learning to walk.  They won’t get it overnight and neither will we, but we might be a little closer if we keep picking ourselves up when we fall and walking with the goal in mind.