Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I always have done in the past simply because I like to start the new year with a plan. I like the idea of a fresh start, that whatever happened last year is past and that the best is still to come.
That last sentence has become more important as I have reached and sailed past retirement age. Too many of my friends want to live in the past; too many of the next generation want to put me in the past, but I still want to live my best life. I don’t want to hang around waiting to die; I want to live while I have life left in me.
The thing that convinced me to make a list of resolutions is in the photo above. A bench overlooking a reservoir. The footpath was empty; there were no cars on the road, and we walked in companionable silence for an hour or so. I’m slow, I need walking aids, but I have never stopped loving walking amongst the trees.
The birds, twittering or startled by my arrival, the wind rustled the leaves so that the trees seemed to whisper to each other. The glint of water in the distance adds to the magic. Then we came across the seat, I wished we’d bought a flask of coffee or the little gas stove so that we could stop for a while and dream our dreams with a hot drink. If I want more of those moments in my life, I am going to plan to have them.
The wood burner in our sitting room is broken; the fix is not straightforward, and we have struggled to find a builder with time to do the job. We have a gas fire that uses bottled gas meant for emergencies. It is no substitute for the fire.This situation has gone on for a long time.
Over Christmas we had promised ourselves a couple of weeks doing nothing much, so the heating situation suddenly became an issue. I, of course, reacted to this with childish petulance, complaining that it was too cold to sit around. I bundled myself in blankets and complained if I needed to move for any reason.
Steve forced me into the car. He told me to work or to come for a walk. Of course, he didn’t say that so bluntly. He is much more understanding than that, but the implication was there.
We went to a local reservoir and had to ourselves and then went for a late lunch. Needless to say, the world was a better place when we returned, and I knew I needed to get out more often. In fact, I knew I needed plans, with a Plan B when Plan A failed.
Once motivated, we found solutions for the heating and looked for someone who could install a new fireplace. We both felt better; the cold doesn’t seem as bad when it’s back to being temporary. I am back in my warm study working, but we will spend time together when the fire is fixed.
I need New Year’s resolutions so I can control my life and not be defeated by circumstances, and I am accountable if they are here and published. The next problem is what resolutions to settle upon.
The problem in the past has been unrealistic expectations. Getting thin and running a marathon, for example, I long for both. The first has been on my list for 40 years, and it’s never happened, and since I need a walker for any distance of 500 metres or more, the second is unlikely. Write a novel every month and earn a million euros, likewise this is theoretically possible but would need some kind of miracle to achieve. Those are the type of resolution I am determined to get rid of.
So this year I have made a pre-New Year resolution to be practical and to set achievable goals, including those involving less productive work, not more. I am planning for moments when I have time to stand and stare.
Resolutions
Writing,
Finish my current WIP and complete the next book on my list. “I am nervous about that as it is not a crime novel. More about that in the future.
Improve the formatting and create the hardbacks of the Camino Murders series. Put them into Amazon’s virtual voice audio. More about that in a future blog.
Learn to make short videos
Blog more frequently simply by planning them in advance.
Gradually increase marketing efforts.
Health and fitness and home life
Go for a walk five times a week, and make at least one of those walks include a place that I can stop for coffee and fill my mind with the sounds of nature, and sight of God’s creation.
Lose the weight I have put on over Christmas (I haven’t checked, I am assuming a weight gain.) plus 5 kilos. This is because my blood pressure is a bit too high and will mean I can avoid taking more tablets. It is not an attempt to be thin for vanity’s sake. That was never on the cards.
Spend more time gardening, and less time writing. I hope this can be achieved by organising my time better, not by racing around like a mad thing. There is something magical about having your hands in the soil, and that’s when I get the ideas for stories or solve plot problems.
We have been experimenting with planning meals and cooking only once a week. We cook everything from scratch, which is time-consuming, and sometimes time constraints mean we don’t make healthy choices. With a plan in place, the hard work and thinking is done. This means that either of us can get meals ready, and it frees up my time.
One day-trip a month even if the weather is vile. Putting it on the calendar and then going whatever else comes up.
Hobbies and Crafts
Finish all WIPs
Clear my mending, recycling pile.
There is a year’s work in those; no need to add anything else.
That is it for now if I think of anything more, I’ll edit it in.
What about you? Do you have resolutions if so why. If you don’t, why not?
Abigail Thorne 