New year…same old me
I must admit, the whole “New Year, new me” thing really irritates me. Just like when you reach a milestone birthday…you’re not really a whole lot different once the clock strikes midnight – but people tend to make a deal of it. And yet, I do find those few days between Christmas and NYE (when nobody knows what day it is, what time it is, or if they’ve actually reached a lethal limit in food intake yet) to naturally encourage me to reflect on the past year – please note that usually I would put this down to an extreme and intense case of the fear (induced by alcohol, lack of exercise and overconsumption of sugar), but this Christmas has been a bit different, and I’m still spending an unwarranted amount of time navel gazing.
This year I am spending Christmas and NYE in one of my favourite places in the whole world, in south Thailand – the best thing you can do with yourself, if you are in any way curious, and just so you know, wearing a bikini for the best part of Christmas day, does tend to curb the over eating (somewhat). So I have escaped the usual ten nights out in a row and most of the eating and drinking to excess, and spent some time with family and close friends…and yet I am still almost looking forward to a fresh start in January – new journal ordered (I’m a stationery freak, among my other attractive qualities), business plan for 2018 in the pipeline and already booking flights as my calendar is filling up.
My 2016 was about as great as the endless memes that likened it to the end of the world, so 2017 was better by a mile (it wasn’t hard!) – it really has been a great year, although primarily focused on work and study, my social life has been left to slide somewhat. I read once that balance is possible – be that work/life balance, being health conscious, spending enough time with family etc – but just maybe not all at once. There will be years where study or work are at the forefront, as you build your career, other stages where sleep is lacking and family takes precedent and so on. Have you found the balance of your life slip predominantly in one direction over the last few years? Whatever stage of life you’re in, it’s pretty likely that something has taken over, to the detriment of either your health, family or friends. Have you reached the end of one stage, with the next on the horizon? This year I will be doing my best to make up the balance of fun that may have been over looked over the past two years…so 2018, please hurry up!
