New year and no new resolutions

January is often seen as a month to endure, to make new plans for self-improvement and then berate yourself for failing to live up to. All because of an arbitrary date in the calendar that sees the number of the year go up by one.

A wall calendar showing the dates for one month


My thoughts on making resolutions

I'm afraid that I don't understand, or I opted out many years ago. Why are new year's resolutions a thing? Did someone just wake up one morning and decide 'I know, I'll make everyone feel guilty and rubbish about themselves by encouraging them to set themselves impossible goals that they will never succeed in keeping to for more than a few weeks'? And why are so many of them focused on weight loss? Literally the day after Christmas, the adverts on the radio changed from 'Here's loads of really unhealthy food, but you should eat it because it's Christmas', to 'Here's an advert for weight loss jabs, you fat loser' (and the voiceover was a woman, so clearly intended for a female market, which is another thing that really made me annoyed). Ok, so I may be paraphrasing slightly, but you get my point! It seems ridiculous to me... I'm not saying we should never try to make changes in our lives, but I think it should be at a time of year of our choosing, or just because we want to anyway, not because of the calendar and the fact that 'everyone else is doing it' then.



And guess what? I decided that I am not going to be dictated to by the calendar or by society. I (like the little rebel that I am!) decided that rather than try to make myself do new things and then feel bad for not achieving them, I would try to continue to do the things that I have done before, to hunker down and be kind to myself through the winter, to hopefully emerge in the spring better equipped to think about and maybe attempt some changes. I'm basically going to be a human hedgehog - hibernating (or not doing as much) during the winter, to emerge blinking (and a little spiky perhaps!) in the spring, ready to carry on and do new things.

How it's going so far

The weeks since term started have very much been spent getting back into the rhythm of term-time, early morning starts and helping my daughter with her school and homework timetable. It's been about making sure we have tasty food in the freezer, conservation of energy, and allowing myself to rest. I've had days where I have done lots of things (such as clean out and rearrange the kitchen cupboards), and days where I have done a lot less. What I haven't done is decide that I need to start an exercise regime or change my diet or other daily habits. I'm not saying that those are bad things, but I find it so hard to incorporate changes into my routine at any time of year,  that I would not even consider attempting something so challenging at a time of year which I traditionally struggle with anyway. It would be setting myself up to fail and then would probably mean a return to my depression making me think that I was a stupid or rubbish person.

As it happens, at the moment I feel that I am in a fairly good place. I am still using the Finch app to help me to stay on top of tasks around the house, and I also use it to remind me to do other things that I would otherwise forget. It gives me just enough of a dopamine boost each time I get rewards in the app that I want to keep going with it. I am enjoying running the toddler group this term and am feeling more optomistic about it gaining more members. And I have been working very hard (and pretty much finished) writing my first party plan for what I hope to be an Etsy business selling ready made plans for craft parties for 3-8 year olds. It'll probably be a while in the making, but watch this space....

So there you have it. If anyone wants me, I'll be adding to my partially finished crochet blanket (which is already keeping me very snuggly while I work on it), or enjoying many cups of tea and reading one of the interesting books I had for Christmas.


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