W E L C O M E , 2 0 1 6 !
Elsie had me up at 7am on the morning of the 1st, and so I watched as the 2016 dawned bright and frosty. It felt as though winter had finally remembered that it’s supposed to be crisp and cold, and not as rainy and grey as it’s been throughout the end of the previous year.
Our first day of 2016 began in exactly the same way that almost every day in 2015 had done- with a walk, of course!
Jason and I had hosted a very chilled out dinner at ours the night before (just family, my best friend Jo, and several bottles of fizz), and so woke up a little bleary-eyed on the morning of the 1st.
Jo and I left Jason on puppy-duty (a role that involves hyper vigilance, a lot of saying ‘no…’, and also some deliciously cosy cuddles too), and headed out with the main man…
We’ve been holed up at home the past few days with the pup, so getting out with Teddy and blowing the cobwebs away felt so lovely. Also, getting some distance from all the delicious food that seems to be on hand 24/7 at the moment is probably pretty good too…
Jo and I stomped our way through the mud on my usual route through the woods, talking over the goals for the year ahead.
I decided at the start of 2015 not to set myself up on the first day of the month with a whole host of New Year’s resolutions, that I’d inevitably struggle to succeed at and then feel guilty about for the rest of the year. Instead, I tried to focus on the little mantra ‘I am enough’.
It wasn’t always easy to keep in mind, since comparison and self criticism tend to be so very easy to come by, but on the whole, I think it was a pretty good mindset to begin the new year with.
I’ll be trying to keep to it again this year.
Continue to plug away and work hard at the the things that matter most to me in the world, and focus on improving my organisation and productivity, too, but remember always that simple affirmation of ‘enough-ness’.
So, my friends, here’s to another beautiful year. Full of happiness, and contentment, and progression, and adventures, and, of course, peaceful walks in the forest.