The New Year is just a week old and I know from experience, that many use the start of a New Year for New Year’s resolutions. For some reason that has always made me giggle and I have never quite understood that “tradition”. If I want to do something, I do not want to wait for a certain time or date, I simply do it – even if in all honesty, it doesn’t always work out. But I have always seen the waiting for New Year as a great excuse to procrastinate what most will not do or see through anyway. I remember very well when I decided to stop smoking (took me long enough) and it was December 16th many moons ago and a friend asked me why I don’t wait until the New Year to stop. The question bewildered me. I just wanted to stop so why should I have continued smoking for another two weeks, especially as I would probably not have quit then.
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But I seem to have started my own tradition since last year and I did not even do it deliberately, it just somehow happened.
I love challenges! And just like this blog started with my Rejection Challenge, it continued last year on January 3rd with my Poetry Challenge – reading a poem on my YouTube channel every day of the year and adding a song (or a few songs) to every poem on my “Poetry Love” playlist – which was amazing and became such an important and beautiful part of my day. So when that was over I was asked and asked myself what I would do next, and even if I wanted to do anything else next. I had a few ideas that I was mulling over in my head but only after chatting about them with a dear friend did a clearer idea take form and without much further thinking about it I put it into action – hoping I will not regret this one…
So with the new year I started a new challenge. Im my last blog entry I said that I intend to make the best of 2021, being as happy as humanly possible. Does that count as a New Year’s resolution? Perhaps it is in a way. My new challenge is very simple and yet not easy. I want to do something joyful, pleasant and/or mindful every day of the year 2021. I have always been able to find all of these things in the small things that I see or do. Admittedly at some point I was struggling with that in the past year and was sometimes even afraid I had lost that ability. But I haven’t! It is all still there and I just need to open my eyes and my heart to all of the good and beautiful things around me, which I will share on a daily base on my YouTube channel.
This is a lot more challenging than my Poetry Challenge of 2020. There I had something in my hands, something to read from and this year I just share something more personal. Let’s see how it goes and I have the first few day’s under my belt already, still feeling a bit insecure. You might ask why I am doing this and I ask myself the same question. The answer is quite simple. I do it for me. It let’s me appreciate my life, my day and those wonderful everyday things more than ever. In these more than strange and very difficult times we are living in, we sometimes overlook the little joy’s and I just made a choice for myself to make them visible.
I was also challenged by one of my watchers to again start a playlist with my new challenge. He asked me to choose happy, uplifting and inspiring music that makes you want to dance and move. I will do my best to do exactly that, but will make no promises as every day is different.
But back to New Year’s resolutions. I do understand that for many it is an opportunity to start something new, perhaps something different with a clean slate. But being the creatures that we are, we tend to indulge in high expectations towards ourselves and others, but especially ourselves. We make all these great plans and perhaps even make grand gestures without thinking them through to the end. Often these New Year’s resolutions are more New Year’s wishful thinking. I do believe it is great to have plans, dreams and goals. It is also important to do something that will make you accountable so you actually do see it through. Setting a goal too high can be a kill-joy and can cause more frustration than anything else. If you have a big goal, make sure you break it down into doable smaller ones and be kind to yourself if you miss one or the other – just don’t give up.
Having said that I have set the tone for my 2021. So whether or not you have made any New Year’s resolutions or just have new plans and goals for this year, have fun doing it and always take into considerations that plans and goals may change in the course of a year!
MY JOURNEY 
Here here on consigning Resolutions to the dust bin, for which I have long done.
I have never seen the point of making grand declarations in the face of annual ritualism for whom the vast majority ends up never being achieved. setting oneself up for failure is not a healthy thing when you will look inward as the year progresses and you know you failed in your own declaration. I believe in aspirations, even goals but let not they be lofty.
Challenges are much healthier way of achieving things in life, the mantra of reaffirmation to oneself in the challenge provided the platform for which one can change the mindset and rise to success. Humans need a sense of achievement we need output in order to have input, we need to be productive and succeeding in our personal goals in life is critical to our self validation and knowing that we can do.. but as you have said Tanja it is also crucial not to judge yourself if you do not succeed. there are enough people out there doing that for us anyway.
I was challenged recently by a friend to write down 100 things I want to do in life, I was scared by that as 100 seemed way too big and unreal. So I wrote a much smaller list for myself and to myself, and the first thing on this list was to breath.. Know people might think that is odd as it is something we do naturally, but for me its not, I find myself barely breathing at all at times.. so my aim is to ritualise the practise of conscious breathing throughout day.
You have talked about the little things in life as been a centre point for this new challenge and And simply noticing the beauty of our surrounding as we walk or get to look out the window is so rewarding.
I am so looking forward to this year, just to do the simple things, and I have started by celebrating the light we have everyday, stretched out by the minutes day after day and get out and walk into the dusk and wonder at beauty of the air, trees and birds. And today the cacophony of children sledging done th little hills in our woods. The dream of swimming in open waters agin in summer, I can’t wait.. simplicity is the key to everything.
grand gestures are not the bedrock of anything we do, delivering the basics in life consistently is what gives us the base where trust, belief, happiness and commitment in family, friendship and relationships are built on.
So Tanja, here here to your new challenge and the beautiful simplicity of it.
David.
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Thank you David
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