New Outlook 2018
I had 2 Christmases with Charlie’s family, and none with mine. This Christmas coupled this cruel twist of fate with my attendance of 2 funerals in the month of December, so it hasn’t been the most pleasant month.
For my nuclear family though, this Christmas was a good one.
We are all enjoying the new activity of basketball, thanks to a large structure erected with much care by Charlie and his extensive toolkit late Christmas Eve. We have games and sporting equipment designed to bring us together to play. We have time to spend together, and our home has become more fun for all with the gifts we added.
We all did our part cleaning up on Christmas Eve, and each child had a meltdown before the big day (which like releasing a pressure valve, seems to make explosion less likely on the day). Both gatherings went fairly smoothly, despite Chip and Dale hardly eating anything. I didn’t bust a gut trying to engage with the in-laws, or the family members of my husband, who we never see unless it’s Christmas, and the energy I saved was able to be directed at my own children to enjoy the new activities we could do.
It’s a bit of a relief to concentrate on my own family so much. Having always been such a social person, who desired lots of interaction with others, I’m finding myself getting more reclusive and insular as I get older. Being honestly amazed about how freeing that is, I find myself planning to do things for myself too.
So this coming year I have plans. Plans for me, for my family, and plans to enhance my own life, to in turn enhance theirs. I also hope to have a positive influence on others’ lives, just by following my passions and sharing them.
Here are my goals for the year:
1. Write every day.
2. Do photography, video or editing every day.
3. Play a game (sport or board) with the kids every day.
4. Look after myself.
5. Put love into my cooking, even though I don’t like cooking.
6. Make plans. Plans to do things the family wants to do. Even big things.
7. Remind myself of these plans regularly.
So here they are, sent out into the vast internet space, in the little corner I set aside for sharing my writing and photography.
What are your plans this year?
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Please be respectful of others at all times. We are all on different journeys.
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