Looking forward…
Well, here we are and it’s 2025. The older I get, the more I’m amazed by how quickly time flies. In a month it will be 25 years since I started down my current career path. Absolutely wild because in some ways I still feel that young and in other ways, wow, do I feel old!
I find it interesting how many self-help gurus are all over social media. These days their message seems to be all about being in the present, not living in the past or spending all of your time looking to the future. I understand the concept but, with last week’s blog, Looking Back, I shared the importance of reviewing what’s gone before. For one thing, we have a tendency to remake the same mistakes if we don’t take the time to learn. For another, I think it’s helpful to be reminded of all that you’ve accomplished over a course of time. And for a third, looking back leads to making plans for the future. I believe in looking forward.
I’m looking forward this week. 2025 is a big year in a lot of ways for me, personally. As I wrote above, it will mark 25 years of my career with this company. It also is the 25th anniversary of friendships that have been highlights in my life. As I’m Catholic, it’s a Jubilee year for the Church, which will be filled with celebration and reflection. It’s the year my son turns 30, which feels like a big milestone. It’s the fourth anniversary of my arrival in this house and I’ve decided it’s the year when it becomes less “making it a home” and more “feeling at home”. AND, it’s the year that I can retire.
This blog started as a way to chronicle the move into this house and the renovations and changes needed. It was also intended as a method for me to prepare and consider retirement. What it ended up doing was showing me how much I want to write, how important writing is to me and how many stories I have to tell. I’m probably going to reduce my blogs from weekly to biweekly or monthly. It’s not that I don’t have a lot to say, it’s that I’m trying to make room for my future. I want to devote time to the stories that need to come to the light of day. With my work schedule and the work I continue to do on my life and home, I’m finding that I am not taking the time to write. I need to and that is my one resolution for this year. I will make the time to sit and develop the characters and stories that are filling my mind.
I have no other resolutions. I have goals and plans but not purposeful changes to who or what I am. I find resolutions can be demoralizing when they are made and broken. It’s wonderful if you can develop a new habit and see it through and hopefully, I will succeed with some improvements. I am not though, going to put the pressure of a broken resolution on my shoulders this year. Instead I am going to concentrate on bringing my best to every day.
What does that mean? It means that every day, regardless of how I feel, I am going to do the absolute best I can. Sometimes that’s going to look like I am a rock star. Everything will get done from my “to do” list and I will give presentations that make me look incredible. Sometimes that’s going to be showing up at meetings and sitting quietly with little to add. It might be that I have a day where I need four cups of tea to make it through. It could be a day with great intentions but only about 70% of the work is completed. That’s what bringing my best means to me. I live in a world where there are no super heroes. It’s just regular people, like me, who give what they have in them each day. I really have to recognize that the compassion I give to others is warranted within myself.
That leads into my idea of self-improvement for 2025. [You may have hear of “Thrive in 25” and this is my version.] I would like to focus on self-care this year. That does not equal “it’s all about me”. In my mind, that’s one of the problems with our world today. Me. Me. Me. Not thinking of anyone else. That is not how I see self-care. I believe that when we take care of ourselves we are better able to help others. When we acknowledge that there will be hard days and easy days, we are role models for others. I recognize that sometimes I can’t do everything. This is particularly difficult as I feel I have to always be “on”. The reality is, normal people can’t do it all. We need sleep and food and peace and fresh air. When we don’t take that, we end up stressed or irritable or sick or all of that. The sooner I accept that doing my best is good enough, the better off I will feel and the best of me will be available.
I have so much to look forward to this year. Some of it is fantastic. Some is scary. Some is sad. Some is exciting. There is a pretty good chance one aspect of my life is ending and, with hard work and some luck, a new adventure is starting. What a thrill to look forward!
It’s transition time in the house! Christmas has been put away and I’m bringing out the whites, blues and silvers that I use over wintertime to bring light to my home!