I have to confess that for the last few years I have pretty much given up on the new year's resolution thing. It seemed a bit pointless when we were in the grip of Covid lockdowns and the like. The world had changed and to be honest, my commitment to exercise more, or eat fewer carbs seemed somewhat trivial in the light of a global existential crisis.
Having said that, though, the new year is an opportunity to reset to some extent, to refocus before the busy dayliness of everyday life kicks in and squeezes out any intentions to make things a little bit different or better as time ticks by.
I know for many of you, and for me as well, the last few years have been somewhat fraught for a number of reasons. But if there is one thing the last few years have taught me, its that life is short and consequently we don't have time to faff around with things that ultimately are unimportant. I recently did a Myers Briggs personality test (again). For those of you who are familiar, I am an INFJ type (Advocate). Reading the blurb about the personality type reinforced so many things I already knew about myself, and affirmed the ways I can be true to my real self and live my best life. So, the following is a list of things I intend focusing on as the year progresses.
Friends: According to the Myers Briggs assessment, I am happy with a small number of close friends who are authentic and who I can be real with. Spot on. And those of you whom I seek out to follow up on any kind of regular basis can count yourself as one of those authentic friends. Still, I accept that I could easily seek out my friends more often, so I will endeavour to do that more this year.
Self care: I know I am going to sound ageist, but millennials seem to not have as much of a problem with this as those of us who are a wee bit older. I, on the other hand am prone to people pleasing which can lead to me over-extending myself in terms of committing my time and energy to an agenda that is not my own. I will still need to do this to some extent but I need to ensure that I am doing things that nurture my soul as much as looking after others.
My home: About 8 and a half years ago, we moved to Cashmere - a leafy suburb in the North West area of Brisbane. For some reason the amount of time I have spent in the outdoors, with the creatures who hang out in the beautiful large trees around my house has reduced over the years. So this year, I am determined to spend more time outside communing with nature and hopefully making excursions to other natural places in my area.
5. Not sweating the small stuff. Like I said, we spend so much time worrying about stuff that in the big scheme of things doesn't matter at all. I need to accept that I can't be perfect and commit my time and energy to my strengths, whilst ensuring that I don't get entangled up in stuff that in years to come, no one is going to care about, least of all me.
Fulfilling my purpose: Myers Briggs has it that I would like my life to play out according to my purpose. This year, I intend to do that in whatever way I can, and reinforce my strong belief in eco-feminism - the need to preserve the wild planet we live on by means of dismantling patriarchy.
Get on with it: the older I get the less time I have to waste. There are things I want to get on and do, so I will get on and do them to the best of my ability this year. We can only achieve something if we make a start.
I encourage you to do the same kind of list...based on what you know about you, rather than what you think would make other people happy or impress them. If you'd like to investigate your personality type, you can do so for free at https://www.16personalities.com/. If you need some time and space to deeply reflect on what you want for the year ahead, maybe you might like to attend the first scheduled retreat of the year as below:
