Less rushing, more rest

It’s the first day of 2020 and I had every intention of writing a blog today. Something meaningful and interesting that would be fitting for the first day of not only a new year, but a new decade as well.

I had every intention of writing a list of resolutions for the year also – not a long list but rather a few simple notes that were important to me for the coming 365 days, and generally.

Instead I did neither. In fact I did not much of anything at all. I finally put my feet up for an hour or two and read a book – the first time I have relaxed this holiday break. The lead up to Christmas was the usual crazy time and then the few days between then and this new year I have spent in a frenzied state attempting to declutter the house and the office before the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. I was even shredding old papers last night at 11.30 pm when I realised I had forgotten to do so. Today I got up and felt like I had hit the wall. So I took some time out. I read a book for an hour or two, which is just about one of my favourite things in the world to do but which I never seem to have time for. Then, at the time when I had intended writing the blog, I visited a friend instead, and when I got back, instead of going to the laptop, I watched some light TV. Now it’s an hour and a half before the second day of this new year enters and suddenly all I want to do is go to bed.

So there is no interesting and meaningful blog to be written today. But perhaps that is the whole point. How many of us push ourselves to do things until we are absolutely exhausted and have nothing left to give?

Some of us will have written our New Year’s resolutions down, others of us won’t have. It doesn’t matter. I know what is important to me this year and I don’t need to write it all down, or at least not today. The sky won’t fall in if I don’t make a plan on the first of the month. So I will post this blog and perhaps finish it tomorrow but the resolutions could go something like this.

Lighten up. Don’t push myself so hard, it doesn’t matter if I don’t get it all done right this second.

Cultivate more compassion and less judgment.

Be kind to all living things, to the planet, to myself.

Laugh more. Stress less.

Go to bed earlier!

Spend more time in nature. Make time for meditation.

Spread as much love as possible.

Trust that we are all becoming part of a more loving, kind and compassionate world.

Choose peace. Happy 2020. May it be wonderful for us all.