The last day of the year

It's traditional to look back over the last year on New Year's Eve - to revisit the highs and lows of the previous twelve months.

For some of you reading this post, 2014 will have been a year you'd rather forget. My wish for you is that 2015 will be a less painful time and that there will be glimmers of light in the darkness you're currently experiencing.

Others will be reading this feeling rather chuffed at all they've achieved, bouyed up by celebrations held with family and friends to mark momentous life moments.

Me? Well, I'm not going to look back. Not for long, anyway. There have been some wonderful moments and there have been some not so good moments, but on balance - I'd say it was a pretty good year.

What the turn of the year gives is an opportunity to change things that lay within my power to change. And for that reason, I'm going to look forward, not back - because there is something rather big I want to change. About myself.

I've decided I spend too much time procrastinating. Since I gave up working about eighteen months ago, I don't have a particular routine. I tend to do what I want, when I want, (within the bounds of family and school and housework etc) which isn't always very helpful; it's too easy to put off 'til tomorrow (or the day after, or the day after that) something that needs/ought to be done.

So in 2015, I'm going to make a real effort to do the things I keep saying I'll do but don't. I'm going to set myself targets for publication of Granny Rainbow 2 and StarMark. I'm going to write new material, come what may. I'm also going to ensure that my hall, stairs and landing get decorated after the insulation work we're planning is completed; redecorate my dining room once the stove is fitted; ensure we get a family holiday in the summer and meet up with friends and family I've not seen for ages, because you never know what's around the corner.

Above all, I'm going to push myself to keep DOING...not just let things happen.

There may be trouble ahead...who knows? But in the meantime, I'm going to do my best to enjoy 2015 so that I don't get to the end of it saying 'Where's the time gone?'

So as the old year dies and the new one leaps up, full of promise, I'm not going to wish you 'Happy New Year'. Instead, I'm going to wish you 'Hope, Health and Love.'

Because when you've got those, you can face anything that 2015 throws at you.