Happy 2024!
I hope that your year is off to a great start!
Mine is, mostly anyway. The beginning of a new year is a funny thing. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt this way, but for me a new year can feel … like a lot of pressure?
That isn’t a popular opinion, most people I know don’t feel that way. But for me, as someone with anxiety, a new year brings with it a lot of messaging that I find stress provoking. New goals, new plans, new resolutions, new outlook. Healthier, happier, less of this or more of the other. Buy this plan, buy the new organizer, return this thing and buy 10 more of something else to replace it with. You need these things, they will make you better! They will make you an improved version of last year. More organized, healthier, less distracted, more productive. I mean…you didn’t finish your Goodreads challenge last year, need to get a start now. You didn’t meet your walking steps for your iwatch, why are you so slow? That to-do list looks long, and it isn’t going to finish itself. You need to speed up, or you won’t get to where you need to be by 2025.
Umm. Where is that exactly?
Sometimes I just want peace. To dial back the expectations. To say to myself that it’s ok. That just because the calendar changed, it doesn’t have to change everything about my life. It also doesn’t mean I now have to perform at a new level immediately. My goals are where I left them in 2023. And they’ll be there waiting for me in 2024, to approach and work on in the way that feels right and in their own time.
These are the things I tell myself as this new year begins. If you’re excited about the energy the new year brings and ready to attack your goals, that’s great! But if the idea of resolutions stresses you out like it does me, know you’re not alone. If you feel overwhelmed by new year goals, it’s ok. This will still be an amazing year for you. It doesn’t have to be all at once, and it doesn’t have to be perfect right away. But it will definitely, eventually, be all right for you.
I hope that your year has started off in a way that makes you joyful, that you are having a relaxing day, and that you feel great about yourself and your goals as this new year begins.
I’m trying to spend more time today enjoying and less time badgering myself about what I’m already behind on 😬
Be happy,
-Winter
Winter Betancourt 
Hi,
Happy New Year
My Like doesn’t seem to register, but count me in,
The pressure – anxiety too. Last year involved major expense, but at last- we have a decent water supply. Sick of all appeals being rejected – we have two local authorities – one being a national park, I stuck my scaredy cat neck out an appealed to government, detailedn submission to the right Ministry, suggesting that we really, really needed a decent water supply and storage.
In a surreal turn of events, we accepted an enforcement order – exactly what we’d hoped for. Not having water is really bad for people’s health. Pity the authorities weren’t footing the bill, but at last, friends and family can stay…even in summer.
No more badgering myself, and on Saturday, hopefully, a day out with friends – in search of Brisingamen, postponed thanks to the killer cold.
Esther
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I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been! I’m glad to hear you got it sorted out, it’s really hard dealing with bureaucracy sometimes isn’t it? 😦 I’m wishing a smooth 2024 for you and your family, and a lot of opportunities for visits now that the water is fixed!! 🙂
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