New Year, Same Me

“New Year, New Me” doesn’t really work because as the clock strikes 12, we don’t actually change. We may have been given a new calendar year, but we are the same people with the same problems and the same bad habits.

I don’t mean to put a damper on the new year. I for one love the blank slate, fresh start idea. However, I also believe in realism. Don’t expect a new year to bring all the good into your life – you still have to work for it.

2017 was a beefy weird year for me. I can’t decide whether it was “good” or not. Helpful or not. I mean, yes of course it was helpful, if anything, it showed me what I don’t want and what I shouldn’t do.

Despite the confusion, there are a few things that 2017 did bring me that are note worthy, important, fantastic, or grown-inspiring that I’m sharing here to show myself (if nobody else) that even though life may seem dull or unproductive, when you look back, a lot of worthy sh*t actually happened…

I became a lover of Chinese food
I republished and revamped the Eternity series
I wrote a book that I didn’t publish
I spoke at a motivational seminar
I freelanced
I went to South Africa
I went on a quad bike safari
I went on a normal African safari
I went to France
I left Argos
I got a full time writing job
I became a more confident driver
I had a fun summer
I moved into a new room
I quit jobs
I started plotting and writing the new book series I hope to pursue next year and the years to come
I started the process of moving in with my partner
I rode a horse
I learnt some Shona
I ate octopus
I developed my YouTube channel
I was interviewed
I hosted a Goodreads giveaway
I went for Japanese afternoon tea
I made new friends
I had good nights out
I sold things online
I read nearly 30 books
I went in the sea (in Durban in South Africa)
I went rage kart driving
I went air rifle shooting
I started to love curry
I withdrew my self-help book with the intention to republish it better next year
I went to watch Jeremy Kyle live (and potentially will be on tv)
I lived like a local in South Africa
I started The Write Way
I had my 2nd anniversary
I explored France
I did Halloweeny stuff
I did Christmassy stuff
I met baby cousin for the first time (first baby in the family)
I went to my baby cousin’s christening
I have blood
I had hair changes
I went to the sea life centre
I met my brother’s girlfriend
I wrote about a third of the third book in the Eternity series
I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
I decided to bet on myself.

There’s a lot that I’ve done this year. Though some things may be small and potentially meaningless to other people, they were significant to me and my development. I’m living, I can see that now, and that’s what counts most of all.

Last year my motto was “More”. I think that put a lot of pressure on me but yes, I guess, I did do “more”.

This year, my motto is simple – “It’s time…”