Friday, December 27, 2013

Thoughts About A New Year




I have never really enjoyed New Year's Eve.   Wait, maybe
that is not entirely true.  I can remember some very fun parties
but there always seems to be so much pressure for the
evening to be perfect.  When I try too hard, things just seem
to get more complicated.  I much prefer the easy flow of things.




Oh and resolutions too.  Don't like that pressure either.
I think that if I set a resolution for myself there is always
a little voice inside my head that discourages me from
following through.  Does that happen to you as well?





Yet somehow there is the need to mark the occasion in some 
special way and to great the new days ahead with enthusiasm.
So here are my personal rules for New Year's Eve ~

Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it safe and keep it early!
David and I think we have had a great time if we party
a bit and are in our jammies by 10pm.  I am sure that our
friends who knew us way back when might be shocked at
this revelation, but it's true.  We can no longer party with
the night owls and then soar with the eagles the next morning.
And we are okay with it.





Next ~ no resolutions that I know I can never keep.
One year David and I made the resolution to learn to play
new musical instruments.  He was going to get a clarinet and
I was going to buy a violin.  A whole year went by and 
there was absolutely no progress what so ever on fulfilling 
that plan.  Several years later we still laugh about it and
have threatened to put it on the bucket list again ;-)
Silly us.




I prefer to set goals.  In my mind a resolution is daunting, but
a goal has some chance of survival.  I won't beat myself up if
I don't meat a goal.  After all if I don't make one step towards
the achievement of the goal I can always push back the finish 
line.  Spoken like a true procrastinator.  Maybe I should run
 for Congress.  I think like a politician don't you agree?




So here is what I do.  I have to use a different kind of psychology when 
talking to myself.  A goal seems stern.  It's like a job interview when one is
asked "where do you see yourself in five years"?  If I were to be truly 
honest I would say that I would see myself in a cute beach front cottage
walking on the beach each day and being perfectly content.  Of course I
would need a goal to make this beach cottage a reality.  That's where I
trick myself.  I change goal to dream.  I believe in dreams.  




In the past I have learned that if I have a dream and just keep moving 
forward to make that dream a reality it happens.  I hold the dream 
tightly in my heart and never doubt that it won't happen.  




This philosophy has worked for me many times and it can be applied
to anything.  The only rule is keep it simple.  Only one dream at a time
not a bucket list full of them.  Hang on to your dream.  Don't let anyone
convince you that it won't materialize.  Make that journey into fulfilling
your dream a happy one.  Pat yourself on the back each time you get one
step closer.  Those are my thoughts for the new year ahead.
 I just need to pick a dream for 2014.  I could dream of being a cellist.
I never was all that keen on learning the violin, but the cello ~ ah maybe.
Well, I have a few more days yet to pick the dream I want to fulfill.
I will keep you posted.

In the meantime ~ Bentley (being the sweet uncomplicated darling he
is) has a dream.  His dream is to live each day in the loving comfort
of his home and family.  He's lucky because he lives his dream
every day.

Seasonal Sundays

Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley

14 comments:

  1. I am like you - resolutions overwhelm, goals aren't met, disappointment ensues. However! :) I was reading on a sewing blog about setting ideas for your sewing projects. I was rather inspired by that so I opened a notebook and wrote ... the months. Yep. The months, January February etc. That's it. And I feel pretty good about achieving that, actually :) Whatever I sew, there will be no pressure because I am too old for pressure. I used to thrive on it but now it sits me down in a chair for the day. Perhaps with a headache pill. However! :) I have gotten quite a bit done on my quilt WIP, but when my mind said stop, I stopped. At this rate I may need several of those months in the notebook to get it done. I think I will go read my book now. Actually, I could make lists of books to read and always achieve my goal. Hey, why don't we do that?!?!
    Big Hugs ~ Mary

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are so funny! I don't need to set a book reading goal either ~ or wait you are right, maybe I do. Like you, I hit that goal automatically every year without any prodding. I would love it if you would remind me to work on my quilt. I would like to finally finish it before I die ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. 10 PM !!!! I'm gone by 9! No resolutions -- I think they are just made to be broken. I like the idea of getting up everyday and being thankful for just that. I am trying to live my life as an adventure -- wondering what I might find around the corner. Like today, I was going to have lunch with a friend at a restaurant that we both liked very much and I turned the corner and found the street blocked by firetrucks. Seems the restaurant had a fire. Never fear -- cell phones do come in handy sometime -- and we had lunch in our old standby. My adventure was going down streets I didn't know existed. Books ... that's easy ... I'll read! Hugs to you and Bentley!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay, okay ~ 10 pm is a stretch. Is my faux pas considered poetic license or what? I completely agree with you. I too will live my life as an adventure too. Let's meet up in Houston in a couple of months okay?

      Delete
  4. What a wonderful thing it is to not feel obliged to join in all the new year hulabalou. Cup of tea and the telly for us. I would like to say that my dream is to stop daydreaming and start doing. Whether it will come off, well we will wait and see.
    Hope your dream comes true. Happy 2014 from the UK

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll help you ~ I will stop day dreaming too and we can dream and DO together! Happy New Year Lynn!!

      Delete
  5. My rule for NY eve is stay home..go to bed early and wake up when the ball, strawberry, pickle, cow or whatever is about to drop..
    Happy NY

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good plan. Hope you are wearing your coziest jammies because that is what I will be wearing.

      Delete
  6. Such a beautiful post, Susan! I loved it through and through. It spoke to me too. I know what you mean about resolutions. They often seem set in stone and it mocks us all year. I thought you were going to say that Bentley lives his dream getting to chase little green lizards every day.
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susan ~ what a wonderful post. I totally agree, resolutions are too set in stone and we NEVER achieve them, maybe, but no one I know achieves their resolution. New Years Eve is a quiet time for Mr. V and I and we haven't gone out for years. We like to get in our jammies and make dinner and then relax and in bed it is. Most of the time before 10:00 p.m. New Years Day we wake up refreshed and ready to start a new year. That's how I like to start the year, bright eyed and busy tailed and ready for anything. I like your idea of dreaming. I can tell you I have a dream and it is JUST one dream. Hopefully 2014 will see our dream come true. Bentley is the smartest of all. He is content wherever he is, as is Chico. No resolutions, no pressure, just being loved is the true goal always. May YOUR dream come true in 2014. Reading is not a resolution it's a way of life with me ;-)
    (((Hugs)))

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful blues, Susan. It was a delight to scroll down as I read your thoughts on New Year's celebrations and resolutions. We long ago settled in to spending a quiet New Year's Eve alone at home. As for resolutions, the last time I made a resolution and followed it, I ended up regretting the resolution. Missed out on something special because of it. ;-)
    All the best for 2014!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love all your beautiful blues!! I don't make resolutions. But I do think about what I'd like to accomplish, or talk to myself about how I want my attitude to change. ;-) This just might turn out to be the best New Years Eve ever... tell you about that later.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am so much like You. making resolutions actually doom them before I can even get started:) Best I set goals or write down dreams I have that I would most want to manifest into this reality...
    Wish I was closer and we could all have a pajama party and talk about our dreams, then bounce ideas off each other as to how to most effiencently make them come true. all this brilliance and creativity seems so wasteful and could be put to such wonderful use..

    Blessings to you my sweet hearted friend.
    Sonny

    ReplyDelete
  11. Reading your blog today was so calming with all the beautiful blues and dishes! I love your idea of making a dream come true, so now I'll have to give some thought to that dream. I'm going to pick out flannel PJs for New Years and celebrate the birth of 2014 in the quiet of my home, safe and sound. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete

Oliver and I LOVE and read every comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...