At the time of writing this, I must admit that I'm in a very strange mood. Family stuff ... friendship stuff ...emotion stuff ...injury stuff ...new year stuff...you know ...being human stuff. So when any of my friends feel this way and need a lift, I tell them that they need to work on ways to lift their own spirits. It's good to have friends around to talk to and do that for you, but not everyone has that and either way no one can help you feel better unless you are willing to help yourself.
So it's 2 days into 2017. I haven't made a list of resolutions as such but I know I want some aims.
A lot of magazines and websites go on about the whole "New year, new you" and I know a lot of people think it's a load of old crap. Part of me thinks the same, but also part of me thinks it's a great thing.
"Why do you have to start in the New Year? Why not do it now?" is something I read a lot on social media. Also "That New Year stuff never works". Well no, that just depends on the person really.
Yes, it's true that you can start changing things any time of year, but the beginning of the year makes sense, as it's like a fresh start, and it gives you an easy way to keep track of when you started.
I'm going "dry for January" this year. I've decided to not ask for sponsorship though. Instead I'm going to donate some money that I would have otherwise spent on alcohol. I don't yet know how much that will be, but I'll work it out. I do want to do something for a good cause as well as myself. Already I've found it difficult, which shows how much I've been drinking recently.
Some other things that I'll be doing to start the year off include going back to training. This will start with me just getting my skates back on, probably with nervous and shaky hands. I'll only be skating around in the hall and not doing any contact for a while. I've been told there is no pressure at all, which is fantastic!
I'll also be getting back to playing guitar. I love music so much and for many reasons have decided to take up one-to-one guitar lessons to help me brush off the cobwebs and build my confidence back up.
Having a bit of a makeover is something that my wife and I have talked about. I'll be completely honest here, and it's purely that. I don't like how I look. In fact I hate it, and no one should feel that way. So to make myself feel better, I want to pamper myself a bit. It's important to look after yourself and people that spend lots of time worrying about others tend not to do that. So that's my advice and I plan to take it myself.
So the plan is to get my new hairstyle when my arm is good enough to do my hair on a daily basis. At the moment I'm stuck with my pony tail because it's easy for my wife to do before work, and I hate it! I hate how I look with my hair up, so it's got to go. I want to change that from my normal hairstyle.
There are so many things I want to do this year really.
So what's my point?
Well really just that it's not stupid to have new year's resolutions. Don't let people tell you otherwise. If you are one of those people, then give it a rest. People are just trying to make their lives better.
Last year involved some tough times, so even though this year may also have some of that, I am pushing myself to enrich my life in some way. Even if it's one thing that makes a tiny difference. Hopefully this will reflect in a positive way among my friends and family too.
One other thing... if you have carried over some negative feelings into the new year, don't feel guilty about it. I've told myself that, and ya know what? I don't feel guilty. If you get hurt, it's normal to hurt. If something made you feel sad, then it's normal to be sad. We are only human and part of being human is having emotions. As long as we have tried to make those things better, then that's OK.
Wishing you all a happy 2017 and I hope that you each do something to bring positivity into your lives and maybe even enrich other people's lives along the way.