As we approach another year end (wow!), most of us take stock of our year and what it has brought us. I tend to do that more often than annually, especially after a particularly stressful experience. This year, there hasn’t been a lot of stress, thankfully, although the challenges of getting older and of supporting family members getting older do bring their own moments of pause.
I like to make lists, of things I’ve done, things I need to do, things other people need to do. So it’s somewhat easy to look back at those now. I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot this year, but have decided that next year needs a whole new direction. Why? Read on.
The coming year is a milestone year for me, as I complete my 7th decade on this planet and enter my 8th. To help me with that, I’ve spent the last couple of years upgrading my home, hiring recurring help for various tasks and making sure there are plans for the inevitable decline in health that comes for most of us. I feel really good about those things and they really do lift the stress I so often hear about from others who have had to deal unexpectedly with health-related changes in their lives.
Now that all the base plans for comfort and support have been executed, I have unexpectedly found a need to do one more thing: expand my enjoyment of life in general. Not sure if this has happened to you, but once I retired, my routine connections with friends pretty much disappeared, as the routines themselves disappeared. I have far less contact with the outside world, and have had to make the effort to simply get out of the house more.
I did a fair bit of that this year, but with long-ish spells in between. A few trips and some wonderful personal projects have filled the gap pretty well. But I do need a different plan for next year.
That plan involves more club memberships and connections and more travel. I’m also planning more volunteer activities. I’m constantly looking for those opportunities now, and have already booked a variety of events for next year. I am so looking forward to those experiences, hoping that they will bring new adventures and just more laughter and joy. Food for the soul.
With the anticipation of good things to come, I wish everyone the best for the holiday season and the hope that you achieve everything you want next year. I sincerely appreciate your interest in these blog posts and your support. We’ve endured a lot as a world and as a society these past few years, and some good news next year along with some time with just simple laughter and joy would be a good thing for us all.
з новим роком
oldgirlphotography.ca 