Onwards and Upwards.
Two favourite quotes today –
“Don’t wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel,
stride down there and light the
bloody thing yourself.”
Sara Henderson – From Strength to Strength
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.
Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen,
you will fill the world with hope; you will fill yourself with hope.” Barack Obama
It’s January 3rd here in sunny, warm, Wellington, New Zealand.
By now we are getting used to seeing 2022 on newspapers, email, etc., and 2021 is rapidly becoming a memory.
I have written my list of achievements for the last year, and may I say I was agreeably surprised at the length of the list. Some are very small things, but a couple were life changing for me.
As Douglas Adams, (he who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) said.
“I may not have gone where I intended to go,
but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.”
Did you make resolutions on January 1? I didn’t because I know that they won’t last even until the end of January, but I do set goals at the beginning of each year.
My goals for 2022 are written down and shared with Chris, the other half of A World Apart. As we say, a goal is not a goal unless it is written down. Until then it is a hope, a wish, or a thought, but it becomes a goal once it is on the computer or preferably on paper. And it must be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
Now time to take off my Life Coach hat again.
Having said I don’t make resolutions, I do like these resolutions from Bridget Jones Dairy. They are so unachievable’ they make me laugh.
“Resolution number one: Obviously will lose twenty pounds.
Number two: Always put last night’s panties in the laundry basket.
Equally important will find a sensible boyfriend to go out with and not continue to form
romantic attachments to any of the following:
alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobic’s, peeping toms,
megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts.
And especially will not fantasise about a particular person who embodies all these things”
So now onwards and upwards into 2022.
As you know, it is summertime here and most people are still on holiday. Offices reopen on the 5th or 6th. But as is usually the case, many people enjoy themselves without thought of the consequences. New Zealanders love the ocean and all the water sports. But some do not swim in safe and patrolled areas. They put themselves and others at risk. Surf Lifesaving NZ reported “Three people have died in separate water-related incidents while swimming at beaches on Boxing Day, as surf lifesavers urge people to stay safe.” And The NZ Herald reports today, “Two men have drowned in the notoriously dangerous Manawatū River this afternoon. It comes just days after a woman and young girl who were refugees from Burma drowned in the same section of the Palmerston North river.”
And what about drivers? Fourteen deaths have been recorded over this holiday period so far. There are three more days until the period is officially ended, and the number of accidents are not recorded.
And so, to add to the two deaths we suffered in our family during 2021, we have these other 14 at the very beginning of 2022. Even though I don’t know these people, I offer my heartfelt wishes to their grieving relatives and friends.
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Time to move on from the melancholy!
Wellington has been described by Lonely Planet as the best little capital in the wold. I live here and with my family and friends know it to be true. And you can’t beat Wellington on a good day!
Time now to sit in the garden in the sunshine, with a sandwich for a late lunch and because I am English, a cup of tea.
” Go ahead, get excited about the future; the past won’t mind.”
Judith Baxter, Blogger, Writer, Grandmother and friend. 1938 –
I choose how I will spend the rest of my life 