I have mixed emotions about the New Year.
On one hand, I must confess that I’m a total New Year’s Eve Scrooge. I always have been, and I can explain why: It’s a holiday that’s all about hopeful build-ups and inevitable let-downs. You get all dressed up (love an excuse to do so), hang out with friends (fun), then wait until midnight (yawn, I’m old), countdown (and hope your DVR is “live,” not behind by a few minutes), kiss your husband (for the fifth time that day), and then…it’s over. O-V-E-R. In the blink of an eye. Go home, folks. Nothing magical to see here–just empty champagne bottles and confetti on the floor. It’s such a sad thought to me.
In fact, my happiest New Year’s Eves have been spent casually hanging out with dear friends in various living rooms around the city, and although this year I had it in my mind that we were not going to be bums and actually go out, Ryan’s injury earned HIM the title of New Year’s Eve Scrooge 2013. So that’s what we did this year: We stayed home, elevated Ryan’s leg and just enjoyed hanging out with E.V. and the dogs. It was actually quite cozy and wonderful, and as Ryan Seacrest counted us down in Times Square, I felt happy to be at home, cuddled up with my little family.
On the other hand, I love January 1st–the feeling of the world hitting the proverbial “restart” button, the hope that buzzes in the air and in conversations, the introspection and motivation it brings those who are desperate for a new beginning…ahhh. It’s like a breath of fresh air to my soul!
Not surprisingly, I LOVE New Year’s resolutions, and this year in particular I’m eager to start working on mine. Thankfully several years of really aiming to stick to my resolutions has given me a realistic outlook on January 1st: I see it as the starting line to my main resolutions AND the starting line to my “think about how this year will be different and make smaller resolutions” process. As I sit down to make my list of how 2013 will be both better and different than 2012, I feel hopeful. I’m jotting down things as simple as “do one load of laundry a day” alongside things as paramount as “pay off ALL debt.” There’s something encouraging about physically listing the most tangibly accomplishable goals in life right alongside the most terrifyingly daunting ones that brings me peace. It reminds me that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to and that God has a handle on everything in my life, big and small.
As of now I have a full page of goals for 2013, and Ryan’s agreed to fill his page by the end of January as well. I think that this year I’m going to type up our lists to hang on the fridge because there’s nothing like a constant reminder to keep you on track. As I sit here, reading and re-reading my page, my heart is racing. I’m eager to put myself and 2013 to the test, to see in exactly one year from now how much life has changed and how much I’ve accomplished. I’m thankful for this new beginning, for the chance to start fresh and be a better version of myself when next New Year’s Eve rolls around. Maybe we won’t even be such NYE Scrooges by that time… ;)