A whole year, in a blur. But, with this year about to end, it’s time to make a new beginning. And to accept the New Year with gratitude and less introspection.

My New-Year motto, which could apply to most of us who feel sad at the tail end of 2021 (for a myriad of different reasons), is “Make it new in twenty-two”. Maybe you will also want to start afresh, to find the positives and the happy things, to resolve to turn the page and get on with it!

After all, today is the last chance we have to enjoy this day and I, for one, will take the next day, each 24 hours, as a gift from God, and relish the opportunity to choose how to best use it. I can predict that there will be days when I don’t do much. Maybe snooze a little, maybe walk a lot or a little, maybe read, or make something, or do something for someone else. But definitely I resolve to not regress to introspection – that self-destructive self-absorbment that leads me into remorse and sadness and, for some psychological reason, extreme tiredness.

I have reached that stage of life where I have discovered it’s OK to take some time to do what is pleasurable, even self-indulgent but……only if it doesn’t diminish someone else’s lifestyle. It’s OK to just sit and read, to watch a movie, do a crossword, or walk, or do the washing, to do something! It’s even better when we share an activity or help someone else, especially a single person, to discover and enjoy their objectives. Because living alone certainly has it’s challenges. The downside of inactivity is not just physical decay, it’s mental stagnation and that’s magnified when we consciously avoid contact. And let me admit that’s something I still do, all too frequently, hence a New Year resolution!

My considered resolution then, for next year, has two parts, the first is to be as physically active as possible each day (but also accept it’s OK to be a little bit lazy). The second part is to work harder to maintain friendships; to make that phone call, visit, write a letter or an email. Good luck, Bill!

I’m still deciding on a third: whether to continue to write this piece for the web. I think it is therapeutic for me, but maybe not much use to anyone else! Drop me line and tell me.

And share your new year resolutions with me, too, if you are game!