I like to wait a bit for the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations hubbub to settle down before panning past, present, and future for nuggets of gold. This time grounds me and helps me prioritize things for the year ahead. It can be disturbing, challenging and calming. I’m never sure where this mental journey will take me when I start.

Dig in with me now to see what I came up with.

First come the memories. At my age, the memories I gather at the top of my list are very different than, say, 10 years ago. They seem stronger, picked to last long and have a more substantial impact.

My brother is 5 years older than I am. I always joke with him that because my birthday is 1 month earlier in the year, so for that 1 month, I catch up, and I’m only 4 years behind. He is currently in a care home.

It is a very tough time for all in his sphere of love. My life seems so easy when I’m home, between visits. He makes my struggles as I age pale in comparison. He gives me courage.

Another memory is the chance meeting of a stranger on one of my visits to my brother. Geography separates us, but with luck, we’ll get to have a catch-up each year. She is such an interesting person to spend time with. It strengthened my resolve to figuratively say ‘hello’ to the person next to me. I just never know where it will lead.

Friends. They play an essential part in my life, particularly in the present. Not counting relatives, I have more people in my life I call friends than ever before. Rounded up, it is about 10. To my surprise, I’m coping quite well.

These folks all contribute different things, and I hope I contribute my unique presence.

Lastly comes the reflection of hope.

Without hope, having a cup half-full perspective is hard to achieve. I’ve found life is much easier with an optimistic view while not getting too strong of a rose tint on my glasses.

I always remind myself that hope is not a plan. With my hope comes a responsibility to turn that hope into action.

The hope that I’ll be a better person this new year is not an end but a beginning to develop specific goals and commit to a strategy to turn the hope into an achievement that will become some of my memories when I start all over again next year.

I am curious about your thoughts. Please comment below with your bit of a think. Try getting a tea or coffee, settle into your favourite chair and take some ‘me’ time.  What memories come back to you? How can you strengthen your relationships with friends and family? Can you develop some goals and a plan to meet them?

Photo by Faris Mohammed on Unsplash

If you enjoyed The Blog, please share it with others. Thanks.

And my thanks to St. Albert’s 50+ Activity Centre for making this Blog possible.

Volunteer Blogger

glenn.walmsley@icloud.com