So another new year dawned and is already whizzing by.  I can hardly believe we have already had pancake day and Valentines day for another year!  I’m sure the older we get, the faster time passes.  Mum turned 70 in January which was a big wake up call of how fast the years pass, with the realisation that I am now half way there myself!  I still feel the same as I did at 18 but the reflection in the mirror tells me otherwise!  After all, you know you are getting old when Radio 2 plays your era music in the afternoon!

This year, I made some of the usual and most popular resolutions such as to lose weight which I have so far showed little commitment and therefore little success at.  I guess I’m not alone with that, given only 8% of people stick to their new years resolutions.

It’s funny, growing up, we think that once we are an adult we will be able to do whatever we want, but that doesn’t always bring you happiness.  Life is full of boundaries and consequences; yes you can eat that extra slice of cake, but you won’t be slim.  Everything is a choice and a new year is the perfect time to reflect on our choices and make positive changes.  You only get one life so you need to take charge of it.

I did for the first time do Dry January.  Dry January is a recent term which came into existence after Alcohol Concern’s first Dry January in 2013 and became a public health campaign in 2015.  I must admit I have always thought of January as a depressing month, so why make it any worse by not drinking?!  However this year I decided to do it and raise money for the National Autistic Society.  It is a wonderful cause and particularly close to my heart, being that my nephew suffers from it.  As much as I love a drink, I felt a month’s abstinence would be a minor sacrifice compared to the difficulties that he overcomes everyday.  I managed to raise an incredible £377.50 which far surpassed my expectations so a big thank you to everyone who supported me!  It might not have turned me off the booze for life but has definitely made me review the quantities I was putting away.  Statistics show that 64% of people who do Dry January are drinking less, even six months after it’s finished.

New Year can be a good time to clear out your past that has perhaps been weighing you down.  Too often we live in the past and look back through rose-coloured glasses.  It’s human nature to reflect on the paths you have chosen and how different things could have been if you had only picked another.  Essentially though, you can’t change the past but you can change the future.

A spring clean can be a good way to de-clutter your mind and set you on a path of change by letting go of the past.  I felt throughly cleansed after clearing out the cupboards and also spent time down memory lane while going through my parents loft where, amongst other things, I found my old diaries and also my first shoes!

Reflecting on new starts, I revisited a great book – The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.  I first read this in 2007, when I was going through a relationship break up and felt I had reached a crossroads in my life.  It talks about the power of positive energy and attracting things to you and advocates creating a vision board.  A vision board is like a collage of our dreams and helps to inspire and motivate as well as attract these things to you.  I made one back then and when I revisited it recently, I noticed that at least 75% of it had come true.  So I decided to make a new one, some ten years after first reading the book.  I bought a lovely board from Maison du monde and some affirmation cards from Kikki K.  I’m looking forward to finding images of what I want to bring into my life as well as reminders of places that have made me feel happy and content in order that I continue to attract those emotions.

Hopefully 2018 will see me achieve some of my dreams and I will end the year a better person than I started it.

I’d love to hear what resolutions you made and if you are still sticking to them.  Remember, we are all in charge of our own destiny’s and life really is what you make it.