Happy New Year!!
I know, I know. I'm about 27 days too late. But out of curiosity, how's it goin' so far? Has the first month of 2011 been all you thought it would be? Are you making amazing progress on all those resolutions? OR....
Is it entirely the same?
Same problems?
Same issues?
Same worries?
I think (know rather) that I have some pretty ridiculous expectations regarding the new year. I believe that all it's gonna take for me to actually want to go to the gym, love broccoli and spontaneously wake up at 4:30am, is the flip of a calendar page. Everything will be easy and will (of course) just start happening January 1.
I know it's completely unrealistic, but it's almost universal. It's why gym memberships always go up in January and gym attendance goes down in February. It's why coffee consumption goes down at the start of the year and in 3 weeks Cara finds herself at Starbucks with no recollection of how she got there.
It's so hard to live up to the high expectations that I set for myself that when I fail (and I do) it's so much worse.
A good friend of ours is also struggling with the change of date. On top of the pressures the new year brings, his birthday is also in January- so there's the year in review thought process. I could care less about my age. (It's not something you concern yourself with as you build a fort out of couch cushions so you and your husband can watch "Pirates of the Caribbean" in your super-secret hideout). But our dear friend is someone who does focus on the passing of time, does not like that he is getting older and believes he's not where he should be at this point in his life.
It is SO hard to escape the "If-I-could-just-get-more money/my dream job/car/ house/dog/boyfriend/ then-I'll-be-happy" way of thinking. We're all guilty of it. I know I am. I am so busy focusing on what I don't have, I don't see what I DO have. Besides the messy house and the fact that no one can actually sit on the furniture until I put all the cushions back, I have a pretty great life. So does my friend. He just can't see it right now.
I hope that 2011 is an amazing year for each and everyone of us. But as I look around at my friends and family and the life I have, I must admit "Happy Old Year" sounds pretty accurate.