Happy New Year. Yes, I know I am a little late to the table but, hours after watching the fireworks on TV at midnight on 31st Dec, I succumbed to a bug that was like nothing else. Convinced it was COVID, I did numerous lateral flow tests and a PCR, all of which were negative. So, I have no idea which little blighter struck me down, or where I caught it from, but I am now back up and raring to embrace all that 2022 has to offer.
Usually, each January, I make the obligatory New Year’s resolutions, only to find that, by day 7, I have strayed from nearly every one of them. But not this year. I have forgone the usual resolutions for a set of goals. Ah. I hear you say – just another word for the same thing. But not for me. They are a few ideas that are just as the word suggests – goals. It doesn’t matter if I do not achieve them, I am not letting myself down, I am not a failure. They are just things that I aspire to.
My goals are also SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. SMART is an acronym that is bandied about in the mindful community, of which I am becoming more engrossed in. But it is based in logic – I am a mathematician in my previous life and logic sits well with me. My goals for 2022 are limited but SMART. So, what are they?
1. To walk the equivalent of Land’s End to John O’Groats. Its specific and its certainly measurable – 874 miles. Is it achievable? Well, Ian Botham did it, but he was a world class cricketer. I am just little old me (I stress the word little) but I have been walking on and off since the first lockdown and have set a time limit of a year to complete the task. This is much more achievable and, if I don’t feel like going out one day, then I just add extra onto the next couple of days to make up for it. Relevant – yes, definitely. I had breast cancer a number of years ago and have been wanting to get fitter but there was always an excuse. In lockdown there was no excuse. The only time you were allowed out of the house was to go for an hours walk. Now, as my family will tell you, I love my comfy sofa and a good box set but being forced to stay home really does motivate you to leave the house. Setting myself a 365-day guide also hits the timely part of the challenge. But if I go into 2023, it won’t kill anyone, I won’t have let anyone down, including myself. I will have just taken a little longer than I anticipated.
2. My second goal is to write this blog. I have always thought of myself as a numbers gal, not a word smith but last year, someone suggested I started a gratitude journal. (If she reads this, she will know it was her). I agreed, mainly so I didn’t have to address the topic again. My life is ordinary, what exciting stuff can I be grateful for that is not repeated day after day? Quite a lot, as it turns out. From a couple of lines before bed, I was soon writing a whole side of a page. Now, I am not new to journaling. I am, after all a creative being, and I have kept a bullet journal throughout lockdown. But it has been mundane. What has gone on in the news, what we had for dinner, the weather (remember those balmy 3 months in spring 2020, when you could see the fish in the canals of Venice. My bullet journal was not personal, it was a record of events with some colourful illustrations to brighten it up. But, again, I failed. I didn’t write every day and I would beat myself up over it. I would try to make stuff up for the missing pages; if the handwriting was not neat enough, I would rip out the page and redo it. It all felt wrong and eventually, I gave up. I even bought myself a new one for this year and didn’t start it.
But a blog, once a month, flowery based (yes there will be flowery stuff, I promise). That I can manage. So, specific – flowery stuff, measurable – well, if it’s not out there on deadline day, achievable – yes if written in bite size chunks when I am not creating fabulousness, relevant – yes, providing handy hints and advice to those of you that love flowers as much as I do and timely, once a month for a whole year. Surely even I have enough stuff to chat about for 12 months.
So, those are my goals. I could add other stuff, other ideas, other ‘resolutions’, but they might make these 2 goals less achievable, and I am as committed to realising these goals as is at all possible.
So, January’s blog finished. Not much flowery stuff, I know, but hopefully you have learnt a little bit more about me and it’s not long until February, when you will definitely get the flowery fix, you have been waiting for.
If you want to find out more about what I do, click on my website www.gillysflowers.co.uk. I am also on Instagram and Facebook. If you are a potential client, electronic contact is fine but there is nothing better than an old-fashioned phone call. Thank you for reading my blog and, if I haven’t scared you off, I hope to see you again next month.