Tomorrow 2024 Begins
Oh, Goody!
Even though I’m not a big holiday fan, I do tend to get swept up by the New Year’s Eve hysteria. You know what I mean. I find myself anticipating the turn of the year, making predictions, defining my resolutions, planning next steps, and even dreading what’s to come.
I don’t go out on the town to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Too many people for my taste. I’m a night owl, however, so I more often than not find myself wide awake as the clock rolls over. I welcome the new year with a measure of anticipation followed by a big sigh of relief.
I made it. I survived another year. Despite all the dire predictions about what was coming, I made it. I tell myself that I can do this. I can manage another year with a measure of success. With a little twinge of excitement, I feel empowered. This is going to be a good year, I declare. It’s up to me to make it so.
Then comes the resolution process. I try to make the list short and simple. Otherwise, I tend to overshoot the probability of achieving success. I’m a realist. I know myself by now. There’s no point in pretending. Besides, why set myself up for failure?
This year, I turn seventy-three. It’s not a landmark birthday for me, but certainly, I’m keenly aware that I’m getting up there. It’s surprising as well as liberating to acknowledge this fact. The nature of my resolutions is drastically different from that in the past. No longer do I make promises to finish my master’s degree or apply for a new job? Those days are far behind me. I’m left with many different goals, simpler but in some ways deeper.
I will make it a point to savor the little things in life. Tasting a morning cup of coffee will become a deliberate act while sitting on my patio watching the sunrise. I will stop the chatter in my brain long enough to notice these things, to thoroughly experience them. Life is short, even shorter at seventy-three. I need to stop and smell the flowers.
I will take that trip to Toledo, Spain. I’ve tried for three years to go there when I’m at my winter apartment abroad. Something gets in the way every time, but 2024 is the year. I’ve even made hotel reservations.
I will expand my garden while at the same time cleaning out the garage. I want to eat fresh home-grown food but I don’t want to leave a collection of junk for my children to deal with after I’m gone. Living and dying conflict with one another constantly these days. I’m letting go but at the same time, I’m finding reason to explore and enjoy.
I will spend less time in the land of the internet. I will put my phone away for hours at a time in order to live entirely in this world. How can I savor the moment if my head is stuck in the digital world?
I will appreciate everything that I have because I have a lot. It’s a privilege to enjoy such bounty. I’m not a rich person according to the standards set by my culture, not by a long shot. I lead a modest life but if I compare myself to the world at large, my privilege is clearly and shockingly apparent.
I could keep going. There is so much that I’d love to fix about myself and the world. But I’m pretty sure I don’t have that kind of power. Not even close. I’d love to bypass the 2024 election. The fear and trepidation about the possible outcomes keep me awake at night. And when I get on that topic, I momentarily lose all peace of mind.
No, I won’t even allow myself to think about that right now. It’s out of my hands.
I’d love to see the bloody wars abroad come to an end. Come to think of it’s time for war to end period. All wars. Forever. But that’s a wish not a resolution. I can only focus on things I stand a chance of solving. Right?
So I won’t think about that either.
I will get my brain firmly wrapped around the things that I have a chance in hell of achieving.
And even those things I may or may not accomplish. I mean, how many times have I promised that I’d clean out the garage? Honestly? For the past five years at least. And what about taking time off from the internet? This isn’t the first year that I have hoped to accomplish that task. So far, it hasn’t happened. Maybe it would be more realistic if I promised myself to clean out that section in the corner where I store my gardening supplies. I mean that would be better than nothing. Right?
Of course, I’d have to be careful during the gardening season not to acquire a bunch of new stuff.
You know what?
This whole thing of making New Year’s resolutions is kind of stupid. Why not just live my life one day at a time? Isn’t that more realistic? I mean no one knows what tomorrow holds. No one. How better to live in the moment than to refuse to comply with this new year nonsense? 2024 will be what it will be.
Yeah, I’m not sure what I was thinking when I started this article. The concept of a year is a manmade construct. The universe doesn’t honor our calendars. Life will go on whether I meet my goals or not. 2024 will be like every other year before this, the best of times and the worst of times. I’ll be a year older and that in and of itself is a kind of accomplishment.
I think a bottle of champagne might be appropriate, however. As the new year begins, why not?
So happy New Year to my readers and followers. Much of what 2024 holds will most likely be a surprise to all of us. I guess that’s as good as it gets. Enjoy that glass of champagne. We made it through another year.
Congratulations. Now go to bed. Tomorrow’s another day, the first day of the rest of my life. That’ll have to be good enough.
Teresa is an author and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
