By this time on my social media accounts, I typically have several collages of family Christmas gatherings. Well, we tried to gather this year. During Christmas 2020 - we opted to not gather. This year, for Christmas 2021, we had plans, changed plans, then had to cancel due Covid-19. Any gathering will not happen after the Christmas season. Thankfully, everyone seems to be doing better. Christmas was lower key than anticipated but still nice.
In fact, Covid is still a factor for many in the USA and the world. It's something everyone is watching. It's causing divisions in some cases. My position is to err on the side of caution. I have one parent who is immunocompromised so my erring on the side of caution might look different than others. And the other parent had cancer a few years ago. Although this parent responded well to treatment and is doing well on that front - I don't want inadvertently to spread and/or carry anything to either parent.
December 29, 2021, marked six months since emergency back surgery. I marked the day by getting on a stationary bike for the first time since surgery for a few minutes at the gym. I wasn't sure how my body might respond but I did pretty good on the stationary bike. This means I have another low-impact cardio option.
I no longer care to make resolutions but will pick another word/concept to focus on for the New Year. My word/concept = Boundary.
Why 'Boundary'? I think it's because the boundaries in my life and in our world have changed quite a bit over the past 1-2 years and I'm still working to fully process everything. There are certain things that are no longer wise for me physically (running, jumping on a trampoline). Covid seems to be either changing and/or creating new boundaries at frequent intervals (some schools in some states will start back virtually). And boundaries in general tend to change simply as one grows, ages, and matures.
In terms of desire - there are plenty of desires I have for the New Year:
- Continue and expand an exercise regimen
- Continue and expand a spiritual life regimen
- Continue reading (both fiction and non-fiction)
- I want to dabble more in art this year. I have friends who are far more creative than myself, but I do appreciate art and enjoy playing around with various mediums. Calligraphy which I kind of started on last year fits this category.
- Growth in knowledge/skills at work. I'm a highly motivated learner and eager to learn new things. Whether it's a new excel formula or developing a faster way to get something done - this is broad.
- Embracing the mundane. So much of life is lived doing rather mundane tasks. Social media can make us think something is amiss if we don't have something cute, all smiles, feel good to post or share. Many times, life is neither rah-rah fabulous nor down in the dumps awful. Many times, life is just mundane and ordinary. If we were writing a letter to someone who didn't have email, social media, etc. much of what happens wouldn't make the letter. But a lot can happen in these small mundane moments.
But the above are desires, not resolutions. No internal beating myself up will happen if I fail to meet some standard or complete some activity or action step. Many businesses employ strategic plans with actions steps, goals, etc. But I would argue that a lot of life cannot be measured. It's fine to have a strategic plan at work - or a strategic plan when training for a sporting event. But life happens and plans have to be changed, adjusted. Thus, no resolutions for me. Only a word/concept on to focus on for 2022 and being aware of desires. I have learned that significant life change can be incredibly hard to implement - more or less I'm the same person today than I was yesterday. Nothing magical happened when the clock struck midnight. Any reflective mood I'm in is how I'm wired; I can get into a reflective mood at any point during the year. But as today is New Year's Day - I'll say, "Happy New Year!"