Everyday is a new chapter in our lives. Today is the first chapter in a new volume of your life. It is time to begin implementing the plans you have making.

What is that? You haven’t finished those plans.

Don’t worry you aren’t alone. I can’t count the number of things that I haven’t finished planning or even begun to plan. New Year’s reminds me of the beginning of school year. Friends and strangers asked if I am ready and my response is almost always “No, but it is coming, anyway.”

That is true of the New Year as well.

I am not ready and it is coming anyway. I can sit, fret and continue to attempt to plan waiting for the perfect moment or I can act.

Dry January

The last year, hell, the last couple of years I have found myself struggling more with how I use alcohol. Five years ago on January 8th, I lost Papa to the effects of alcoholism. He was 72 years old. He begin drinking when he was thirteen years old to cope with the abuse he endure in childhood. I don’t want to say goodbye to my love one’s early.

So it is time to reset that relationship. It is time to spend some time apart. Maybe it will permanent or maybe just a month or two. There is nothing wrong or odd about considering your relationship to substances or individuals in your life. In fact, it may be wise.

Five Minutes Everyday

January is the time when everyone heads back into the gym ready to be healthy again. They want to be committed so they push themselves into a routine that will dissipate before Feb. 1st.

Instead of going outside your home, what about five minutes at home? YouTube has a lot of videos. Try one. Or just turn on your favorite playlist and move.

Start small and build. Take a walk before dinner or go a little further on your daily walk.

My plan is five minutes a day. Breaking my leg in August set back my health in more ways than one. I need to move more and increase my stamina. Spring is coming and my beloved garden is up the hill from the house. There are trails that I have been meaning to hike for 20 plus years.

This morning my five minutes was walking the dogs up the hill and back.

Correspondence

Snail mail has never died for me. I love getting things in the mail. It is probably why my Amazon habit is so bad. Well, that and I live in the middle of nowhere. I also love sending mail. I didn’t get as many holiday cards out as I would have liked still this next year, I am going to send out more cards, postcards and little packages when I think about people that I love.

Life is too short not to let the people you love know that you love them. You might do that by sending a text or sharing a meme with them. Some of my chosen family and I share Tik-toks with one another. It makes us all smile and sometimes cry.

What are you creating in the 1st day of 2023?