Where There’s a Will……..

Well here we are, almost two weeks into the new year already,  hope you all had a happy, peaceful holiday and the chance of a good, well-earned rest!

Now that all the Christmassy trinkets, tinsel and twinkly lights been stored away for another year, the very, very last of the pine needles have been swept away (hopefully!) and space has (miraculously!) been found to accommodate even more paraphernalia (why do we accumulate so much STUFF!),  ‘normal’ Life can resume.

I say ‘normal’ but if, like me, you’ve started the year with the very best of intentions (don’t you just hate New Year resolutions?) Life probably doesn’t feel anything like ‘normal’ right now!

First on my list? To rediscover the body I had at 19 (it must be in there somewhere!)

(yes, hard to imagine I know, but that really was me!)

I must lose at least two stone before summer when I know I’m going to have to expose a bit more flesh than the gap between ankle and legging (which is, presently, all that I dare reveal!):

I’ve made a good start; I finally off-loaded – and BANNED from the house – all wickedly fattening and tempting goodies:

AND (I must be mad) I’ve committed to weekly Zumba classes (great deal from Groupon!). My body is already aching all over and my head’s swimming –  and that’s just from signing up! (Or is it from lack of sugar? I could murder a sticky bun right now –  I’m starving!)….

Next on the list? To finish all the things I started in 2011 (as if!) …

1) The Book I’m writing, for one, the novel. Then there’s the children’s book which I’m also illustrating and the poetry anthology (almost done!), the family history (needs more research) the collection of short stories (précis and précis again!)…the blogs, the websites…. the travel pieces….

(Dream on, Yvonne…..)

2) There are 3 painting commissions to complete and the series of Middle Eastern paintings I started last November with a view to exhibiting end Jan:

 

 

(Although….come to think of it, April’s probably a better month – or maybe July.. September even!)

3) There’s the decorating of the house –  and this time without changing my mind about the paint colour, half way round a room! (Although, to be fair, we did buy the new sofas ‘after’ we started – and I didn’t have the brilliant Dulux App on my Iphone then which identifies any paint colour you take a photo of while you’re out and about)

4) The Big Annual Clear-out of the Closets (now that one, I’d almost completed till the ‘children’ moved back home, Grandpa moved in and very generous Santa visited and… well, OK, yes, I may have ventured out to one or two January sales)

(image from an excellent blog on de-cluttering: Wild Ruffle,com)

and it’s true what they say, you know: wire coat hangers really do reproduce in wardrobes overnight!

5) Then the dreaded DIY: fixing all the niggly things that need attention and we’ve learned to live with (or ignore): The beeping smoke alarms (no batteries?), the noisy boiler, the leak in the roof, the loose stair spindle, the sticky drawers, the missing cupboard handles, the broken bathroom tiles and the ceiling spots that are too high to reach……etc etc….

The list goes on. It’s endless but It’s all got to be done – and that’s the problem!

Setting goals is all well and good but they have to be realistic, achievable ones ….and Life does have a habit of getting in the way: businesses don’t run themselves, bills have to be paid, meals have to be shopped-for and cooked, laundry done, letters written, relatives visited and friendships nurtured – and that’s before leisure, hobbies or having fun (don’t even get me started on attending to emails, Facebook or Twitter!)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving up just yet – but all this pressure, at the darkest, most miserable time of year when all I REALLY want to do is blob on the sofa, watch mindless drivel on the box:

stuff my face with comfort food and day-dream about the sunny climes staring up at me from the piles of holiday brochures (OMG, must clear under the coffee table too!)– well, it’s no wonder even the best of intentions are doomed to fail!

Remembering that old maxim:

‘I’m not a failure because I didn’t make it – I’m a success because I tried!’

I’ll certainly give it my all, my very, very best shot, I PROMISE!

But right now, just today, surely ONE teeny, weeny, WEENY bite of sticky bun won’t hurt……

Will it?