New Year, New You?
It’s the first day of a shiny new year. The day when all the mistakes of the previous year are behind us and anything seems possible. By now at least a month of partying has been put to bed, its memories tucked away on Instagram. My liver and credit card are holding hands and whispering ‘Thank God. We’re safe now’. The fun is over and as we face that icy, unforgiving bitch, January, it’s hard not to wonder why a new year is something to celebrate when the fête is finie. A beginning that doesn’t technically require us to actually start anything new. Good news if you just need a mental boost, to symbolically wipe the slate clean of all the injuries and injustices of 2015 while you write the wrong year on your cheques for the next month. This is your holiday. You don’t have to change. That’s the gift of New Year’s. It’s up to you.
For others a new year means waking up January 1st in last night’s makeup and one shoe, rubbing mascara from your eyes, looking in the mirror and making RESOLUTIONS. Because a new year means a new you. One where you can get fit, find love, take that improv class, quit day drinking, start day drinking, stop using LOL, finally make that enemies list, start being nice to the cat. Look, I don’t know what you’re into. The point is Anything is Possible.
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Many start the year with big plans for major changes only to find themselves failing by February. So why bother with resolutions? Aren’t they just setting us up for failure? Maybe. But giving voice to our hopes and dreams is an important step to realizing them. A new year is a time to reflect on what’s positive in our lives and what needs improving. Even if we never keep our pledges, the act of making them means we take stock, examine what we like and don’t like. We get to know ourselves a little better and identify what’s working and what needs changing.
In chronic progressive illness the measuring of time is tricky business. By definition we’re supposed to, well, progress. Each calendar year is marked by diagnoses, tests, treatment régimes and abilities gradually lost. Ticking time can be a scary contemplation. Resolving to regrow myelin is more futile than resolving to lose those last five pounds. There are certain things over which we simply have no control.
So this year I am choosing simple goals. Despite disease and in my never ending pursuit of the best possible life, I will reflect on what it is I love to do, and figure out how I can do more of it. I will think about the people who lift me up and make me laugh and then commit to spending more time with them. I will pay attention to what makes me feel crappy and do my best to avoid those things. With hope and confetti still in the air, today at least, I will say fuck fear because dwelling on the worst case scenario is a waste of my imagination.
It’s 2016.
Embrace unrelenting optimism.
Happy New Year, Trippers.
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Yes – embracing unrelenting OPTIMISM!! A new mantra!
Very well said! (As I crawl though freezing snow because my balance is bad and I want to go back in the house! ) I do take my sticks with me outside but sometimes crawling is easier! heheheheh! Onward and forward….
Happy New Year to you!
Thanks Beverly. Stay warm! It is positively arctic in Toronto today.
Truly inspiring!
Thank you and thanks for reading.
You know – I've been thinking about all this 'newness' – new year, new plans… and I just wanted to say as a new reader of this (relatively) new blog that the title of it and the use of the word 'Trippers'
for those of us with MS that follow – seems divinely ordered! Not kidding!
I've been dealing with PPMS for over 20 years, hang on to a walker to stay upright or move at all,
and have heard any number of 'terms' used for the physically challenged. I'm sure everyone knows them – gimp, cripple etc… I've been engrossed in the field of alternative health for all these years -1. because there really isn't much to be offered for PPMS medically and
-2. I'm into it and it feels a more comfortable place for me (at least has).
Nothing has actually stopped the progression, and I'm in this camp. But now I've discovered this new term -"Trippers", and I'm actually less angry, less afraid of the illness! Trust me – I'm
dealing with MS daily front and center; 'uncooperative' legs, fear, digestive issues, wacky pain scenarios, bladder, and did I mention fear… But now – this new descriptive term for all of us – 'Tripper' – is lighter, freer and, frankly, more acceptable in this land of MS – where we are hit with the unwanted at every turn, every day.
I don't know how you thought of it but I thank you for it. And Happy NEW Year 😉 -Barbara. NY
Lovely Barbara,
Thank you so much for this note and thanks for reading. I couldn't be more pleased that you find this term relatable and helpful even. You have really made my day.
A.
Just started following your blog! Wow. You hit home in many ways – with the wheelchair and vacation post and especially the shoes. My unsuccessful quest for the last few years…sexy orthopedic shoes.
Keep up your sense of humor – it is cheaper than bail money. And please keep on Tripping on Air.
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Thanks for reading!
If you ever find the sexy ortho shoes please do let me know where to find them. The closest I've come is a pair of lace up the ankle gladiator sandals.
Keep up the optimism! A few years ago I made a resolution to use reusable bags at the grocery store. It was a simple, achievable goal and something I think is going to be mandatory in a few years anyway.
Unfortunately I frequently fall off the wagon–I take the bags into the house and forget to take them back out to the car–but when I remember I get a huge boost. I'm doing a good thing!
We have to take life's little gifts whatever they may be.
We had a by-law for awhile where we were charged for plastic bags and we got in the habit of bringing reusable bags everywhere. So it's a stupefying mystery to me that the collection of plastic shopping bags in the hall closet gets bigger every week.