Megan Reece: Keep life sweet

I really enjoy a New Year and the sense of promise and renewal it can bring, and I love to see the cheer in people celebrating, living to see another number roll around.

Some people scoff at this, I know.

People who excitedly announce lists of things they want to change are often ridiculed by pals who say “it doesn’t change anything, it’s just another year”.

In the past I’ve made some fun and achievable resolutions.

In 2018 I pledged to learn to play the ukulele – and managed to do so.

I performed with it again and again, and it gave me joy to have accomplished what was a fairly daft thing only for myself, to prove that I can do something, change something, if I put my mind to it.

This year though, it’s not about trying to gain anything or add anything to my pot.

Instead, I’m remarkably focused on the notion of letting go.

Perhaps it’s an age thing – the older I get, the faster a year seems to go and that can feel terrifying.

Christmas flies around again and before I know it, I am looking at old photos, seeing how my children have changed and grown and wondering where all that time went.

We want to make the most of our precious days and we all want to improve and for our lives to be as perfect as possible.

But that word “perfect” has really been bothering me lately.

I’m letting go of those ideals, of the idea of being a perfect mother or an ideal confidente.

I’m casting aside the fear that I might not be good enough at anything I do, and instead accepting that I am enough and I have survived every year being exactly who I am.

We may strive forever to alter the surface of our lives, to please or impress others, but I suppose I have reached a point at which I am no longer interest in the glossy outward veneer, and that I am more concerned about feeling fulfilled with what I already have.

I’m embracing a simpler way of doing things and I want to slow right down, turn the volume of the busy and downright judgmental outside world down, so that I can hear myself think again.

Liberating

This year, I am focusing on listening to me.

I’m saying goodbye to the concern of what others expect of me.

It feels so liberating, after a lifetime of being a real people-pleaser.

For me, it’s time to declutter my life and zone in on nurturing my own mind and soul.

Whatever your new year goals are, I hope you dig out some negatives to release as well as positives to add.

I’ve witnessed many a lonely person speaking out over the festive period, about wanting change in their lives, looking for ways to improve their lot.

We must realise that before we know it, our final day will roll around. Keep life sweet.

Learn, grow, but most of all, if something makes you sad, don’t be afraid to let it go.