So here we are, the first day of a new year, 2021. Thought you’d never get here? Must be an improvement on last year, wouldn’t you think? Don’t be so foolish, there are no guarantees of anything and no point wishing for a better future. What will be, will be etc.
Except there’s always that old cliché that I have tried to live my retirement life by – control what you can and accept what you can’t. Still makes sense to me even after all these years. In days gone by, about this time, I would have set myself some goals for the up-coming year. Some people call them New Year resolutions. I haven’t tended to do this since I retired but I do continue to have some sense of what I would want the future to be like. Which I believe is good for our mental health.
What I’m going to describe are more like values to live by than goals but I do think they’re helpful for those of us who, even after seven years of retirement, continue to be somewhat troubled by a lack of structure in our lives. These values are of course mine and are not offered here as examples for you the reader. You need to get your own.
As always with this mini-brainstorm just let the words come out on to a piece of paper (in my case this is ‘paper’ is my new diary, the perennial Christmas present from Mrs Summerhouse, as above). Just get them written down without any initial judgement or rewriting. Even if they seem initially bizarre, puzzling, impractical, etc. When you think they’re all there in front of you then write them into some kind of shape you can refer to / use for guidance as the year unfolds.
If they’re any good they should offer support regardless of what the year throws at you. And there’s nothing against rebranding them as the year unfolds. So what I’m offering here are my initial thoughts not necessarily the finished product. After I’d written them down and took a look at what I’d got I did write in my diary the following note – they do seem a bit like revisiting what I already know but maybe that’s because I’ve got them right already and should be happy with where I’m at*. Happy? Me? Doubt it.
So the words I wrote in uncensored order were – enjoyable / interesting events – learning / achievement – fun / relaxation – novelty / routine – creative / established skills – helpfulness / self-indulgence – exercise / out-doorness / hunker downness. There may be more later on.
The eagle-eyed among you might notice that some (not all) of the above pay homage to another of my key values that of balance. For example novelty versus routine. An apparent contradiction you may think. For me they’re just a couple of words to provide guidance when deciding about how well I’m using my time in my retirement. Have I got the balance between the two extremes?
All that remains from now on is to, lightly, ask myself what might I do today that fits within these parameters? Not in any driven way, you understand, this is after all a retirement blog not a career-development plan. If you’re a kick-back and enjoy your retirement, whatever comes along kind of person, that’s fine. You may still have a few words like the above but do no more than touch base with your guiding values every now and again. Just to make sure you’re on your right planet.
In summary then, while I don’t set myself targets / goals for the new year as I compulsively used to in time gone by, I think it’s still worthwhile (for my mental health, to repeat myself) to have some sense of what I would like to achieve in 2021 or at least what my guiding principles will be in choosing. At this stage I’ve got the latter in the days to come I might develop the former. Although in these days of probable complete lockdown, they will have to be flexible, if that is the word.
So here we go, just a short blog for a Friday, to get the New Year off to a good start. And incidentally back to my twice a week blogging routine. Let me take this opportunity of wishing all my readers a great new year from Mrs Summerhouse and myself and Archie and Millie of course.
*On Thursday morning (after writing this) my FB page offered this:
‘For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.’
TS Eliot
(and thanks to Steve and Robin for bringing it to my attention). Only thing is it did make me wonder if I should be coming up with some new words, ideas, goals, call them what you will. Should I be being more ambitious? Just one new thing for this year? I’ll get back to you.