The end of the 'NEW' year!

31 December 2023

 This is the last day of 2023 & the final day of my 'new' year! On 1/1/23 I decided I wanted this to be the year of 'new' things ; places I wanted to go, goals I wanted to achieve, pushing myself harder, to stop saying 'I should have done that before", or "I'll do that one of these days"or " I don't think I could ever do that!" ( yes, I have said ALL of these on copious occasions!)

This year, I wanted to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Here's my list ( some things you may think are a bit odd & your list of 'goals' will be completely different)

* Be a part of a Lily Jo Project video ( I have a keen interest in my daughter's mental health charity & wanted to be 'there' amongst the action!)

The lily jo project

* Run 5k with my son ( we had talked about this for three years Since I had started Couch to 5k!)

* Plank for three minutes ( my pilates teacher kept telling me I could do this, so I wanted to give it a try)

* Raise some cash for the LilyJo Project by skipping 50 skips every day for one month

* Read a Jane Austen book  (After a conversation with a friend, & not reading any of her books at school, I realised I had never read any of her novels!)

* A month of gratitude

Since chemo, I have been grateful for small things, so I wanted to find one per day for a month)

* Book a New year break

I have never been away at this time of year before & neither has my hubby, so we decided to do it!

* Have a coffee with someone in the 'goals for year' group I didn't know..

This is always good & stretches our communication skills!

* Run a 5k at Media City

Not ran an official 'run' since before chemo, so I wanted to give this a go with my running buddy

So, did I achieve all these & what did I learn?

As you can see from this photo, I am writing this from the lovely Harrogate where we managed a session at Turkish Baths yesterday, so I DID book my New year away.😁

My daughter wrote a book 'Talking to children about mental health' & she invited me to the video promotion for this. It was great to see what happens behind the scenes & how much time & effort is made.😁

My son was happy to spend an hour one Saturday & I loved running with him ( since chemo, this was the furthest I had done, too)😁

I borrowed a book from a friend but after one chapter, decided I didn't like it!! The language was too 'old' & hard to understand..😬

The coffee with my new goals group member was lovely & we both took away something positive from it. 😁

My 5k run had to be cancelled due to a foot injury two weeks prior to this!! My physio informed me there was no way I could run as it would make it worse!😬

My skipping was a huge success. After getting back into the technique ( thanks to my friend...) I managed to increase to 50 skips.😁

The plank was really tough & I had to take two months of building up ( adding 5 seconds longer each day), but I eventually did it😁

My month of gratitude was the hardest ! Yes, can you believe it!? I began by thinking of big achievements to be thankful for, when in reality, it's the small things I take for granted sometimes 🙏 

So, to summerize my year, I learn-

Don't be too hard on myself 👍 (there will be another opportunity to run my 5k )

Don't expect to like everything you try 👍

( my Jane Austen book wasn't for me, & that's okay....)

I CAN Push myself harder! 👍

( it doesn't take too much more effort to achieve. Five seconds per day got me to THREE minutes so every little helps!!)

It's fine to ask for help👍

 ( I wouldn't have achieved my year without accountability partners & friends alongside me, spurring me on)

Get out of my comfort zone!👍

( Nothing is achieved by sitting thinking about it! We booked our Air B&B in advance so we knew it would be done!)

THANKS! to all who have helped me through 2023!💪

My 24 will be even stronger & I'm ready for more NEW things/ challenges...

Long blog but hey, you read it to the end 🥳

Happy New Year!!