Hello, 2018. I thought it would be nice to see you, however for some reason, me and you just aren't quite getting along. We are currently 18 days into the New Year and I have been poorly for 11 of those, 11 and counting and it is showing no signs of any let up just yet. I feel like a failure already in 2018, it is silly but I had so many high expectations and it just feels as though I have crashed and burned into a sea of tissues and olbas oil.
Like most I love the idea of the New Year, it really does feel like the perfect opportunity to start again, to put the last twelve months behind you so that you can look forward to new beginnings. Unfortunately, the reality of this has far from materialising. Despite good intentions, there has been quite a bit out of my control, particularly in respect of being so poorly lately and being so exhausted from that. As a family, we have also had some really sad news which we knew was coming, however losing a family member is never easy to accept. We sadly said our last goodbyes to a family member last night after a long illness and if I am honest it hasn't quite registered just yet. So far 2018 has sucked.
Unlike most years, I haven't set myself any targets as such this year. There are no goals to aim for really as I often find that I never really hit them or that I end up losing motivation or simply forgetting that I set them in the first place. Instead of setting goals, I have just picked out a few things that I would like to work on this year in my own time, there is no rush to achieve these as they are based upon self-improvement.
In 2018 I want to learn how to relax more and to simply stop stressing over things which are so often out of my control. I know that may sound a little bit silly, but I think I have forgotten how to. These days I cannot sit down and watch an episode of Eastenders without picking up my phone, it has become really noticeable to me now, therefore, I need a way to switch off. I am always working whether it be for my actual job, studying for my LLM or working on my blog. Back before I started university in 2012 I was a real book worm, I read so many books and yet in the last five years, I have read hardly any in comparison. Therefore this year I really need to get back into the habit of it. It makes such a difference to your evening going to bed after reading for just 30 minutes instead of scrolling aimlessly through twitter, and plus, there are so many amazing authors and stories out there to discover.
On a lighter note, I really want to try and improve my photography more this year. I am not too sure how to go about that really, it is only me and my camera however if you have any tips or useful resources that you have stumbled upon for a lone ranger with a camera then please do forward them on to me.
I would like to explore more and take more photos when out and about. That will mean that I need to actually start taking my camera with me and not resorting to using my mobile phone all of the time.
Did you set yourself any goals this year? No matter how small or even how big, I would love to read about them and any blog posts that you have published. Link me up, I would like to discover some new reads this year.