2021 is here. The beginning of a new decade. A fresh start. A new beginning. An opportunity to close the wounds of the past and to look towards the future.
I, for one, am grateful 2020 is over. Mostly because it’s been a difficult year. It had its good and its bad, like all years do. But this one was special, as we all know it, because of the pandemic. Some days were stressful and others were relaxing. I’ve appreciated how the rhythm has slowed; there was still a lot of work to be done, but the pressure decreased. I feel that I’ve done more. I had taken more time to think and to research, to read and to understand. I may have also isolated myself and I’m not sure that it’s just a direct result of the pandemic.
I don’t know what this year will bring. I knew long before, and 2020 has only reinforced this lesson, that there are things we can’t change by ourselves or at all. No matter how much I wish something would happen, like ending this pandemic or having my father with us still, there is little to nothing that I can do to make it happen. But there are things we do control and that include, if we are privileged enough, how we spend our time and how we react to what is happening around and to us.
My plan for 2021 is to continue to do what I am doing, with small improvements in areas where I lacked focus for some reason or another.
My main focus will be on my work life and that’s why my word for 2021 is WRITING. I want to write more, read more and exercise more constantly. To me, these activities embody the spiritual practice, the cognitive practice and the body practice. Writing helps me know myself better, reading helps me understand the world better and exercising keeps me in balance. I can’t write without reading and exercising.
I will focus more on having fun this year, which implies reading in German, painting, writing on the blog on a weekly basis or walking outside. I will try to get my driver’s licence – even though this item keeps moving from one list to another since 2018, maybe this year I’ll actually go through the process again and finish it. For one thing, I seem to be more determined than I’ve been before, but let’s not hold our breaths just yet.
If it will be safe, we may take a trip to Vienna, as I want to see this city for so long. Reading the book Și ne vom întâlni de Crăciun reignited my desire. However, I am not going to force this. It will happen only if it’s actually safe to travel. Otherwise, home is fine too.
Something I need to get back under my control is how much time I spent on my phone. I like YouTube a lot lately, but I feel I need to be spending less time on the platform. Another thing I lost control over in the last couple of months is how much coffee I drink. Seriously, I need to stop after two cups a day. It’s not the main reason, but I am sure it plays an important part in why I lack good sleep lately.
The new thing I will be starting this year is the Book Club on nonfiction. I am wishing for a couple of years already to be part of a reading group thus I am taking the first step. For now, I will be reading and writing about books on my own, but I hope other people will start being interested and we’ll get to form a group. More information about this initiative is available by clicking HERE.
More or less, these are my plans for 2021. There are other goals and dreams too, but whether or not I reach them actually depends on how well I implement these plans. Entering a New Year is as good as any other moment to finally start taking the decisions that get you closer to living life the way you want. I do believe that being aware of how you want to live life and making small changes in your routines can lead to a more fulfilling life.
Whether or not you set any resolutions for 2021, I wish you or your dear ones a Happy New Year.
Make today count!