Ring out the Old, Ring in the New

Happy New Year. It's good to be blogging again and I hope that these early weeks of 2014 have proved a positive beginning, with the sense of hope and change that accompanies the start of a new year still resonating.

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This year, I have decided that it's the small changes that are going to make the biggest difference and I am using watchwords rather than resolutions to keep myself on track: to be mindful, grateful and that little bit braver.

Photo: Pinterest

One of the reasons I took a break from my blog at the end of last year was because the sadness that I was dealing with due to the loss of my much-missed father became a weight that I was constantly carrying around with me and I was simply concentrating on getting through the days, keeping going and hiding my emotions, without giving myself the time to process my feelings. If my blog is where I voice and share my thoughts, then I didn't want to go there - I preferred silence.

Photo: Pinterest

Meryl has a point, and I've realized that's precisely what I've not been doing - in trying to keep my emotions in, I've been closing myself off, which is no good for anyone, least of all me.  But I've found that if I am mindful of the present and grateful for what I have, the weight lifts a little and I feel more able to re-engage.  This year I am determined to be happy, I want to take chances, accept the challenges and be the best person I can be - as a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a friend. Sounds simple, but it's so much harder in practice.  

So whilst the sadness is still there, I think it's going to be OK - I can take it out, look at it, cry if I need to and then put it away, and get on with my life. Tennyson wrote a wonderful poem called 'Ring out Wild Bells' and it contains the lines: "Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more." And it continues: "Ring out the old, ring in the new, ring happy bells, across the snow: the year is going, let him go..." So here's to letting go, to being happy, and to a new year full of promise.  I look forward to sharing it with you.