It was only when I was sharing pictures from the year gone on InstaStories yesterday that I realised how much was packed in to just 12 months. Events that I had sworn were years ago, or that I had forgotten about all together, popped up. It just goes to show that time really does fly. It genuinely feels like years since I was in college – my last day was only in May. I had to stop and think about what age I am yesterday – I turned 23 in July. Then there are highlights that I definitely won’t forget, like the Best of Wexford event in October or graduating in November. There are so many moments and events packed in to one year and I can’t believe it’s already a new year. As much as that sounds like a cliche – “I can’t believe it’s over already” – I really can’t!
The years definitely do seem to go by quicker as you get older. Time isn’t as defined by holidays on the calendar like when we were younger. You used to live for the summer holidays, then the mid-term, Christmas, Easter and then next thing you were getting ready to move in to a new classroom or a new year. Summer holidays lasted forever and even the weekends were a proper break. It seemed like you had all the time in the world but still couldn’t wait to grow up. Now it all just blurs in to one and there aren’t enough hours in the day. Well, for me it seems that way.
Working in retail, Christmas isn’t a holiday – it’s the time of year we look forward to the most. It’s extremely busy and the days begin to blend in to one. While others are relaxing, catching up with family and taking the days at their leisure, I survived on coffee, minimal sleep and passing greetings with people as I saw them in the street. I know what the ‘grown-ups’ used to mean now about not having enough time. Honestly, I could do with another 6 hours in every day, thanks! And this is coming from someone without children?! God!! 😧
I’m the type of person that is always looking forward; thinking about my next move; planning for the future. I guess that’s a downfall in itself as I often forget to enjoy the present and live in the moment. I’m sure that’s why a lot of those moments that I was reminded of from 2017 seem like a distant memories. I didn’t take the time to enjoy them or let it soak in. And even with all the great things that happened for me last year, there are things that people take for granted that I don’t know. Being someone with such driven is great – I know what I want, I make a plan and I get it. But there are some times that it becomes more like an obstacle and gets in the way. I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason and even in the negative, I try to seek the lesson in it. But damn it, sometimes the negatives are f*cking frustrating, right?! Positive and all as you may try to be, don’t you just wish that you had a crystal ball and you could see what the future has in store?
Well I already know what 2018 holds for me. While some people proclaim their dedication to their New Year’s resolutions – they’ll join the gym, they’ll spend more time with their families, they’ll save more money or spend less of it – I’m not even going to make a single resolution. It’s like the saying; If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. So I’m just going to allow 2018 come and go as 2017 did.
I’ll be exhausted in January;
optimistic in February;
scrambling to get my life together in March;
worried in April that the spring is nearly gone;
May is practically summer time;
spend June cursing myself that I didn’t join the gym in January;
July is my birth-month so drink and eat everything!;
try to squeeze the last bit of summer out of August;
everyone starts to knuckle down again in September (it is almost like going back to school again!!);
October – Hallowe’en – autumn – how did we get here so quickly?!;
the height of hysteria for Christmas all through November;
December is just the biggest, longest Friday of life;
and then I’ll be back here at the end of 2018 wondering what I even did with 365 days and even less enthused by the idea of a new year.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than ready for the new year and welcome it whole heartedly. 2017 was neither awful nor spectacular, so the change from one year to the next for me, right now, comes and goes. It’s like that saying, ‘Don’t wait for the new year to make positive changes in your life’. I believe that every morning is a fresh start and a new opportunity to change what I want to.
Wishing you and you family all of the happiness and health in the world for 2018 ✨
