I love this quiet time between Christmas and New Year’s. Work pauses for two weeks. I stay up late watching all the Harry Potter movies and sleep in the next morning. Everything moves at a slower pace. I forget what day of the week it is - it’s glorious.
I also get a chance to reflect and set intentions for the new year and this year, I get to reflect and set intentions for the new decade. What a decade it’s been. Ten years ago, I was about to graduate college and decide what I wanted my first job to be. I was 21, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and so badly wanted to be with Steve. That meant moving back to Illinois, and I worked hard to find a job there. So set the course for the next decade. I moved from public relations to marketing, from marketing into tech. My relationship with Steve strengthened, not without its ups and downs, of course. Over time, we learned to better communicate, to really listen and acknowledge each other. 2010 to 2020 came with momentous occasions (buying a home, getting married, introducing a puppy into our family, going on epic vacations, achieving dream jobs). The decade also came with heartbreaking lows (losing grandmothers, making a long distance relationship work, watching our loved ones grow old). Sometimes, I get bogged down by the negatives. But as I look back, I realize that the positives have outweighed the negatives.
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, I usually set intentions each year to eat healthy, workout and meditate every day, lose weight, get promoted. The typical, societal goals most people want. I’ve learned that a strict diet makes me binge more later, that going on a hike is more uplifting than lifting weights, that getting promoted is a temporary happiness. I want to focus less on things and numbers and more on intention and mindset.
As I enter the new decade, I want to:
Be kinder in the way I speak to myself.
Let go of perfection and focus on intention.
Make plans but be okay if they sometimes break.
Be open to originality.
Be a good mother.
Leave room for magic.
In many ways, I’m terrified of the next ten years. In the next decade, I’ll turn 40 (which feels very far away right now). Deep down, I’m dreading wrinkles and grays, lumps, bumps, and becoming plump. I’m anxious about growing a family, figuring out where to do it, and being a patient parent. I’m worried about losses and heartbreaks and how I’ll deal with them. I’m scared of climate change, pollution, and the state of the world.
Breathe. Just breathe. Take it day by day.
Everything will be absolutely fine.
