Who would have thought that in December the biggest challenge of all in 2023 would be getting my Mum to see the New Year, with the Trek13 and 70 days at 60 having occupied my daily life for much of the year.
Well fortunately for the family and thanks to the cardiology team at the Royal Stoke, it's looking like she will fully recover. The pacemakers fitted, the diabetes is under control and the kidney function is improving.
The upshot of all that on a personal level is that I haven't set foot in a gym for almost a month, my eating has varied from structured to downright disordered and any thoughts of long term sobriety sorely tested.
So here we are 2024 and as of yet I have no challenge in mind for the year ahead and strangely that's not as daunting as I expected. I am someone who needs a target, a goal, something tangible on the horizon to focus on and aim for and yet not having anything to fixate on is almost liberating.
"What" I hear you cry aghast, no charity challenge this year?. Well yes, that would seem to be the best way to fully reset and just focus on me and mine. I might see the chance to do a little locally based fundraising, stuff like midnight walk or race for life that kind of thing but no major event this year.
However I am also aware that I need to stay active, fit and healthy so I shall be back in the gym later today, I shall still be tracking my calorie intake and I shall still be striving for strength gains, cardio fitness and endurance.
I am taking a very different approach to this year. It's more a case of just being in a happy place and see where that leads. There will be small targets and mini challenges but no grand objectives or sweeping statements.
Most of all I am going to enjoy what I do rather than endure it. I have a 4 night Iceland trip on the 19th, hopefully seeing the Northern Lights and, if it's reopened following the volcanic activity, a soak in the thermal spa that is the Blue Lagoon so that's something to look forward to.
I want to make this year fun for me, so I'm going to be trying stuff like having 3 meat free days a week or 5 alcohol free days a week, trying plant based for a while, doing some yoga, trying a new sport, or maybe even renewing my coaching badges and getting back on the training paddocks of rugby. I might even start that book I've been meaning to write.
The one thing I'm not doing this year is getting wound up by things that simply are not important. In the words of James.
"Caught by the undertow my life is out of control. I believe this wave will bear my weight so let it flow."
Have a brilliant New Year
Mark
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