Start as You Mean to Go On

There's an old British expression that says, "Start as you mean to go on." It a nutshell, it says that however you begin, is how you will continue on going so you might as well give it your best effort from the get-go. In regards to the new year starting, whatever habits you put into place now will stick with you for the rest of the year if you are committed to making them work.

Being in education, it's hard to envision January as the start of the year. School starts at the end of August and by the time January rolls around we are almost at the half-way mark. The best time for putting new habits into place if your calendar revolves around a school year is during those first weeks of school.

Still, there is something very rewarding about putting a fresh new calendar into the holder. All of those blank squares just filled with the promise of outings, appointments, hopes and dreams. All of the days that hold the potential to be filled with enrichment, or disappointment. The choice that needs to be made in January, is "How do I want this year to look?" I spent a few posts already talking about that, so I won't go there again.

We started out the new year with a family trip to the movies to see The Hobbit. It was supposed to be our last day of vacation, and I wanted us to do something fun. It was a great movie, and we had a grand time. We came home to a news report promising junky weather and icy roads and a flicker of hope sparked inside of me. Could we be so lucky as to have a snow day on Thursday? Sure enough, school was cancelled Thursday, and again Friday due to that same storm and frigid temperature. We gained two more days to spend together before Corey had to leave back to college. We played Doctor Who monopoly, watched some movies, and just enjoyed each others company. It may have been the laziest vacation ever, but it was restful, and relaxing and enjoyable. A nice way to end the year, and a better way to start the new one.

This week we are back to work, my college courses have started back up, and Corey left on Wednesday. I am trying to get into a more productive routine, but the weather and the work load is getting the best of me, so I am doing the best I can. There are some things that need attention, a few things that need to get back onto the schedule, and some things that need to get off of it. Work continues to be a crabby situation for at least two more weeks, but there's a light in the darkness of the winter. It's January, and so far, there are no signs of winter depression setting in. I don't know if it's the 1,000 IU's of Vitamin D3 I am taking on top of my daily multivitamin or what, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I am going to call this week an "adjustment week", and get back into my groove next week.

I mean to go on like a champion.