New Year, new me??

So it’s official, it’s the New Year.  The Christmas decorations are down (well mostly, that reindeer can stay up another year), the mince pies have been replaced in the seasonal aisle (in my local supermarket with a the intriguing mashup of half price earphones and kitchen implements), and we’re firmly into that dreaded month of long nights & no money that is January. What joy!

It is also, as we are grimly reminded by every newspaper lifestyle section or blog, that is time for the New Year Resolution. Whoohooo! (note the sarcastic tone). Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been a fan of The Resolution… apart from maybe that one resolution that President Bartlet vetoed in series 5 in order to send the federal government into shutdown. A great episode, but enough of my West Wing obsession. Previously I have never stuck to plans, never made goals for fear of not achieving them, I have scorned the New Year Resolution with a will & determination not dissimilar to that of President Bartlet (ok, I’ll stop now). But this year it might, just might, be time for a change…. If only I knew what to pick.

In a spurt of non festive cheer on New Year's Eve, Google released their most searched for ‘How To’s’ of 2015. The number one query was ‘how to get rid of stress’, and as I don’t think that applies to me more than any other Londoner battling their way through rush hour wearing a facial expression akin to Genghis Khan on a particularly deathy day, I don’t think it’s going to make my top three.  Ditto numbers 2 (‘How To Make Kale Chips’ - FFS everyone, they’re on sale in Sainburys, stop clogging up Google with your superfood queries), 5, 6, 8 & 9 (how to cook lentils, cabbage, collard greens & broccoli – damnit people, just buy a friggin cookbook!). Number 10 appeals to me (how to crochet a beanie) if only for the crafty factor, but I’ve never looked good in a beanie, so that’s out the window too.

Thus I am at a loss. Google has failed me. Instead, I fear I must turn to myself. What do I want from 2016? Well, as regular readers/friends/anyone who has met me will be well aware, a dog is high on my priority list. A regular furry little friend, complete with hairy brows and droopy moustache, as well as a name still to be decided. Also, as detailed in a previous blog, I’ve gotten back out there in the dating world with some marginal degree of success (no one ask me to define 'marginal' please). So that’s one resolution if not ticked, then at least scrubbed at a bit with a pencil. And at the risk of sounding like a Nana, I would like to learn to knit. Knitters look so happy with their nimble fingers, and clacky needles, and it would give me the chance to complete my Christmas 2014 gift of a Knit Your Own Dog kit I currently have out purely as decoration. I’d also like to kick some ass at Fantasy Football, if only for the ‘I know nothing about football and am still kicking the boys various asses’ factor.

  

Are these all achievable? Who knows? Let me report back in a year’s time, but the fact is that naming one’s goals and resolutions does, in a very Dr Who style way, give credence to them. It is the first step on manifesting them into real life, actual achievements. So wish me luck peoples, and god speed. Because every step I take in achieving my goals, is one step closer to that dog chewed & fur festooned, badly knitted fantasy football scarf that you’ll be getting for Christmas 2016. And frankly, who could argue with that?