Happy New Year and a New Month

Roasting in the New Year
(c) 2017 P. Lynne Designs

Happy New Year Everyone.

As usual, I had a different post for December 31, 2016, but got caught up in the festivities of the celebration.  So, I am turning this into something different.

2017, The Year of Making a Difference…

I mean it.  2016 had its charms, but let’s face it, for some, it was a difficult year.  There have been some surprise deaths in the celebrity world.  We lost a Prince, a Princess (Carrie Fisher), A lovely lady (Florence Henderson), and a Legion (Debbie Reynolds).  We lost singers (George Michael), a Droid (the person inside R2D2), and a whole host of others.  Some were unexpected, some were not.  All of them are not forgotten.  My lasting request is I hope they do not treat Prince’s massive music collection the way they have treated Michael Jackson’s and Elvis’s massive collection, but they will, after they get past the legal red tape, and they will say that he would want it that way. (As of this writing, Disney is trying to figure out how to deal with the Princess Leia character for the 2019 release of the last Star Wars movie-it’s complicated)

In addition to the celebrity world of surprised deaths in 2016, in the normal world (everyone else), we dealt with 5-year old’s who became president, ISIS finally admitting to the number of deaths around the world, and congress and the Republican Party having a tantrum every time President Obama wanted to pass or veto a bill.  At least Cuba is finally free of Fidel Castro. 

For some, it was a smooth year.  Everything they ever wanted worked out.  New homes, new cars, and new jobs.  Some got married or engaged.  Some opened businesses or reinvented their business.  Some people had one baby, two, or more.  Everything has been real smooth.

Most of us had a so-so year.  I am not going to recap what I have gone through, but I have lost some things, found out about some things, and some things remained the same.  For the most part, I just wanted 2016 to be over with.

What’s so good about 2017?

In case you have not noticed, 2017 is the beginning of something new, fresh, and wonderful.  It all depends on how you make it.   This is the year of change.  Change of habit, change of venue, and change of attitude.  I do not like the word resolution.  To me, resolution means I am going to do that new thing or change for only a few days, weeks, or months, then I am going to go back to the same old thing.  Resolutions are rituals.  Everyone does it, so I have to do it too.  Try the word “goal” or “change”. Don’t announce it, if you are not going to do it.  Just lose the weight, just organize, and just spend less.  You do not need the new year to do this. 

What is an Accountability Partner?

If you must announce it, announce it so you can have an accountability partner.  An accountability partner is someone who is going to hold you to a goal.  They are going to ask you if you are on target of reaching that goal.  For instance, I am going to use losing weight as a goal.  You want to lose 40 lbs., and it is December 31^st.  you cannot squeeze into your favorite pants, and you scream, “THAT’S IT, MY RESOLUTION IS TO LOSE 40 LBS.”  You tell everyone at the party, and January 1, 2017, you start.   As you gaze at your leftover Christmas sweets, the leftover New Year’s Eve party food, and the dinner you so perfectly prepared, you decide that you will start…. Next week.  That food looks too good to waste.  You said you would start that day, but can’t.  Start anyway.  

Now if you had said your goal is to lose 40lbs. during the course of the year, you can tell one or two people who you trust to be your partners, and they can check on you from time to time on your goal of losing weight.  They may even suggest ways on how to do it. 

Conclusion:

2016 is gone.  Do not try to figure out what went wrong.  Sometimes things happen to teach you something that you never knew.  My health has taught me that, just like my car accident taught me things in 2015.  The point is to move forward with your life.  Make a difference in someone else’s year, and yours will feel brighter.  My overall goal and I have said it in many of my past posts are to try something new this year.  Not just one thing, but many things.  Try a new cuisine, a new culture, a new adventure, a new hobby, and help somebody.  Notice I did not say or in that statement. 

I am going on a cruise this year.  My first one ever.  My parents have been on two.  I have tried and eaten the following cuisines (outside the American norm):  Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.  I have never been too keen on Indian, but I am willing to try again, as well as trying other cuisines.  I know many have been Americanized, but maybe the cruise will allow me to try much more.  For the rest, you will have to stay tuned, because I have lots to write about.  Many of the reviews and other stuff will be noted on an unnamed blog.  I will be finalizing and start in the next couple of week, and it will not be on Blogger.  It will piggyback from this blog, but I urge you to subscribe to it as well.

Well, all I can say from this point is Happy New Year.  Stay warm, especially in the states that receive the most frigid temps this side of the North Pole.  (Does anything ever happen in the South Pole?) I heard that it is supposed to be 18°F tomorrow in Columbus, so I guess I will not be going anywhere. (Oops, there is matter of the laundry, darn).  This year is just beginning, make it a good one.

2017 and Me….

(c) 2016 P. Lynne Designs
Some of the things I have done and have yet to do
again (like Disney and a Disney Cruise)

(Warning:  Some of the links below may contain affiliate information.  I may receive a commission for that link. For a full explanation, please see my disclosure page. Thank you.)

This is my current status on Facebook:

One little thing about me and 2017.... I spend spent the better part of Mid 2012 to now just doing the status quo and not experiencing what this city and surrounding areas had to offer. Some of the blame was on my finances, others were on my health (especially the last 5 months), and other issues. My first resolution of 2017 (yes, I am making it early #dontjudge #itsagoodone) is to do, see, hear, and experience something new. It may not be new, but it is new to me. I want to write about that experience (some of you have seen my blog posts), and let you know my reactions. I may have one new experience or I may have several. I may even ask some of my local FB friends to join me. It may be a new store, eating place, a play I have never seen, or a new area in my city. I may even video tape it.

I already have one place in mind in September. Stay tuned on what I write and video about with that. Who knows what 2017 may bring with that. it may even inspire me with a new product line. I am still too young to not do this, and Lord willing this is going to happen. Who knows, I may even find a man out of this experience of mine. Stay tuned. #lifeistooshort

The reason why I said this? 

 Yesterday, my left ankle started hurting again.  I did not do anything that I normally do, but it got progressively worst.  By 3:00pm EST today, I found myself crying of pain and frustration, mostly of frustration.  I have taken my medicine since it was prescribed by my doctor, but at one point last night, I was thinking, “I can never do anything.”  This was a cowardly way of me being frustrated all the time.  Of course, I can do things, just not in the way that I want to, or what I am accustom to.  As a huge Star Trek Voyager fan, Seven of nine would say, “adapt!” (I will explain my fandom of the show later, and well as being a fan of the 1970’s show, The Bionic Woman). 

Fun Fact:  Lindsay Wagner was one of many women who auditioned to play the role of Captain Katherine Janeway.

You cannot give up….

This is what I keep saying to myself every time a new challenge rises up, and one of my favorite songs at the moment is a song by Andra Day called Rise Up.  It is basically a song about not giving up. I am not giving up just because my foot decides to act up.  The purpose of this 2017 resolution (and I am not really calling that because of what the word represents) is to do things never before experienced before)

True fact:  I have never been on a date before, not even as a teen.

Dating is so foreign to me.  I have ridden through different places in my city, but I have never really stopped in an establishment in that area before, not ever for pop, or to go to the bathroom.  I have never bought a home or a car.  I have rented a place, I am living in a rented place now, and all my cars have been used, including the one I had my accident in last year (it was my mom’s) and the one I am driving now (it used to belong to a friend of my dad).  It is not like I want a car note or a mortgage, to see what it is like to have someone look at strange because they feel like I do not belong in the area, or I want to make mad passionate love, it is just it never dawned on me before.   Yes, I have said, “what about me”, but I never strived to make it happen before. 

I have done some challenges before.  I do have my own business, but no one to share it with.  I am not a mother.  If I were to die tomorrow, most of my stuff would go to my parents, siblings, and my niece and nephews.  I have no will.  I have been living like a college student who constantly taking classes to stay away from life.  I do not think that what I wanted when I turned 18.  

So, in other words, I am making 2017 like it is 1983. Are you surprised that I am that old?  I have never been on a cruise before. 

So, what have I done with my life since I turned 18 (1982)?  I have had jobs and I have left jobs. I do live on my own, even though I left my parent’s home at the age of 34 (when my oldest nephew was 3 years old.)

What are some the things you have never done before?  Comment below your answer if you want to.

Whatever the challenge is in the past, make an attempt to do it in 2017, unless it may harm you.  Set out, and make a plan.  Don’t just start something without a plan.  Figure what is it going to take in order for you to achieve that goal.

In addition to the doing something new that I never done or seen before, I also want to up my writing goal.  I realize that until I am motivated, I am not going to do a post every day.  So, my attempt is to comment to once a week.  If I am in the mood or really have something to say, then my readers will see more than one post a week.

If you have gotten this far in my post, you have learned something new about me.  So thank you for reading this post.  I will write at you later.