New Year, New Me?

I don't know if you get excited about having a fresh start in the New Year as much as I do, but let's chat about it!

The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year—though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted. During a massive 12-day religious festival known as Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises could be considered the forerunners of our New Year’s resolutions. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor—a place no one wanted to be. For more information on when New Year's resolutions began you can read that here.

So, creating these New Year's Resolutions isn't something new by any means. Every year millions of people set out with good intentions to make changes in their lives to better themselves, to not only find themselves deeper in debt, weighing heavier, drinking more, reading less, and not making any financial steps forward by the end of the year.

There are easy ways to not do that. It is to simply do what you set out to do, or play it safe and not make any resolutions at all! LOL. Sadly, I have done all of that and even self sabotaged myself year after year. This year is different for me though. I am not playing it safe anymore. Life is too short, and we only get so many years where we can truly chase our dreams. This is my time to do such things. Let's face it, I am not raising a family anymore, my kids are grown. I don't have a husband to look after, or even to take into consideration when chasing my dreams anymore (God rest his soul), but what I do have is me. Is a desire to expand my horizons, and a burden to get out there and live life!

So, I thought, why not share my New Year's Resolutions with you all, publicly. Why not? What do I have to lose? Nothing! What do I have to gain? Self respect as I cross each one of them off, and maybe some respect from the naysayers out there who only look for people to fail. So this is my list! I'd love to read yours!

1. Write something of value every single day in 2023 and document some of it for Writing with Sheila Youtube Channel. It could be a blog post for A life worth loving ( this blog), a chapter in a current WIP (work in progress) or a valuable social media post. (So basically writing 365 days for the year)

2. Read 2 books a month. One non fiction, one fiction in the least. That is at least 24 books for 2023!

3. Regain strength & independence in walking again. There is nothing holding me back by myself, and that is not an option anymore. Eventually I'd like to be able to run a 5k in Houston's 2023 Turkey Trot.

4. Gain 100 Coaching Clients.

5. Start my podcast.

6. Purchase new livingroom furniture and barstools.

7. Have the backyard fence replaced & front yard flower beds redesigned.

8. Go on a vacation somewhere for a solo writing retreat.

9. Consider a crowd funding for a bookstore with a small cafe

10. Gain monetary income on Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram.

That's it! There are other things I would love to add, but if I get through #3 I will consider this year a win! Being unable to go out and explore is driving me insane! Not really, but as Winter turns to Spring, I hope to find myself outside walking, and maybe even running! This is a hefty list, but one I have plenty of time to work on. 362 more days to be exact!