Well for me the year is just beginning as I came to the end of the tax return silly season last weekend and can start to get cracking with some new marketing and get back to the gym.
But for most people the year is already 10% over. Think about it. Are you getting things done that you wanted to and intended to do, or are you coasting along doing the same old things that you did last February. There is an episode of the comedy 30 Rock where Tina Fey’s character reads her diary from the previous year and decides it’s been telling the future a year in advance. For most of us (me included) nothing much really changes. And to be fair, in order to function properly we do end up in routines and we have to plan for the future and arrange for things to happen when they should. But there is a difference between necessary routine and being in a rut.
When we were children time seemed to run more slowly and I am sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that we were more curious and creative back then. Not needing to worry about next week or next month gave us more freedom, as did not worrying about the past (as we didn’t really have pasts as kids). Now as adults we do need to plan for the future and it’s nice to look back on our achievements but people do have a tendency to dwell on the past and worry about the future to an unhelpful degree.
How about spending more time in the present; being aware of what’s going on around us; and maybe applying the Danish notion of “hygge”; making lots of small happy moments daily instead of waiting for the big ticket things like a holiday. Making ourselves happier every day and not wishing our time away as we wait for happiness in the future.