New Year's revolution

Happy New Year! And here’s to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017 for everyone everywhere.

Here are my New Year’s resolutions:

1. lose weight

2. give up rest time to exercise

3. give up sugar

4. stop worrying

5. give up alcohol

6. cut down on money spent on going out

Good, eh? If I do all that I’m sure I’ll feel better.

Come on! What’s wrong with this picture? ‘Give up’, ‘stop’, ‘lose’, ‘cut down’, that’s what. Have you ever seen anything more soul destroying?

It’s natural that the new year is a time of reassessment and, yes, of reining in, but it’s also natural that midwinter is a time of rest and restoration in preparation for spring. So while it might be tempting to get up at 6 and go leaping about at the gym, go on extreme diets and stop seeing your friends, it’s not what your body needs and, by extension, not what your soul needs either. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make changes, it just means thinking about them a bit differently.

What we need is a New Year’s revolution.

This is mine (it’s very complicated):

1. be nice to me

There.

This means listening to myself, making time for myself and spending time on myself. What would I thank me for this winter? I would thank me for a yoga class that stretches out my stiff joints and makes me feel and sleep better. I would thank me for some acupuncture treatment to help alleviate stress and worry. I would thank me for maybe letting go of that Christmas sugar and getting back on track with good nutritious food. And I would thank me for a walk with mates and a cup of tea costing exactly zero pence. These are not chores or things that I’m denying myself, these are gifts from me to me and things that will make me feel better, body and soul.

So go with whatever is good for you but also makes you happy this New Year and remember to thank yourself for being so lovely.

Long live the revolution!