The new year is here. How will you begin the first of
these 365 days?
My family (me, my husband, Joe, and our daughter, Amanda) launched our "festivities" yesterday at 4:30 in the afternoon. We went out to Maggiano's (an Italian restaurant)
for a delicious dinner. We decided to take the earlier time slot available so we wouldn't be out driving too late afterwards. It was lovely.
When we arrived home, We put on our PJs, lit the
fireplace, snuggled on the sofa, and watched New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest. We stayed up to watch the ball drop... "east coast midnight," which is 11:00 p.m. in Wisconsin and rang in the new year together.
This morning, I am feeling gratitude for my family and friends, my GON subscribers (I'm so grateful to you, beautiful GON reader), my warm home, the food in the fridge ready to grab for a quick breakfast, the car in our garage, and all of our other blessings.
Amanda is working this morning at the YMCA pool for a few hours. She's a lifeguard and is home from college for break. She'll be home for another glorious two weeks!
I'll be using that time (around 3 hours) to sit at Starbucks...alone with my journal and pen. While enjoying a cup of coffee, I'll be jotting down ideas for both my personal, family, and business life.
Every year, my goal is to write 25 to 50 new ideas and then I begin working on one or two of those on January 2. These could range from something new I want to learn, possible family vacation thoughts, article ideas for this newsletter, a potential social media post...anything goes.
I like doing this at the coffee shop because then I'm not distracted by laundry that may need to be done, or other home tasks.
Later in the day, I'll making Italian paninis for my family to enjoy. We will be eating, while sitting on the sofa and using snack tables in the living room, this year and watching a movie or two together.
This first day of the year is not going to be rushed, busy, or stressful.
Instead, it is going to be a day to welcome the blank page we've just opened (not everyone got to open that book today), to think up (and jot down) new ideas, and to mindfully appreciate the pureness of the new year.
