New Beginnings

It is 22 years since my husband and I gave up smoking and that truly brought about new beginnings. With the money we saved we began to have two or three holidays a year and travel to places that would have been out of reach to us previously. This was not as a result of a New Years Resolution on my part as I knew that was a step too far. How many of us make brave and bold resolutions at the start of a new year but are unable to carry them through after a few weeks.

In 1999 my husband told some friends that we were giving up smoking in the year 2000. I was horrified as I had no compunction to give up the addiction I enjoyed. He however did, as sadly his poor Mother had died at 40 and he was going be 40 in the year 2000. He asked me to support him in his endeavour as he felt he would be unable to give up on his own. He set the date of 7th January for us to begin our journey. The only way I could rise to the challenge was not to make it a New Year Resolution as I knew I would fail but rather to give up before him. This I managed to do before the end of the year and 22 years later I am so pleased I did. The moral of this story is new beginnings and changes to lifestyle can be put in place anytime of the year. I will always be grateful to the decision my husband made for both of us and commend him for his strong will.

Use the start of a new year to plan new beginnings rather than try and rush to put them in place at a time of year when things are gloomy, dark and difficult. Rather than try to keep New Year Resolutions plan for changes in the future. Embrace the thought of new beginnings. The Spring is a good time for implementation because the sap begins to rise, the nights get lighter and our hearts are beating in time with the Universe.