Reflecting on the year that was 2016

While the world has had some horrible disasters in 2016, I don’t want to dwell on them as it is depressing, so am writing about my internal life and what I have learnt this year and intend taking into 2017.

First, it is impossible to get along with everyone, whether they be family, friends or acquaintances. It is best to just go with the flow and let that nasty, hateful, slime-ball make a fool of himself trying to put me down.

Second, I am spending too much time on social media. I always intended it to be morning and evening but have found that lately morning goes all the way through until night with only a break to eat. Even when I do make an effort to only check in the morning and evening, if I do have a few minutes to spare I can’t help myself. Then that few minutes goes into hours… so 2017 is the year I will time limit social media — maybe.

With my husband retiring in July, I now realise how many cups of tea he drinks. He always wants to put the jug on when I am in the kitchen near it. Not much I can do about it though.

Painting and decorating our house for sale is much more of a task than first thought. It has taken months to paint one room. The man can’t get down low to do skirting boards because of the arthritis in his hip and knees and I have a fear of heights. The skirting boards look great by the way. There are only eight more rooms to go. I have learnt that you can’t rush perfection.

The pendulum has swung the other way and I now go to more funerals than weddings, so I treasure my friends, both old and new.

On the subject of health, I have been very lucky this year. I had a shocker the previous year with broken bones. This year I have only had two major falls and haven’t broken a bone. I’ve only been to the doctor once this year and that was due to feeling dizzy. The doctor said I have the blood pressure of a teenager. I would gladly swap for the looks, movement and memory of a teen. The coming year will be the year I get my balance in order. My hope for those who have a major health issue is that a cure will be found.

How memory fails me. Words escape me. An example is that I got floaters in an eye after I had cataract surgery this year. I went to my optometrist to make sure it was what I thought it was, but forgot the word and called them ‘swimmers’. My sister and I seem to be trying to outdo each other on the long slow road to Alzheimer’s disease. At least we still laugh about it. No cure as yet so not much we can do.

I must acknowledge my passion against any sort of cruelty to animals. I have watched documentaries this year on how chickens and animals are treated prior to ending up on our plates. I have never been a great meat eater and am seriously thinking of becoming vegetarian. I used to be a vegetarian in my 20s and gave it up for convenience when travelling. I will do some research into substitutes to ensure a varied diet. I have yet to tell the man though — he won’t give up his meat and will think I have finally gone stark raving mad.

Finally, I have to be more aware that not everyone shares my sense of humour. The look on that poor girl’s face when I asked her in the bakery if that cream bun was the diet variety was priceless. I need to think before I speak (according to two of my children, the other shares my humour). I will try, but then I may not end up speaking at all.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2017.

What have you learnt throughout 2016? Share your thoughts with us.

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