Ringing in the New Year

Another year gone.

It's not been a good one, in all honesty. It's had some truly wonderful moments within it, of course; but I feel like I've been in survival mode for a while now. The pandemic might have been the start of it. Losing John, and Marc, and Jane, alongside plenty of other bits of bad news, have only extended the feeling that I have been getting by getting by day by day.

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Tonight, New Year's Eve, we watched a small but perfectly formed and rather wonderful firework display. Marc wished for his ashes to be put in fireworks. His cancer diagnosis was such a shock, and his death so sudden - but this was exactly right for him. Fireworks; going out with a bang.

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If you'd told me a year ago that running would be the thing that got me through the worst of 2023, I'd have laughed. I was running then - training for a charity half-marathon, and not exactly enjoying it, but working hard. Now, I'm not sure where I'd be without it, and I don't want to completely stop. That said, 2024 is all about the walking, and I need to train just as hard for these challenges as I did for my races.

I must have been on Santa's nice list, because I got some lovely gifts for Christmas to aid that training. Here are the Alt-berg boots which will be my best friends throughout all of the challenges in 2024, and some brilliant Merrell sandals with good soles for any non-technical walking in the heat. A boot-cleaning kit for the Alt-bergs is on its way using Christmas money, as these boots are re-soleable, so if I'm careful, I should never need an entirely new pair.

I also got a winter and a summer hat from the project's clothing webshop, so I can start wearing them for training walks - I love them! The keyring belonged to Jane, and I never saw her without it on our DofE expeditions. I'll be taking it with me and carrying it with pride, as well as using some of the camping equipment she left to us.

So here it is; the end of 2023, and the start of an exciting new adventure with 2024. If the last few years have taught me anything, it's that rubbish things can happen, and I can't control that; but I can control my response to it. I can decide how I want to live, despite what comes my way. I'm not generally one for resolutions, but this year, I'm making one. That's what this project is all about: doing things while we have the chance. Because life is about more than just surviving. And in 2024, I choose to not just survive, but thrive.

So to aid my training, and in the spirit of In Their Honour, my New Year's Resolutions are these:

1. to do at least 10,000 steps every day, and

2. to go for a walk every single day (unless I go for a run). I want to get out of the house and go for a walk, not to the shops, or to run an errand: just to walk for the sake of walking, or run for the sake of running. It's easy to make excuses - I've had a long shift, I'm back at work tomorrow, it's raining, I've run out of time. But walking is good for our minds and bodies, and it's good training for these multi-day hikes.

3. one more for luck - a looser resolution: to use my rest days well. Not just sit, or rest, or do housework, but get out and walk and explore. Meet people, join groups, and see some of this beautiful country we call home.

Here goes, then. Let's raise a glass to absent friends, and ring in the New Year with optimism and positivity.

Cheers, one and all. Here's to new adventures in 2024!