2023 was not a year of great achievements, but it was one of the most content years I’ve had. Life has felt pretty good, but I am also aware that there are a lot of things I need to get on with. So here are a few things I’m looking at doing in 2024.
Health/Running
Long-distance running was one of the great pleasures in my life. I took it up in my 30s but had to stop due to a recurring hip injury. During 2023 I started seeing a new physiotherapist and actually doing the exercises I was set. Now I need to move onto the second stage of this, which is to begin running, starting with a couch-to-5k programme. I also need to put much more effort into my diet as I’m carrying a couple of extra stone which seem more persistent than in the past.
When I come to the end of the year, I like to look back at my monthnotes and see how the year shaped up. There are patterns to daily life that cannot be seen day-to-day. And the main thing I’ve seen is exactly how much of 2023 was blighted by feeling awful. Headaches, tiredness, exhaustion. This has been an issue throughout my life, even when I was at school, and I’ve explored many of the possible causes. Caffeine and alcohol contributed, and I’ve cut out both of those. I now try to sleep eight hours a day, but even that is not enough. When I feel OK, it’s easy to ignore how wretched my headaches feel, and how often they come. But I can’t keep going on like this.
Writing
I’ve always struggled with writing, and I’m not sure if it improves my life or whether the effort I spend on it would be better spent on my career. The main focus for my writing in 2024 is the kickstarter for True Clown Stories. And, after that? Well, I’ve always wanted to write a novel, but I’ve also seen that as a waste of time, given the odds against being published – but I’m not sure I should be basing the decision on the odds of ‘success’ rather than the joys of working on something. In 2024, I want to look at making writing much more fulfilling.
Social Media
I’ve spent a lot of time in 2023 clicking through social media platforms. I’m not sure how well-spent that time was – I certainly find it hard to think of any benefits I have had from being involved in these sites recently. The main things that keep me going back are FOMO and a fear that I’ll lose a community – but the latter is ridiculous given how little engagement I get from these platforms anyway. Twitter is nothing like what it was in 2010.
So, for a few months at least, I am going to cut back on reading social media platforms. Particularly since the blogging revival seems to be gaining momentum, and I’m seeing more personal posts on my RSS reader.
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