Plus je vieillis ...


One of my friends shared the Jamie Lee Curtis quote a while ago on FB, and, basically, it set my head thinking a lot.

This year has been full of drama of various kinds, not least because of all the chaos caused by COVID.  As a result, this year has been hard.  Really hard.  Between juggling expectations, the constant moving goalposts, as well as general family life, this year has been one I don't ever want to repeat.

I've learnt a lot about me though too.  And some of the things that I've learnt are that I am actually a lot tougher than I ever believed.  Yes, it's not always been an easy ride, and getting to the middle of December has been a roller coaster of epic proportions, but, generally, I have come out of it mentally tougher than I went in.

I was struck by Jamie Lee Curtis' sentiments.  They pretty much sum up what I want out of life; to relax in my own home, surrounded by people who are supportive and that I know I can turn to when I need to, without fear of being ignored or treated badly.  

What I don't need is the added stress of trying to maintain friendships and relationships with people who are only interested in being there when times are good.  Those who are only interested in friendship on their terms, when it suits them.  If I don't feel that I can talk openly and honestly with someone, do I really need them in my life?  

Some would say that there are some relationships that you have to maintain regardless.  I'd agree that there are some for which the door needs to remain ajar, but that doesn't mean that it needs to be kept wide open if that particular relationship is ultimately having a negative impact on your day to day life.  

2020 has been an eye opener for many of us I guess, not just for me. Over the past 9 months I have become increasingly aware of which of my social interactions I actually miss. Which people I miss interacting with face to face.  Which activities I want to re-start once restrictions allow, and which I am quite happy to consign to history.  Not everyone will agree with my choices, as we are all coming out of this having had time to think, to step back, and to adjust our own priorities.  

I'm looking forwards to, and hoping, that in 2021 I get to catch up with those people whose company I have missed this year. And make more of a consistent effort to keep in touch with those who live too far away to visit regularly.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When school feels a bit like the Hokey Kokey

It's been a while since I last wrote a blog post. Mainly because, as a family, we've spent most of our time together. In the house, juggling work, study, playing with a baby and home teaching a 7yo.  Like most families, that juggling act has taken a bit of time to get used to. But we've got there. With a bit of 'ooops' when you've got 3 TEAMS meetings overlapping 🙈 Now though, it seems that we are facing being forced to send our children back to school*. And, here in Wales at least, the threat of an extended school term, taking away our children's relaxation time because someone, somewhere, has decided that they are 'behind'. Behind what exactly? OK, we, as a society might have to concede that many of our children aren't currently keeping up with the target driven curriculum that has been constructed for them.  And yes, there will be a minority of children who really do need additional intervention that is realistically only possible in a school...
Read more

Lockdown Christmas

Image
  This year, getting to Christmas has been tough.  For someone who usually throws themselves at the festive season with gusto, this year has seemed a lot like a damp squib, for many reasons. This year, it's my eldest's Dad's turn for actual Christmas day.  And that means that she will miss most of her sister's first Christmas day.  OK, her sister probably won't remember.  But she will.  So we'd planned to do lots of the fun Christmas stuff before the day itself.  Except COVID had other ideas.  And our pre-Christmas out of the house activities were curtailed by the phone call from school telling us that my eldest needed to isolate for almost the entire pre-Christmas period.  So no walks to see the twinkly lights.  No trip to town to see the window displays.  No dash to the shop to buy the new star for the top of the tree. The final blow came when, a week ahead of schedule, Wales was plunged into lockdown-3 with only a few hours' warn...
Read more