Nangle Natters: Promises and promising

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone – even the people who have narc’ed me off this year. It’s alright, we’ll start afresh. 2017 can be our clean page, a new slate, all of those things that mean ‘You better not do that again otherwise I’ll REALLY get you but you’re alright now’. But what else will 2017 hold?

After the loss and upheaval of 2016, there seems to be an awful lot of people saying that 2017 had better be a heck of a lot better. I’ve said this kind of thing myself in the past, and then collapsed in a heap when the first thing went wrong in January. “Oh no!” I’d declare. “It’s not any different at all, and it’s all going to be crap, and that change in the last part of the date on my phone has made no difference whatsoever despite all of the expectation I put onto it! How can this have happened?” And then I’d eat chocolate and sulk.

There seems to be an awful lot of people saying that 2017 had better be a heck of a lot better

I think maybe I might try and avoid that this time around. I know it’s a bit late in the day for me to be realising this, but nothing changes unless you change it. I know – revolutionary! So if I want 2017 to be a kinder year, maybe I could try and be kinder in the world. Or at least not pay it forward when someone really gets on my wick by not being kind.

It’s appalling the amount of cuts to vital services and benefits these ‘austerity measures’ have made. I’m not sure what I can do about it – except maybe write to my MP, volunteer at a local charity, see if my finances this year will let me give a regular donation to a national charity or movement trying to do the things I complain about not being done.

I’ve never been one to embrace New Year’s Resolutions. I’m not quite sure how they work apart from giving you a date to mark how long you’ve given up smoking/drinking/Facebook-stalking your ex when you want to show off. It is a good time to take stock though. Rather than rush into giving something bad up or taking something better up, hastily picked as midnight approaches so you don’t get left out – maybe wait until you have a clear head and work out what you want 2017 to be, and how you can make it that way. You never know, you might make all the difference.