Setting goals for a new year – and sticking to them

Hip, hip, hooray. A brand new year has started. Firstly, did you have a good Christmas? We had a wondrous family gathering at my daughter’s.

I didn’t have to do anything except sit back, relax and enjoy time with the family. It was good.

Unfortunately, with so much Christmassy food around I did overindulge in that department – but it was so yummy.

Now this new big bright year has begun.

A year full of promise and hope for good times and happiness. I ask this every year because it is so important to me.

Have you made a list of aspirations and goals for 2019 or are you just going to amble along each day with no particular purpose in place?

Better still did you check your pass level for 2018?

I was thrilled to put a tick beside over 50 per cent of my last year’s definitive goals.

It was a tad difficult to put a tick beside certain qualities I hoped to achieve.

It is only someone else who can give me a truthful answer to longed for personal growth.

However, I was happy with SATURDAY Raceday Summer Meeting: 2pm at Phar Lap Raceway on Pleasant Point Highway (SH8), Timaru. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY Morris Dancers’ South Canterbury tour: 9.30-11.30am on Saturday at the Village Green on Talbot St, Geraldine; 5-6pm on Saturday at the Peel Forest Hall on Peel Forest Rd; 10.30-11.15am on Sunday at Caroline Bay, Timaru; my year. Maybe I let age limitations dictate, and my goals were too easy.

This year I have gone to the other extreme, my imagination has run riot.

Yes, it could be an interesting and exciting year if I reach that 50 per cent.

OK, I admit to my sneaky ways again. I have one goal, the same every year. To climb to the top of Little Mt Peel on New Year’s Day.

Only an emergency would make me miss my top priority on the first day of the year.

Yes, I have accomplished one goal for 2019 and in the process I have hopefully worked off a little of my Christmas overindulgence.

It was an ordinary day down on earthly level but my day was fantastic.

As soon as I was above the low cloud level, my world changed.

Suddenly the blanket of grey turned into a wondrous bank of thick white fluffy cloud blocking out the humdrum world below.

I was in a fantasy land of mountain tops and sunshine.

It was a miracle. I spent some hours basking in the sun before descending to normality.

What an amazing way to start my year. 11.45am-1.45pm on Sunday on George St, Timaru; and 2.45-3.35pm on Sunday near the Railway Station, Pleasant Point. The Geraldine-based Fiery Peak Morris Dancers have brought together dancers who are from all over New Zealand, and some from Australia and England, to create a group of 50 that will be touring South Canterbury. On Monday dancers will perform in Fairlie, Tekapo, and Kimbell.