 |
| Fountains Abbey, December 2016. Photo by George Pickles. |
 |
| Full moon, December 14, as seen from my kitchen window. |
I won't go into an overall 2016 review. Other and much more competent bloggers have been doing that already. You all know the most crucial and life-changing (often enough life-ending) events of the past 12 months anyway, no need to repeat them here.
My personal review of this almost past year is much more positive - I live in a happy little bubble and have so much to be grateful for it is hard to decide where to begin, what to mention. There are the basics such as being healthy and having a good job that pays enough to live comfortably, a wardrobe filled with nice clothes, a well-stocked fridge, a flat just the right size and location for my needs, central heating, electricity and hot water whenever I want it.
On top of that, I have both my parents and my sister living within walking distance, so that we can see each other often without getting under each other's feet.
I have a good circle of friends and acquaintances, and although I have reasons to complain about my neighbours (noise and smoke), I know it could be much worse.
Where I live, I do not need to fear being persecuted for my gender, my beliefs or my political views. I can read, write and say what I want without risking jail or worse.
To complete my happiness, there is someone to love in my life. What more could I wish for?
Nothing, really, which is why I do not make any New Year resolutions. As far as I'm concernced, life can pretty much stay as it is. Yes, that's extremely selfish of me, but I do not apologize for being happy. I just wish the same could be said about all of you. My contribution to World Peace? None... unless you count NOT contributing to warfare, and not making anyone deliberately unhappy in my personal sphere of influence.
Happy New Year to all of you!
A very nice post, dear friend! Happy New Year to you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer, and the same to you!
DeleteHappy New Year may 2017 be as good as 2016 for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, that is very kind!
DeleteHappy New Year! May 2017 bring you great joy!
ReplyDeleteThank you, and the same to you!
DeleteYour world is very good and I also wish 2017 to be at least just as good for you! I think I also live is such a protected bubble of happiness. I wish everyone did. And for me, a lot of it is because of my family, so close to me. Not within walking distance, exactly, but very close.Tonight we will all be celebrating together at my daughter Alice's. I like to concentrate, as much as I can, on the good in my life. I wish you and all your family and friends a very satisfying 2017.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kristi. How your family is essential for your wellbeing and happiness is obvious from your blog. It is a very good family, and you are right to concentrate on the good in your life - if we search long enough, we will always find stuff to complain or moan about, but does it help anyone? Certainly not!
DeleteTo you, your lovely family and everyone else close to you, a great 12 months of 2017!
What a joy it is to read your post on this last day of 2016.
ReplyDeleteHow kind of you to say that, Jill! I am glad my post brought you joy. All the best to you on this first day of 2017.
DeleteIt is so refreshing to read this. I've felt people were way too absorbed in the news this year. I think if we cannot do anything about the big issues, we should concentrate on making our personal worlds as good as we can and appreciate the happy things in our lives. And yes, be joyous. It is okay to feel joy even if there are bad things in the world. There have always, always been hard times. We have little enough time on this earth and we must make the most of it.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Kristi! I know only too well from personal experience how suddenly everything can come to an end, and how our best plans and intentions can come to nothing, with no fault of our own. All the more am I embracing all the good things in my life!
DeleteIt does not mean I am ignoring what is going on in the world. It is just that I don't see the point in beating myself up about it all the time.
Oops, Nan not Kristi, though she and I share similar feelings quite often!
DeleteOops, sorry! I must have had my glasses on sideways :-)
DeleteThere is indeed so much depressive world news all the time, that I think we really do also need to cherish our own good news whereever we can find it. Happy New Year, Meike!
ReplyDeleteFrohes Neues Jahr, Monica! If we keep our eyes and ears open and our hearts receptive, we can find good news for ourselves every day, I think.
DeleteI tried to post a comment before to this but it didn't come out. That's what happens when I try to use Blogger on my iPad! :) But I thought this was a nice post. These days I try not to get into a stew about troubles of the world when my life like yours is generally OK. There are bound to be scary personal and world challenges ahead, but we cannot predict what they'll be, and nor can we prepare for the challenges that come with good fortune? (you can see I still hold out hopes of winning the lottery!) Who would have predicted either the upheavals there would have been in 2016 or the good things either, or all the things that we learned. Happy new Year to you!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too, Jenny! I'm glad you liked my post. And you are right a lot happened that did not seem very likely. Now nothing really seems impossible - if that applies to the good things and not just the bad, there is hope!
DeleteHappy (or even happier) new year to you Meike.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Frances, and the same to you!
DeleteI see that the photo of Fountains Abbey is by George Pickles, your friend from Yorkshire that was the former horn blower, right? On that same note, did you see that the BBC picked 12 Christmas walks in Britain and Fountains Abbey was one of them? http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-38378169
ReplyDeleteThere, copy and paste that and you will see the photos!!
Also, I recognize the card I sent to you, hope you liked it!
I LOVED the card you sent to me too, thanks very much!
Happy 2017 in your happy bubble!
Yes, Kay, George is the former Hornblower. Thank you very much for the link - I'll check that out in a minute! It really is a very beautiful area, so no wonder it was picked as one of 12 Christmas walks in Britain.
DeleteI really liked your card with the animals - especially the fox, and I'm glad you liked the one I sent to you, too.
Happy 2017 to you, too!
I find, Meike, that you so often echo my sentiments or perhaps I should say that I so often echo yours. Either way I feel very much as you do about the state of my life (the necessary changes being made in that I don't have parents and my brother lives nearly 500 miles away). I'm glad that you are happy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Graham! As you can tell from the comments I leave on your blog, I often think very much along the same lines as you. Just goes to show how much people can have in common even when on the surface, their lives and situations in life are completely different.
DeleteA lovely post. You do seem happy, and I think the comments you leave on others' blogs say a lot about how positive and thoughtful you are. I am glad you are content with your life and, for the same reasons as you, I make no New Year's resolutions. I strive for balance in a busy life but beyond that I am content. Happy New Year to you Meike. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gillian! xx
DeleteYour posts show how much "at home" in your life you are, too. Can we wish for anything better? I don't think so.
Happy New Year to you, too!