Hi Everyone,
Happy (of course) New Year! 2025! I wish I had high-flying plans for this new year, but the truth is I don’t. I love the close of a year so much that I actually find it rather difficult to start the new one. I relish that time of the year when, with lights out, Christmas baubles still shimmering, scented candles burning, street noise hushed, wind blowing, snow falling (fingers crossed), and fire crackling, I recount the year gone by and all its events, mostly—word of honour—unexpected.
This has not always been true, though. Over the years, and even to this day, I’ve sometimes had the sad propensity to forget something as soon as it has been done. Where did I get this from? I don’t know. Maybe from my workaholic parents who hiked only onwards, without looking back too much. In fact, now when I think about it, I never once heard them say anything like “Wow, look at that. Job well done.” They were not brilliant at enjoying the fruits of their labour. It was always “What’s next?”
When I first heard the phrase “enjoy the fruits of your labour” I was startled. What did it actually mean? I asked the friend, a mentor of mine, who said it, and she replied simply, as if it were as easy as breathing, “Sit back, relax, look over what you have done. The hard work. Celebrate the accomplishment. The view from the top. Spend a few bucks.” I remember thinking, “I still don’t know what she means.” I remained clueless. Who had the time to look back when there was always the next thing to get done? Coming from a family of compulsive doers, workhorses, that meant, in all fairness, the next fix—the next job to do.
The list. Of course, we learned early to have the list. Written the night before so that we supposedly could sleep in peace; only to get up the next day to cross things off it. That list was a bit like a canal mule that, come hell or high water, would drag us through the day. Who needed a heartbeat, love or pleasure? Work was the thing. Nowhere on that list did it read: sit back, relax, enjoy the fruits.
Yup, work was the drug. So much so that it took me ages to unhook myself from that list. Not that I don’t have a “to do” list today, but now I can sit back, think, reflect, appreciate, not just my work, but yours too. My life is not always about tomorrow, but also about today and even, indeed, yesterday.
So, New Year? I remain basking in last year, the flickering lights of the tree not yet taken down, creche not yet packed up, wreath still on the door, neighbours’ holiday lights (thankfully) still on. Perhaps they are doing the same? I promise “the list” is brewing. I did force a forward-looking vision at midnight on December 31st, but for today, happily, I hear my old mentor’s voice chiming, “Enjoy the fruits, Marlene” and so I do just that.
Wishing you exactly the same this January!
Love,
Marlene
Photo by Viktor Cap |iStock