It is a new year, one which is welcomed with a collective sigh of relief as we say goodbye to 2021. I do love January, although many despise it, because these thirty one days always hold the promise of a new version of myself emerging. I am not talking about resolutions and losing 20kg. No, something more subtle.
Change comes in the way we think, feel, and then act. Rather than boast of wholesale changes I hope to make, last year I decided to make my bed neatly and beautifully each morning after I got up. And this from a chronic non-finisher of things. I began by seeing it as time for myself to come into the day, to pay attention to the small creases on the coverlet and sheets, smoothing them out them out with my hands so they lay flat.
I have two basic arrangements for the pillows that I alternate depending on my mood. Sounds bizarre? It is strangely soothing and comforting to me when I finish. I know if nothing else falls into place in my day, I can look at my neatly made bed and feel pride. Not simply at it being made, but in the fact that I did it. And still do it. Each morning.
It is a nod to my small and humble but growing ability to stick to something and that makes me feel good. This is the first time I have outed myself as a proud bed maker. To clarify, not the “throw the duvet over the mattress” bed making. Rather the kind that requires tucking, pulling, plumping, and evening out. The sense of satisfaction I receive lasts all day.
As we look toward this new set of twelve months that lie ahead, I am reflecting on what small change I will make and sustain for the duration of this new year. I have learned, at least for me, it is not the loud, shouty and boasting promises of change that seem to last and become habits. It is the small, quiet, almost indiscernible ones that give my heart a little lift, knowing I have done them for myself. What will be the small change you gift yourself in 2021?