We walked.

Not far, not long. Just enough to blow away some of the cobwebs that had started forming.

Christmas had gone and a new year started.

No big plans, no resolutions. Just a year of living, of slowing down, of smiling and laughing.

The last three years have been hard.

Covid, war, the cost of living. It’s been so bleak at times.

So many things have been out of our control, and that can be difficult to deal with.

Last year I felt like I let it all get on top of me a bit, and it was all just a bit ‘meh’.

Nothing bad happened to us as a family, and we were in a much more fortunate place than many people, but it just felt like we were sort of surviving rather than living. Don’t get me wrong, we had some nice days out, but as a whole, it was a bit ‘nothing’.

I guess with everything that is going on at the moment, simply surviving is good enough.

But I don’t want 2023 to be like that. Whatever it throws at us, I want to feel at the end of it like we have lived rather than just survived it.

At the end of last year, I joined a gym. I know lots of people join in January as part of their ‘new year, new me’ stuff, but I was determined to start it before Christmas. I’ve been going at least three times a week since then and have thoroughly enjoyed myself. That’s making a huge difference not just to my physical health, but to my mental health as well.

Going for a walk doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it felt like we were starting things off on the right foot. Some fresh air and exercise as a family, the kids looking for interesting stones on the side of the lake, and seeing if they could spot fish. Me getting my big camera out and taking photos for the first time in a long time.

We don’t know what will happen in 2023. The news is all pretty bleak still, and we have no control over that. But whatever it throws at us, we are going to make the very best of it.