In the words of the clown with the tear-a-way face and the guy with an axe in his head from Nightmare Before Christmas…
“It’s over! We did it!”
Whatever made this year a struggle for you, whether it was the great KFC shortage, summer being quite warm, England not winning the World Cup or even possibly something that actually affects you, you made it to the end of the year.
2018 was an emotional rollercoaster for us, I lost my mom, we got married, we bought a house, and this was all in the span of four days.
I’ve learned to keep realistic expectations. I’d probably describe myself as an optimistic pessimist. I expect the worst, but I’m okay with that. So no, this won’t be the “best year ever!” but it will most likely not be the worst either. America and the UK will probably continue to screw themselves over, people we love will die before their time, the environment will continue to worsen and violence will continue to occur in terrible places and times.
However many clouds are above us though, there is always sun behind them.
Glastonbury Festival is back after taking a year off, Emily and I are going to have our festival wedding AND our humanist ceremony this year, we’re expanding our businesses and hoping to release a book, album & YouTube series later this year as part of Captain Dan Tastic & Friends.
After going on a silent retreat in November (I’m writing quite a long piece about that, will be up in the next two weeks), I’ve been keeping my head low as I just get everything into perspective and workout what it is I want to focus on and where I want us to be moving towards. Life is full of distractions, I think for a long time I was so focused on success that I never stopped to appreciate any of them.
Being the best version of yourself is something I have worked towards for a long time, and something I think everyone should be at least thinking about, but one important thing I took from my 10 day silent retreat was that it’s important to stop every now and again and just appreciate where you are. Appreciate the people in your life, the things you have, the experiences you’ve lived through. If the world ended tomorrow, would you be happy with what you’ve done so far? I think I am, and it’s a good feeling to have.
I hope that 2019 is the beginning of another year of improvement, self-discovery and awesome adventure for you, me and everyone we love.
