Blog 52: A New Start

Can you believe it’s 2026? This is the first yearly anniversary of my weekly blogs. An entire year ago, I sat at my laptop and kicked off with New Years’ Resolutions. But not being a fan of repetition, I will shift the focus to something else.

How has your year gone? I bet if you made a list of all your accomplishments you would see just how busy you’ve been. Some of you may have achieved big things: new job, moved to a different country, got married, had a baby. Imagine if someone did all those things in one year! Others of us may have carried on accomplishing the things we usually do. And that, my friends, is not to be sneezed at. Persevering, especially in a world that seems to get more complex and challenging day by day, is something to be proud of.

Your goal might have been to do less. Maybe you needed some time out of that daily routine to recuperate and rethink what’s important to you. Again, stopping to think with the intention of making a change requires courage. It can be daunting taking the plunge of moving to a new area, changing jobs, or making a change in relationships. Stepping out from something that has been the norm for so long, can be scary. Could this be you? Starting the New Year in a new place? Or with a plan to?

The New Year is a funny thing because it’s technically just another day. We’ve had Thursdays before. Yes, it’s a holiday and there were fireworks but that’s it. Yet there’s this feeling, when we begin again on the 1^st of January, it’s sort of like wiping the slate clean. As if we’re saying, “Never mind about all those things we aren’t happy about from last year, that’s in the past now.” We have begun a new game, and this one's entitled ‘2026’. It seems to be full of possibilities, a restart, new energy and if you listen carefully, you may even hear a whispered promise that this year is going to be YOUR year.

What I do know is life is complicated. Like the stories we write, with all the characters, plots, side plots, twists, turns and jump scares, it’s going to be unpredictable and a dizzying mixture of ups and downs. I try not to be superstitious, but when I see a magpie, I do scout the horizon for another one, to change the possibility of sorrow to joy. But I know that life will always bring sorrow. We can’t avoid it. And how can we appreciate the good times if we don’t have the contrasting bad ones? We truly find out what we are made of in those not so good times. I told my youngest daughter when she was in pain following surgery on her ear, earlier last year, that these times in our life build character. She said, “I must have so much character by now.” It's true, these experiences help us to learn and grow. They make us the people we are, even if we didn’t like what we had to go through at the time.

I decided to replace my focus from New Year’s resolution to looking back at my 2025 achievements. And I have been delighted, scrolling through social media, to see that many others have been doing likewise. So, here a few things that 2025 have brought me: -

• A year of weekly Angel Editing blogs,

• Clients who have published their books,

• The Author Support Network along with our published book of writing advice,

• Time with friends: new and old,

• A new school for my youngest daughter who is so much happier,

• Future prospects for my eldest daughter,

• Lots of new literature to read,

• More pet snakes.

  
  

I have made some tough decisions, struggled with illness, but also shared laughter, I’ve watched my girls grow a year older and my bank account get lighter. I’m looking forward with hope for the possibilities of what this year will bring. Yes, I have a list of things that I want to be able to tick off in terms of writing and getting the house organised, but I will take it step by step.

Have you got anything that you feel is dragging on you that you’ve been putting off or haven’t got around to? The New Year could be your motivator to get on it and tick it off your list. I know the more things I accomplish, the lighter I feel.

I must admit lately I keep finding myself in a reflective mood, weighing up what I’m doing and trying to decide which path to take. I guess that’s another good thing, there’s so much choice, if you’re brave enough to test the waters. Are you ready for a change? Then do it! Don’t live for the sake of it. Find what makes you happy and incorporate it into your plan. If you don’t do it, no one is going to do it for you. My eldest daughter has a step-by-step plan that begins with getting a job and ends with her moving into her own place and having a car. Your plan may have an end goal but requires little steps along the way. Things don’t happen overnight, change usually happens at the end of a journey. Be patient and you'll get there.

Maybe the New Year isn’t about resolutions, it could be about a new journey, and you need to work out what that will be and how to begin. Or maybe you just want to jump into a new WIP and that’s great! Whatever you decide, hold onto that New Year momentum and let it carry you with a positive attitude of not just what this year could bring but also what it could teach you.

I hope 2026 brings you peace, strength, joy, and friendship. Happy New Year everyone!