Beginning the New Year Recovering

No doubt there are many who are recovering today, the first day of 2016, after a long night of celebrating the old and ringing in the new. There are those nursing a hangover, while others are simply catching up on some much needed sleep lost during the holiday season.  However, my particular recovery is a bit different and more frustrating for me as I am lying on the couch having just undergone abdominal surgery.   I said goodbye to 2015 and welcomed 2016 barely awake, pumped up on anti-inflammatory medications and hoping that I can coherently make some resolutions in order to feel as though I started the New Year off on the right foot.

What adds to the excitement of the story is that our firstborn son was born on New Year’s Eve, so celebrating this holiday has not been the same since 1999.   I love remembering his arrival, the last baby born in the 1900s in our particular hospital, and I love making his day memorable and unforgettable.  At the same time, while I’m constantly battling the need to ensure his celebration is magical,  I’m also trying to ensure that I am closing the book correctly for the year ending and starting the new book with the best opening line possible.

Even facing the above circumstances..

I still managed to toast the New Year with my three boys, hubby and Ryan Seacrest last night, as well as resolve this morning that I truly need to do a few things differently in 2016.   The past 365 days were riddled with stress and I don’t want this year to carry the same emotional burden (though, mind you, I know my situation is far better than those many of my friends had to face).  Oh, there were amazing moments and most of those belong to my boys (for which I am beyond grateful).  I, like many others, simply like to look at the first day of a new year as a new start.  

What can be improved upon?  What can I change?   

Well, first and foremost, I need to recover physically and improve upon myself health-wise.  Though this surgery was more of an inherited problem that was unfortunately inevitable, I still recognize that there are things I need to do better in order to continue making those impressionable footprints with my family.  I also realize that I need to recover from my slump and get back into writing.   An unexpected and encouraging word just as the year was closing confirmed this even more.   I also feel that I need to reengage with friends I have made over the last year or two that have truly had an impact in my life, as well as those I have known for years that I’ve allowed distance and time to separate from me.   Oh, the list goes on and on…….I’m sure yours does, as well.

But for now, I simply need to recover.   I will get absolutely nowhere if I do not allow myself the opportunity to sit back, relax, breathe and allow my body and mind to heal from the recent trauma it incurred.   No, that’s not me.  I’m a go-getter, a must-do type of person.  This being held hostage on my livingroom furniture is driving me stir-crazy.  Of course, perhaps this is how I need to see my 2016.   Perhaps 2016 is simply going to be my Year of Recovery.