Life has been devoid of excitement, which I’m totally comfortable with. I haven’t had the urge to plan holidays — I have not even booked my tickets for next month’s trip — or to fill my days with extraordinary activities. The past few weeks have been about regrouping, slowing down (ironic at the start of the year, I know) and a lot of reflection.

I did get a bit negative because I probably attached more symbolism to the start of the year than I cared to admit. And then the calendar changed, but nothing else did, everything seemed to be the same. And the thought of going through another year like 2009 just really put me in a funk.

But I’ve snapped out of that mindset now. What really helped was going back to the basics of what I’ve been doing the last 12 months. Reminders that whoever is up there never gives us more than we can handle, that growth and change are constants in life.

And of course this year will be very different, because I’m different. The changes happened very subtly and gradually but over time, I think they’ve been quite significant. If one compared me now with a year ago, I would be a very different person, I think. Do you agree?

We are all encouraged to live in the present and not build castles in the air for the future. But it helps to envision what our lives will be like years from now. It puts things into perspective and teaches us not to take them so seriously.

Why is there such a rush to achieve so many quantifiable and tangible things by the time we reach a certain age or milestone?  What will we do with the rest of our lives? If something didn’t go as planned today, or this week, or even this year, will it still matter as much 10 years from now? We have so much time to learn and re-sit these tests.

Having said that, I still don’t have a life plan, because the future is so unknowable. But there are worse afflictions in life, so, everything in its time.