What do I want to carry forward in to 2026 ...

 As the two years lie side by side, I an inclined to set intentions for the New Year rather than resolutions. 

Intentions are more encompassing, more forgiving, more gentle. 

Intentions invite reflection & introspection about the path life is taking.  This is not about being critical, just accepting the passage of time & the happenings of the past year. 

Accept that life is not perfect for anyone, it is a series of misadventures & misdemeanours that will define us if we allow it to. Learn the lessons then get the heck out of the past is how I view it. Don't carry it forward to a new year with you. 

I am acutely aware that I have less time ahead than the time I have already lived & that makes me mindful to enjoy the time I have, while I have it. 

This is a big year for me - it is the year I officially retire, when I step away from a lifetime in education of sorts. I have worked for 2 decades with 5-18 year olds in Elective Home Education.  I have loved it & being privileged to work in people's homes & to know their family well.

In a previous life when we lived in the rurals of Lesotho, I drew up a programme & trained several nursery helpers to run a nursery school in the Maluti mountains.  My training programme was used nationally too & I loved the challenge of working with children who found it all new & exciting when their communities were thrust in to modern life. 

In England, I worked in academic & county libraries - jobs I really loved, especially the buzz of the university environment before I returned to education which suited my family life more. I can confidently say that I rose to all these challenges.  Challenges are what shape us & that alone is good. 

So with a new chapter on the horizon this coming year, I am already thinking of what I want this chapter of life to look like. 

I am fortunate in having many hobbies & interests. I love taking classes & courses (typical I think of teachers) & I look forward to devoting more time to my interests. Being idle is not on the agenda, life is too short to not embrace it fully. 

What do I want to carry forward in to 2026? I intend to do more of what I love, I think more travel is on the cards too ... 

Are your intentions set for 2026? May you be blessed with realising many of them,

Dee 🥂✅📋