A very blessed 2017 to you

I was very happy to say goodbye to 2016. It was a very tough year for me  and so I'm happy to start 2017, hopefully without the baggage from 2016.


Health and Wellness

That's where 2016 went FUBAR. Mid-year, I had what I thought was a bad winter flu and was beginning to worry that I was prone to colds and flu when my close friend Neo got hysterical demanding "you're blue. Why are you blue? We have to rush you to the doctor right now!" The doctor found out that I was not taking in enough oxygen and put me on an oxygen tank. I fell in love with that little device, because for the first time in a long time I could take in the air.  I found out that I had a serious lung infection and was only taking in 80% of the oxygen I need and that was why I was wheezing and my hands and feet were turning blue. I'll spare you the gory details, but let's just say I had a very bad reaction to the treatment prescribed and being stoned out of my mind for months on end and hallucinations were par for the course.
Lesson learnt: I will never take my ability to breathe ( and for my body to function) for granted again. Your body's ability to function affects your mind, motivation and what you can do in any given day.
My Plan for 2017: Complete my lung treatment. Resume my walk/run programme to strengthen my lungs and body. Drink plenty of water to help my kidneys. Do yoga and meditation.

Financial

Health and wellness affected my ability to write, so there was no work being done. As a business owner, I was prepared for three months. Turns out I should have planned for six months to a year of no income.
Lesson Learnt: You know those income protector policies your broker has been trying to get you to sign for? If you are self-employed, get one. Don't second-guess yourself or tell yourself you can't afford it. As I found out the hard way, you can't afford not to have one.

I was fortunate that didn't have rent or a homeloan to cover on my home and I had a massive garden and chickens for eggs and meat. But if I never saw another spinach leaf or scrambled egg on my plate, I'd be a happy camper.

My plan for 2017: Earn, earn, earn. Live way below my means and save as much of my income as possible. Take up an income protector policy.


Work and creativity

I started 2017 year well, marketing my writing and products, asking for work and working on my creative projects. Re-starting my blogging is part of that process.

I realised that over the years writing had become work for me. I want to recapture the joy and fun that I used to have writing. One of the reasons I was prolific before was because I loved what I was doing and looked forward to each day and each project. I'm planning to get back to that. That will also mean saying "no,"to projects that don't resonate with me.

Roundafire, the digital publisher that's bringing out my children's stories, hasn't given me a definite release date yet for the stories. I'm looking forward to the launch.

Life

If you are on Facebook, you might have seen my excitement at how well Baby has done on her matric exams. Four distinctions! She's still stunned; reckons the examiners must have made a mistake and allocated someone's else's marks to her.  But we're not going to question her good fortune. We're happy that that phase of her life is over   and now we're talking varsity.

She wants to go to Charles University in Prague and I want that for her. But meanwhile, the academic year starts in South Africa soon and the University of Cape Town has offered her a place and a scholarship. So we thought she should attend there and maybe transfer to Charles for their Spring semester if we can swing it. We'll see how that goes, but I'm happy that Baby has choices.

So. As I was saying, I'm very optimistic about 2017 and plan to be very thorough in my future life and work planning. How is 2017 treating you? What lessons did you learn in 2016 that you are taking into 2017?