Dear Friends
Happy New Year….
I wonder how many of us will begin with a New Years Resolution?
Mine is always easy, this is my year, beach body here I come, healthy lifestyle and giving up those things that I know I eat too much of, Blar blar blar…
I may just have gotten to the age where a trim body, and always being ‘good’ with food, is not as important as it used to be. Thank God! And that I do thank Him every day. However, feeling good is still important, and the older I get the more I realize that feeling good takes a lot more effort when it comes to exercise and diet. I am also aware that there is much more to this feeling good business than how we look and how fit we are. In fact, how we look just might be why we do not feel good in the first place, largely thanks to what we as society deem that to be! In many African and Arabic countries, being ‘overweight’ has been associated with richness, health, strength, and fertility, whereas us in the Western world see the slender body size in a similar way.
No help there then…or is there?
I would like to think that how we feel is important, and that how we feel is decided by us, not by external factors like adverts telling us we are worth it, providing we have the right make up product or designer shirt. Feeling good, or wellbeing as we term it today, really needs to come from within. That can be a challenge for those of us who are used to hearing that we are not enough!
So, my New Years Resolution for 2025 is this - Living like I believe that I am enough. If I can achieve that, all the other challenges will become a little more manageable.
I am aware that the next few months are usually the most difficult when it comes to feeling good and wellbeing. Maybe we could surround ourselves this winter with more people who support us, with things that bring us joy peace and fulfilment in life, with things that remind us that we are enough.
It’s quite common to feel isolated during the winter months. As the daylight hours reduce and the weather gets colder, the season often brings with it a sense of loneliness and detachment from our usual social circles. According to a social study I recently read, if we’re cold, we’re much more likely to feel lonely. Our temperature also impacts our need to reach out to others for social interaction. This is down to our body’s natural instinct for self-preservation, making us more inward-focused.
Many of us have felt a sense of loneliness creep up on us out of nowhere during winter. The colder weather can make socialising more difficult and less appealing. If you identify with that feeling, all is not lost. There are many opportunities to seek company and friendship both within the Church community and in our wider community, take a look at our village halls at what’s available for you to join in with, or do what many from our villages already enjoy, come to Church, seriously… its good for you.
Whatever you decide to do this year, I pray it’s a year that, if you have not already got there, you realize that you are enough, just as God made you!
Happy New Year!
Revd. Lee