Don’t Be A Wimp In 2025 Writes Helen Hastings

New years resolutions? Don’t be a wimp, hold your nerve and crack on with it!

Well, here it is, it’s upon us once again! 2025 has exploded into our lives and yet my brain tells me I’m still in the nineties!

The clock has struck midnight, the hangovers already kicking in and that fag that rests in a rockn’roll fashion between the middle and index finger is suddenly hailed as ‘the last one’ writes Helen Hastings.

Sound familiar?  Also don’t forget the friends that suddenly break into song about how this year will be the year they find love, get the perfect body, go sober, buy a house, become a millionaire, fly to the moon, plan a turkey teeth expedition………Blah blah blah blah BLAAAAAAAH!!!  So… its time to give this annual ritual a break. Yup! Literally.

What on Earth do you all think you’re doing to the state of your mental health?  Setting goal after goal after goal, setting yourself up to be ‘better’ and to be ‘new’.  Honestly?  I think we’ve been doing new year’s resolutions all wrong and it’s time to get back to basics. 

Now I’m going to pour myself a nice glass of red wine because I’m not giving into ‘dry January’ and I’m going to give you six of my finest ‘new year resolutions’ that are achievable.

Helen Hasting, a Down News blogger, doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to her thoughts on new year’s resolutions.
  • Just move a little

      I am not good with physical exercise.  I am well aware of how important it is for your overall health, so I’m not dismissing it completely, but I don’t like to get too formalised with the way I exercise.  First up I hate gyms! I know there’s a lot of people who benefit from them and really enjoy their memberships, but I’m just not one of them. 

      I have tried and I have failed. There is simply nothing worse than wearing weird lycra in a place full of muscles and walnut-bottomed, sweat enthusiasts.

      The most complicated part is trying to figure out how the machines work.  On one ill fated mission to join a gym I ended up backwards on a machine with my boobs pointed at the ceiling which apparently was not the right way at all.  Everybody thought I had some kind of fetish and was romancing the equipment! 

      Another big failure was yoga.  A full hour being simultaneously bored and in pain while trying not to fart! No thanks.

      Instead, I will be embarking on a new exercise regime that I have entitled ‘moving a bit faster from time to time’ this entails going out for a nice walk in which I look at things and stop to chat to horses and sheep, (I sometimes talk to human beings as well but I find the conversation can be a bit dry.) 

      I breathe the lovely fresh air, admire cloud formations, ponder trees and generally have a nice time.  This can sometimes last for a good few miles and is generally better for my mental health than being stuck in a testosterone fuelled sweat cellar with scary muscly people! 

      You can keep your gyms and I’ll keep my bingo wings!  By the way I’m now forty-one years of age and I am stupidly proud of the fact that I still don’t know what a ‘bench press’ is!

      • Keep your heart open but let go of expectations

      I have been single for over a year.  I am still alive and to the best of my knowledge the world still spins on its axis.  I have had a lot of practice at this being single lark as I have done intermittent single living for years at a time the whole of my adult life. 

      Some days I think it would be nice to have a partner.  A ride or die hero who walks into my life with a bag of Haribo in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, he drives me to the cat shelter and then we go and buy a cottage overlooking the sea where we live happily ever after stepping in cat shite and drinking wine all day! 

      This might not happen so instead I take stock of everything and everyone that’s nice in my life and remind myself that relationships don’t always spell out happiness. The knight in shining armour has probably got narcissistic tendencies anyway, that’s why he goes to all the trouble with that posy white horse. 

      In the meantime, however I will retain a little positive space in my heart for Haribo/wine/cat shelter/cottage by the sea man.   I mean I’d be very silly to let him slip through the net!

      • Get your ducks in a row

      Get all your ducks in a row, but don’t be surprised if they get out of line, I mean they’re only ducks.  Let them waddle about a bit first.

      January is normally the time of year when a lot of people start to bemoan how discontented they are with their career or financial situation.  I frequently ask myself the big depressing horrible question: Where did I go so wrong? 

      I look at where I am compared to others and berate myself for not having the money/career/house that ‘all the other people have’.  This is where I have to be quite abrupt with my inner monologue and scold it for being so very wrong because ‘all the other people’ have their problems to.

      I have had many small successes in my life and have managed to keep my head above water living on my own now for the last few years.  Many people would be uncomfortable living on their own but I have revelled in it! 

      Also, creatively and work wise I know I make a difference. I might not make a huge impression on the wider world but my work has had a positive effect on people locally and personally and that’s more than enough to keep the mental health wolf from the door.

      So, if your setting big goals this year to better your career and finances then great, and I really genuinely hope you achieve them but please don’t beat yourself up if they don’t work out quite the way you want them to.  There is so much more value to you than you realise, it’s up to you to dig deep and see it! 

      Even if the only positive financial thing you do this year is providing food and heat for yourself or your family then you’re already a success in my books!  Who cares about that Cindy next door in her Grey Range rover Evoque! 

      Disclaimer: If you do have a neighbour called Cindy who drives a Grey Range Rover Evoque, I’m sure she’s really very nice and it’s just a coincidence.

      • Celebrate ALL the wins.

      This morning the dustbin men arrived at my house and get this:  they emptied my bin!  Now I know that sounds a bit obvious to most people but I’m not most people!  Normally the wrong bin is put out on the wrong day (I can’t handle this modern-day rainbow of wheelie bins) or I forget completely. 

      Another scenario is when I remember the night before but don’t want to get out of bed and go out into the deep, dark, scary night with my bin so I leave it to the morning… but then I forget and inwardly curse myself when I hear the mechanical whirring of the bin lorry emptying my neighbours bin!

      But this morning I won the battle of the bins and now I’m sitting writing this, feeling ridiculously smug, celebrating being an adult in at least one small corner of my life. 

      Celebrate every positive thing you do this year even if it does seem a bit silly to other people, it could really rewire your mindset and by the time 2026 comes round, you will have hailed yourself a complete and utter hero! 

      • Select online information wisely

      We live in a world now where the internet has made an easy task of information.  Everything we need or want to know is at the touch of a button or the swipe of a screen.  For the most part I think this is great and I feel that internet and the world of social media has its part to play in modern life but some people are taking this to extremes. 

      ‘They’re controlling our every move, wakey wakey’ is now a very common topic on social media.  Conspiracy theorists have a platform like never before and they’re screaming at the tops of their lungs. 

      Now I’m the first to say that we are all entitled to our opinions and our varying theories about life in general and yes, some conspiracies may hold more ground than others but there’s something very important that’s being over looked. 

      Absolutely everything we say or do in this world should come with responsibility, but unfortunately varying online cultures are coming down with inaccurate and quite frankly crazy theories.  This can cause horrific anxiety in the more vulnerable in our society and we need to think carefully about what we say, write and share. 

      One of my resolutions is to narrow down the time I spend on news sites and social media and to be more selective about what I read and who or what I choose to believe. 

      Don’t be afraid to fill your heart and mind with only the truly important and good things.  Life is difficult enough without letting the anxiety of fake news rule your life.   And remember even if the world is going to be blown up by aliens what can I do about it?  I think I’ll just pour myself another wee glass of red wine and hug a cat.   

      P.S Why haven’t the flat earthers found the edge of the world yet?  Answers on a postcard please. 

      • Don’t rush to change things just because it’s January

      You have a whole twelve months to change whatever it is you feel needs to changed.  In the meantime, feel free to fail miserably and try again as many times as you need. Make the mistakes that help you grow and enjoy the journey. 

      If you are embarking on a major life-change this year –maybe you’re leaving a relationship that doesn’t serve you or having to rethink your whole lifestyle due to a health scare – then remember that change takes time, courage and resilience and even the first step of this journey makes you one very brave human.

      So, there you have it my six guidelines for breaking into 2025 as gently as possible. 

      Life can be hard but don’t let resolutions make it even harder and even if you think you’re the biggest failure going, I bet someone out there thinks you’re magnificent, I do.  Now I think I’ll go and have another glass of wine and break open the last of the Christmas cheese selection. 

      Happy new year!  May it be kind and gentle to you.