Wake me up when it's spring

Like so many things, it was the Romans who gave us New Year’s Eve, from their feast day for Janus, the god of doorways and beginnings – all very well and good for them, but they hadn’t just had to get through Christmas.
Agriculturally, after the winter solstice is considered the most logical time to start a new year, with the lengthening of days, but to me it seems pretty bad planning to hold a big celebration just one week after Christmas.
You’ve only just finished baking two dozen mince pies on the hour, every hour, before it’s time to start on the mini yorkshire puddings for New Year’s Eve.
And the chances of getting into your little black party dress after days of continuous Christmas feasting is unlikely, to say the least.
Yes, New Year’s Day will probably find me collapsed on the sofa in an untidy, hungover, self-loathing heap. However, I will not temporarily make myself feel better by making a list of self-improvements, and certainly none that involve bizarre ways of exercising. Or giving up caffeine, alcohol or chocolate (otherwise there’d be nothing left for Lent).
Right now, my life is just one very long list of ‘things to do’ in order to get through Christmas, so what I don’t need is to add to it with ‘make another list of resolutions’.
What I will actually need, starting on January 1, is to put my body and mind into energy-saving mode for a few weeks, with the satisfaction that everything that was on my to do list has got a nice smug tick next to it. It won’t make me a better, fitter or richer person, but it might just save my sanity.
If I was to make a resolution, it would be ‘to go away for Christmas next year – but in order to afford it, I’d need to add to the list ‘get promotion/better-paid job’, and that would more than likely mean ‘go to evening classes to learn new skills’, and where would that get me? The beginning of a New Year’s resolutions list, that’s where.
Mesopotamia had it right – it is not regarded as the cradle of civilisation for nothing; the earliest record of marking a new year is believed to have taken place there in about 2,000BC, and they weren’t pulling their party-poppers on January 1, but instead waited until about the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March.
January is just not a month for motivation, but hibernation – the days are short and the weather cold. The only way I’m sticking to a resolution is if it is ‘to scoff the left-over selection box’, and they are really supposed to be about improving not indulging yourself.
I prefer to spend some time reflecting on what I have achieved in the past 12 months, coasting as I may have been through 2013.
I still have a job and I haven’t defaulted on my mortgage, both big ticks considering the economic crisis.
I’ve not been charged with any phone-hacking offences, another plus considering the crisis within my industry.
I haven’t fallen out with any members of my family, and that definitely deserves a gold star for tongue-biting, considering the likelihood of a crisis, cooped up together for three days over Christmas.
But what I haven’t done within the past 365 days is learn to speak another language fluently, decluttered my life, gone clubbing at least once a month, completed an ironwoman race, or spent six-months doing charity work in a developing country.
All things that I would like to do, but that would have meant, had I written them on a list in late-2012, that this year was a failure.
As it is, I’m adding them to my bucket list. I’m cheating on that a little bit, too, by including some things that I have done already; that way I can retrospectively tick them off, so the pressure’s off... hopefully.
Research from Post Office life insurance reveals that almost 22 million Britons have created a bucket list – a dream list of things to do in life – and travel tops more than half of them.
Thirty-one per cent of would-be globetrotters have their sights on the Great Barrier Reef, while for more than a quarter of them, their highlight would be a sighting of the Aurora Borealis. Nearly one in five says going on safari is on their must-do list, and an adventurous eight per cent say space travel is their dream.
It may come as a surprise to older generations, but many young people have more traditional goals in mind, such as buying a home (38 per cent), getting married (30 per cent) and having a baby (30 per cent). It seems these are now life aspirations rather than the expected norm.
Learning a new language makes the list for a third of people, with a further third dreaming of living in another country to experience a different culture.
Nearly one in five are aspiring authors, hoping to write a novel one day.
The research also highlights a gender divide. While travelling the world and buying a home appears in the top two for both, getting married is much more likely to be a life ambition for women (34 per cent) compared to men (26 per cent).
The age-old tradition of men loving their motors is alive and well, with buying a dream car the third biggest aspiration for men (31 per cent), compared to 10th for women (24 per cent).
A bucket list is also a way of motivating yourself to make little changes, open up to new experiences or get involved in activities locally.
Here’s some ideas to get you started.

There are scores of clubs in West Berkshire, catering for all sorts of hobbies, whether you want to try something active or something that stimulates your mind. Newbury Poets Workshop meets on Monday evenings and is looking for new members, or check out the adventure, social and leisure club Spice Thames Valley. For more inspiration, see the online what's on.

: Newbury Spin City is now offering trapeze, burlesque and aerial hoop and silk classes, or how about wild swimming? Get started with wildswimming.co.uk

Try some sort of performance or arts-based activity. In Newbury alone, there are at least three singing groups: Sing for Fun (which offers a free taster session throughout the year); Newbury ladies’ choir InCantata (which is holding an open morning in January, at New Greenham Arts); and Rock Choir (which also offers a free taster).
The Corn Exchange’s Live & Lyrical nights proved popular last year and look set to continue in 2014. Essentially, they offer a performance space for singers, musicians, poets, actors, jugglers, etc, but even if you don’t have a talent, why not go along and form part of the audience to find out what it’s all about?
You don’t necessarily have to be a performer to get involved either, as often operatic and am dram societies, such as KATS in Thatcham, or New Era Players in Wash Common, are looking for new members to help with staging, props or front of house.

: Volunteer Centre West Berkshire is the place to head if you want to know more, as it matches people with positions. This month, they are looking for people to help out at as heritage volunteers at a National Trust property and library champions.