To me the last month of the year is always like squeezing that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube. You know what I mean right? When the tube appears to be empty but both you and your spouse are too lazy to go get a new one, so you each take turns squeezing and squeezing it down to the last drop, almost like a contest of who can get the most out of it, until finally it’s empty and the losing contestant has to open a new tube.
Kind of like the month of December. It’s the last month of the year, we are running on fumes, we are in need of a break and yet we fill our calendars and squeeze out every last ounce of holiday cheer we can muster. Mentally we know the end of the year is near so we try and squeeze out every last bit we can and make the most of it before we say goodbye to a year that was full of possibilities.
We feel like our ‘tube’ is almost empty but every post we read tells us to make the most of these last 31 days of the year, that it’s not too late to turn our lives around, or to go all in and finish the year with a bang.
We are pushed to squeeze and squeeze out every last bit of ourselves because we are also told that at the end of the year we get to start over, start fresh and begin again.
Like a tube of toothpaste.
Just like New Years.
You see every year we go really hard at the end; cramming in visits and extra parties, making wish lists for the year ahead, setting goals, making predictions and maybe running a little harder on the treadmill to burst into the new year a blazing.
But the funny thing about a new year is that 12 months later we will start one again.
Like our habitual squeezing and throwing out of a tube of toothpaste, a new year will come again. It always does. If we’re lucky.
As I brushed my teeth this morning, a habit that all of us are really good at without thinking about it because we have done it so often, I realized that I need to slow down on the push.
The saying “the days drag on and the years fly by”, rings so true.
As I walked the brief 15 steps to my linen closet this morning to replenish a new tube of toothpaste, I smiled… for I felt like I had just opened a new one and then it was gone.
Like my children’s faces on Christmas morning changing from toddler giggles to tween smirks.
It goes so fast.
And yet I, and I’m sure many of you, always feel the need to finish and start each year with a bang, but if you scroll back through your camera roll, looking for the nine greatest moments of your year which I see so many of you posting, I bet none of those nine would be your December 31 or January 1st moments, but all the good bits in between.
The good frothy stuff. The ones that don’t require effort but just are.
Like that satisfying feeling of a fresh brushed mouth when we put down that tube of toothpaste and start our day fresh, like life, we are lucky to get to do that every single day.
365 times to be exact, plus a bonus one this year, as 2024 is a leap year!
That’s a lot of days to live and a lot of fresh starts, but I for one am here for it.
I’m tired of a big send off and an overrated start.
I wanna live every day like it’s my last squeeze and I’m gonna try and live that way.
We get to live this life with abundance and gratitude and joy, until it’s empty and we are forced to dig deep, press hard and grind to the finish line.
Because isn’t that life.
It’s not always easy.
It’s not always hard.
But as I rinsed my mouth and capped my toothpaste again this morning I smiled for I feel many of us forget this simplicity.
Bit by bit, squeeze by squeeze, we all create the lives we are living.
What if we aimed to live every day for what it was rather than aiming for year-end results and explosive year starts.
What if, bit by bit, we knew that life was finite and we tried to live it that way.
Knowing that the end would come and our ‘tube’ would one day be empty and tossed away and yet we enjoyed every fresh, un-capping each day while we could.
I’m not setting one resolution or making one breakable promise, I’m just gonna head into this year minty fresh, living each day for what it is, knowing that in my final squeeze, I don’t feel empty, but rather completely full!
Promises can be broken. Resolutions can be undone.
Be a better you every day. That’s simple. And if it isn’t.. uncap and try again tomorrow.
We’ve Got This!
@half_full_most_days