In With The New

And so it begins, another turn of the circle of life, another dawn on a new year filled with hope and promise. I refuse to take heed of the doomsayers, whether it be the ones telling us that 2012 is the year the economy collapses and we all end up in the workhouse nor the juju peddlers who say the world is going to end because some ancient Mayan couldn't be arsed writing a calendar beyond this December.
No, I'm looking for the positive and facing the coming months with a smile and a determination that things can and will get better.
Step one in my quest is to get this old bag of bones and cake residue into some kind of shape, not only to get me walking with a view to attempting the walk to Santiago de Compostela by the time I am 50 (which is only 5 years away) but also to get myself fit enough and with the stamina to look to getting back into some form of paid work. I'm obviously not in a place yet to have some fool pay me for my ramblings either literary or on foot or both even, so I am prepared to go out and sell my labours - but first I have to be fit and not only fit but consistently fit. I have been out 3 times today, walking the dog, walking up to the Forge for some messages and again out with the dog in tow to the library and, apart from being soaked to the skin, I feel OK on it. On my way to the shops I popped in to my doctor's surgery to make an appointment to request what is called a Live Active Referral, where hopefully I will be matched up with an instructor at my local leisure centre (which is within walking distance) who will give me individual advice, support and encouragement to help me become and stay regularly physically active and allow me access to local authority facilities at a discounted price for up to 12 months. I think this is what I need to kickstart me into getting back to health. It's also important that I maintain better health and stay on top of my alilments as I was disappointed when I made my appointment for tomorrow to discover that my own GP who I have been seeing for 10 years and who has supported me through my various diagnoses and tribulations left the practice over the Xmas holidays and has moved to Wigtownshire. I am gutted as I know that GPs who are sympathetic towards patients like me with ME and Fibromyalgia and other conditions (like my Grave's Disease) are as rare as hen's teeth and I can't really be bothered going through all the explanations with a new one. I am seeing the part-time woman doctor tomorrow as of the 3 left, she seems the nicest - the senior partner is older and although good I do find him a bit brusque and the other full-time female doctor is an idiot, based on the one time I saw her and having told her of my diseases she got all excited about a new treatment only to then discover she had confused ME and MS! There will be a new partner and I'll see what he/ she is like but it is my goal this year and henceforth to be less well known in the practice.
Any way, hopefully I can be referred to this scheme because it would give me some structure and focus. I'm going to get back into my writing study and prepare for my course in Writing for Film which starts up in 3 weeks.
So I'm all fired up and ready to meet 2012 head on - it's going to be a good year, I can feel it.
Just as a wee side note, listening to new geek girl crush Professor Brian Cox on Desert Island Discs, I was amazed to learn he played keyboards in the band D:REAM whose catchy wee song "Things Can Only Get Better", although hijacked by bloody New Labour, seems appropriate so take it away Prof...xxx