Wordsley, Stourbridge: 9 degrees, cold but sunny with clear skies in the morning.
Wishing everybody a sincere, happy, and prosperous new year!!!
Coming into the new year has been pleasant and straightforward with my mother—the first time in a long, long time.
Being accustomed to the chaos of Rio de Janeiro at Réveillon-New Year, having a quiet New Year without the confusion of people going to spend New Year’s Eve on the beaches in Rio, which are full of tourists, is a welcome surprise. As I mentioned yesterday, my mother’s next-door neighbours set off some fireworks, obviously nothing like the ones in Rio, but it was nice and enough for me.
In the morning, I was up at eight and out walking at nine. The sky was a beautiful blue, with few clouds above and no sign of rain. I walked along the canal towards where I used to work as a child in a boatyard that built and repaired canal longboats and barges.
It is about two miles along the canal towards the Stewpony, and to my surprise, it is still there. It seems to have a lot of work going on in terms of boat building, with numerous longboats and barges out of the water and others berthed along the edge of the canal. Even though it is 2 to 3 miles away from my mother’s, it is right on the border of the countryside with small farms, stables, etc, scattered around it.
By the side of the boatyard, there is a bridge that leads to a dirt road, which eventually connects to the main road and into Wollaston. Arriving in Wollaston, I walked along the main High Street, none of the shops from my childhood were still there anymore; they had all gone.
I’m simply walking on New Year’s Day, out into the countryside and slowly coming back on myself and around. I walked off the High Street down to another canal that eventually led me back to the one where I had been and started at before.
A total of 10 kilometres or more in about two and a half hours: it was so good; it’s great to have quality time alone on a quiet New Year’s Day to put my thoughts into order and then action before the normal, crazy pace of the new year starts.
So, what are my plans for this year?
- Improve everything that I have already begun, including what I planted last year, such as ‘The long gringo’ blog, Placebeads, classes, and the school’s didactic material.
- Begin my YouTube channels: ‘The long gringo-diary/journal, trips and travels. ‘The Right Way English didactic online course, and anything else related to videography and vlogging.
- Be more productive than last year by finding passive income from YouTube, POD-printing on demand, and other related sources, as they are all interlinked.
- Be happy and continue to be myself.
- Continue to do exercise, improve myself and try to walk at least 10,000 steps daily. Basically, to continue my positive routine and habits that I already have.
- Be more materialistic: Get a car, or a motorbike, or both.
- Save and invest money by setting aside a part of it every day, week, and month.
- Create this positive routine whilst my mother is still alive, between living in Brazil and England.
- Continue the dental treatment.
- Try to understand Jessica, Yasmin, and Nalva better, so I can help them whenever possible in their own development.
- Make money and be happy!
- Just live today!
- Improve myself in all forms!
In the late afternoon, I got to speak to Nalva and Yasmin, which was nice. I had spoken to Jessica the night before on New Year’s Eve, so everything is good for the beginning of the new year.
It’s just a question of building!!!
In bed by midnight.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
