Yet again—for the third or so time this week—, I have found myself unable to sleep. So now I’m sitting on my couch at four in the morning with a cup of tea whose tea bag tells me to ‘live with respect for yourself and others’, and I realised I still hadn’t started writing the blog post I wanted to put up by New Year’s Eve. And granted, I’m still in the (very, veeery) early hours of December 31st, but it always takes me a while to edit these things, and I have a feeling that typing this up while half-asleep won’t be helping.

2015 has been, for the most part, a good year for me. Nobody died, I attended my first wedding, and I spent most of the year working a job I love. I got to go on some spectacular trips—most notably, of course, back to Tanzania. But my first trip of the year, to Northern Italy, was amazing as well, not only for the food, but also because I finally got to see a few cities I’ve always wanted to see, Florence, Verona and Pisa among them. And to round it all off, I attended an electrical engineering seminar for translators, which was heaps of fun.

Sadly, I didn’t do everything I set out to do. For the past few years, I have given each year a sort of theme, starting in 2009 when I had no idea if I would be accepted back to university and, on top of that, was thrown out. No wonder then, I would think, that 2009 was my ‘Year of Uncertainty’. 2010 then became the ‘Year of Independence’, which certainly held true. Another notable year was 2012, which I dubbed the ‘Year of Travel’ on New Year’s Eve 2011. And it sure was that. I hadn’t ever travelled as much as I did in 2012. Now this last year should have been my ‘Year of Health’, but I have to admit I didn’t do all that well. I kept up with all my meds, but I did my yoga much more sporadically than intended, and the fact that the office next to mine has a well-stocked supply of chocolate and cookies certainly didn’t help. But I vow to do better in 2016, in addition to my theme for the year.

I want to learn how to climb, for one thing. And take my new bike out as often as I can, once I’ve finished setting it up. And do more diving. I also want to go back to a regular sleep schedule, even if it means I can no longer get any writing done. So yes, lots of plans for that, and even more for other things, including getting my driver’s license. For all my plans, I need to be one thing, though, and that is brave. I’ve never had a problem respecting others like my tea bag might suggest, but respecting myself has always been an issue for me, so in 2016, I want to be more courageous and respect myself more, and do all those things that have scared me so far.

So without further ado, here’s my theme for 2016: ‘Year of Bravery’. Let’s see what the next 366 days bring. I hope all of you ring in the new year with happiness.