Resolutions for 2021

So, here we are, January 2021! It has a good ring to it, doesn’t it? What are your resolutions for 2021?

It’s always important to set ourselves some goals, to create some challenges—some big and some small—so that, as we achieve them, we can give ourselves a pat on the back. It’s essential we celebrate the small wins as well as the big victories!

I don’t know about you but, I’m feeling pretty hopeful at present … with some good rains around us here in Queensland, Australia; a new US President (thank heavens!); and the Coronavirus battle looking as if we are going to get on top of it.

So, what are my resolutions for 2021, you might ask? Well, I have some personal goals, of course, that are specific and about those smaller wins but, I also have the general ones that are so much harder: try and be nicer to people around you even when things may not quite be going your way; plan out some strategies on how to be fitter or healthier and make sure there are timelines so that they are implemented … you know those goals that I mean!

Resolutions for 2021 are important yet, we should be resolute all the time. Plus, we need to throw in a dash of optimism and sprinkle liberally with determination. On the creative side, I haven’t decided to write another book (well not yet!), however, I have determined that when sharing information through my social media, I’m going to get back to talking about my Italian parents and their incredible adventures because, well, that’s how I became an award-winning author! It’s due to their extraordinary lives that I became inspired and confident enough to put the words down so that they would coalesce into two stories that have been successfully published.

So, part of my resolutions for 2021 is to furrow through some of the photos that I have and, that were not used in either of the two books and provide them as part of my monthly sharing for your enjoyment. And so, what better way for my first post in 2021 than a photo of Eugenio and Maria (Iucci) when they had just arrived in Africa in 1955? My dad was such a larrikin, always taking the ‘mickey’. He was fun to be around; people were attracted to him from all walks of life and, in turn, he was interested in people, all of their aspects. He always had a story to tell.

I hope that this photo of them makes you smile; that it gives you the energy to jumpstart or re-invigorate your resolutions for 2021. My Italian parents left everything they knew in Italy to travel thousands of miles by ship to the bottom of Africa to start afresh; how overwhelming that would have been. Yet, that idea of adventure, that sense of purpose, and a huge dollop of sheer grit made them go all out and be successful … something we can all be inspired by.

So, here’s to all of our resolutions for 2021.

In bocca al lupo (good luck)!

Marisa