Every year, when the daffodils fade, I get a little depressed.

OK – let's be honest here. Every other year I get a LOT depressed – that's the down bit of the bipolar. On the "depression lite" years (like this one) it's just the ordinary, average, every day blues.

Yesterday, however, as I saw the first sharp spikes appear in the roadside verges (Cambridgeshire – it's a lot warmer than where you are, probably) topped with the faintest sliver of pale gold, I started to get a bit down rather earlier than usual.

Uh?

And I started thinking. Just a little, you understand.

I've worked out that, by the time the daffodils have started to fade, the year is a quarter over and (yet again) I won't have achieved anything. My goals will still be there, lofty and unattainable, sitting serenely far out of my reach.

Attempting to cheat by not actually setting any goals doesn't work either. Nope. Frustration and feelings of futility abound come the time of the sap rising.

So, this year (safely clear of the treacherous January 1st), I'm setting some goals that I can actually reach by Easter.

Apparently all that setting SMART goals is profoundly uninspiring. No – you need BFH (Big Fat Hairy) goals to get your blood pounding and your juices – well – juicing.

So, by Easter I will have:

• Finished the second novel. (Actually starting it would be good too)

• Lost 20lb of the 35lb my doctor says I need to lose.

• Booked a flight to see my dear friend who moved out to Georgia five years ago and who I haven't seen since.

They're all big but the last one's the scariest (for very boring reasons).

Those may seem big goals to you, but I know I can do them. I just need to kick myself very hard on the bottom to get them done.

The other thing with goals is to publish them so you can be held accountable. Right, ticked that one off then.

And I'd really like some company here, so how about sharing your goals with me in the blogspot?

So, come April, we can ask each other how we're doing, and give each other a big congratulatory bunches of flowers.

Tulips, I think. The daffodils will have gone over.

Mary

A Moodscope member.