Nicola Young: Fresh start in sight after tough year

Christmas 2015 down, which means 2016 is around the corner. I hope you're not exhausted like me.

It's been a tough year and it has prompted me to look up that old-fashioned stress test where you assign points to different life changes.

It's called the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale and is based on research from the 1960s and 70s that shows an association between illness and life stress.

Any score over 300 is considered high-risk - I scored 449.

I've always thought the greatest risk comes with slowing down. That's when the body seems to relax and let the germs take hold. Luckily in my family, Christmas is full on so there's no chance for illness at a big family Christmas.

For others also facing the end of a rough year, hang on a little longer: a new year is nearly upon us and with that comes a fresh start. And if your family is anything like mine, I hope you can revel in the frenzied joy of quality time with shared dinners, laughter and board games.

I'm not one for new year resolutions, but I am thinking about what I can look forward to in 2016 and what I need to keep working on. I guess that sounds a bit like resolutions.

Practising forgiveness has been hard work at times, so rising to that challenge is still on the list. I want to be generous and kind with others, but most importantly with myself. As they say on an aircraft: fix your own oxygen mask before helping others with theirs.

Challenging the concept that "busy" is synonymous with "doing well" stays on my list, although I reckon I've got a bit better at this over the past year.

Taking time out, especially when outdoors in nature, is a good way to create a little thinking space.

Getting my boys outside has worked this year, and I'm planning more of that in 2016. The combo of time with my children and being outside is a winner.

I need to get moving more - my great work-from-home job actually translates to a pretty sedentary life. In 2016, I'm looking for a co-working office so I can be around other people for at least part of my working days. And that co-working space will be in Whanganui.

Yes, I'm excited to be on the move back to Whanganui: walks by the river down to the River Traders Market; taking the dog to the rugged South Beach; the Kowhai Park re-opening; and I'm planning on picking up a paintbrush again.

I'm going to miss many things about Taranaki, but Whanganui has heart and character and caring people - not least our Mayor Annette Main and deputy (plus, mayor-in-waiting, I hope) Hamish McDouall.

We're ditching the old - and partly undeserved - negative reputation and replacing it with a positive reputation for the arts, heritage buildings, a sporting centre for a huge range of sports, the river as a home for Whanganui iwi and a growing tourism attraction, and a place to have a great lifestyle with a family or when retired.

The packing and shifting will undoubtedly be painful but look out for me from late January.

My final tips for myself are to take it easy on the wine and pastries, and to be conscientious with the sunscreen - 2015 included a skin-cancer scare for me.

I am giving up on ever getting a tan. I'm just not born that way and I will be covering up this summer.

Look after yourselves, and see you in 2016.

-Nicola Young has worked in the government and private sectors in Australia and New Zealand, and now works from home in Taranaki for a national charitable foundation. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.