It’s the New Year – Once More with Feeling

Image: David Sedlmeyer

So how’s your new year going so far? We’re about 2 weeks into 2016 and, I’m experiencing familiar mixed feelings: a saucy blend of hope and self-criticism tempered with renewed vigor. Let me explain.

As warm and wonderful as the holidays were – and I do love the happy chaos of irregular work schedules, extensive pajama-wearing, and a little too much food and drink -- I’m never sorry to say Seeya Later to the Happy and the Merry and the Ho Ho Ho and get back to a regular routine of work and life and knowing what day of the week it is.

I enjoy the excitement and promise of a New Year. Beginning anew. Starting fresh. Out with the old, in with the new. Whether you make resolutions or not (I don’t make a specific list but do try to visualize the year ahead and my place within it) there’s something comforting about pressing that invisible Reset button on January 1. “As of NOW I’m going to do everything right.” My good intentions for the year include the usual things – better health, more family time, increased productivity – as well as reviving the blog and growing the readership. Two weeks ago these goals seemed realistic, measurable and achievable. I was psyched. THIS is the year!

But now I find myself floundering a bit, and this is the all-too-familiar part. I have not yet adopted those healthy behaviors as intended. Not all of them, anyway, not all of the time. I have not gotten my mind right. I have not embraced the New Me. In fact, the New Me looks an awful lot like the Old Me who has a long history of disappointing herself when she struggles to follow through. I see my Facebook friends posting their impressive fitness achievements, or comparing detox diets, or displaying their virtuously KonMari’d homes and I feel like – as The Donald would say – a yuuuge loser.

I suspect I’m not alone in this. I admire those who are able to make their resolutions and stick with them. And I live in solidarity with those who waver. Change is hard, and changing oneself is perhaps hardest of all. And the negative, self-defeating messages we send ourselves don’t help at all. 
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So this post is my public announcement of intent to flip the script – for me and for you. I vow to NOT kick myself for having posted so infrequently of late, and instead will do my very best to create fresh, interesting new content as often as I can and when it’s fun to do so. I’m not going to condemn myself for the DID NOTs and the NOT ENOUGHs in the nutrition and exercise and productivity categories, but rather will  encourage myself to keep doing the things that I know will make me a better me. I deserve that.
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And you do too. If we’re able to keep walking down our self-determined paths, being gentle yet firm with ourselves along the way, I foresee a rewarding and fulfilling New Year for us all. Cheers to that!

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On a somewhat related note January is Hot Tea Month. Also Soup, Slow Cooking, and Oatmeal Month(s). The common links among these are comfort, warmth and coziness. Employ these things liberally as you build new habits, experience change, and coach yourself to the success that you deserve.
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You have my very best wishes for a Happy New New Year.