'Tis the season - for a fresh start. Instead of creating your resolutions list, why not think of a different plan for 2023? A year from now it may not matter if you lost 10 lbs or fit back into your skinny jeans. It may not matter if you hiked Kilimanjaro or ran the Boston Marathon. Plus, we all know is the Girl Scout cookie season in the next few days, so support a great cause - even if you give those once-a-year cookies away!
January 1 is not magic, even though it feels like a post-holiday-page-turning-fresh start. Resolutions box us in, hold us to unrealistic expectations, and usually within days we are also feeling shame. Then within a few weeks many of us restrict again during Lent. With Ash Wednesday comes no chocolate, no dessert, no social media. This time we're going to do it! We are going to restrict our lives. Don't get many wrong - many of us need to make changes! And change is hard! But what if instead of guilt we made goals that inspired our lives?
How many books will you read this year? How many times will you have family game night? What if you picked up an exercise routine - but it was to lift weights with a spouse or go for walks with a friend? What if you made that appointment and started therapy? How about creating some boundaries - not to limit yourself but to limit the access some toxic folks have in your life? How about signing up for a class just to do something that gives you joy? Plan that once in a lifetime trip. Organize a space in your home and create an area of comfort and solitude. Decide that you will actively serve your community once a month. Sign up for a run but only choose ones that are fundraisers. Pick up a meditation practice. Call someone you love every day for a week. Limit your drinking. Pick out candles and each time you light them, light them for someone you remember who influenced your life. HAVE FUN.
Most of my friends know I love a quote by Viola Davis that says, "Once your life is done, the only thing that's left behind is how much you influenced the world & impacted a life." Let's admit it, no one will remember that you worked out 4 days the first week of January. But they will remember your happiness, your healthiness, and your heart.
Let's lighten the load in a new way this year, but in a new kind of headspace - let's go for it! Your goal may truly be losing the 10 lbs - but ask yourself why. Find the motivation. Change your headspace. Consider your mindset. Speak kindly to yourself when you look in the mirror - and watch that change your life.
Here's to 2023. May it be wrapped in everything that truly fulfills you.
