I love it when a new year starts on a Monday! It's like it's made for success. As we all get ready to start a new year, the temptation is there to set myriad goals from losing weight to fixing our finances. I used to enjoy having a New Year bonfire and writing things I wanted to let go of from the past year and watching them burn! I guess we all have our little rituals.
Now I couldn't give a hairy rats arse about being skinny, or fitting into a bikini or my high school jeans, but for those who know me well, you know I always set a lot of goals for myself. To be clear, I set goals equal in number to my age on my birthday. This year was 49, and in March I will be setting a BIG FIFTY goals! How did I get to be so freakin’ old and why would I do this to myself. Ha! I’m generally happy when I achieve at least half of them, but they do serve as a fabulous reminder of my intentions for the year. I also dabble in setting some intentions at the end of the year.
My goals for this next segment of this thing called life are going to align with a journey that I am on to find peace and joy, mostly in my own brain. As a middle-aged woman, I am sure that I’m not alone in having not always nurtured, and sometimes just plain neglected, the realities of my own different abilities/disabilities. There are very few people in my life who even know they exist, but more on that later.
I loathe programs that suggest you can fix yourself in 30 days. Although they can be very motivating for some, for others they can make you feel like a failure when you mess up and have to, or choose to, skip a day. More often, after the 30 days end, you go back to your old ways and whatever it was you were trying to achieve goes down the loo like a number two. My favorite is the one person who does a Dry January just to prove they aren't an alcoholic, but imbibes like a fish the rest of the year. What's a label anyway? But everyone gets to do you, so if it does work for you, you go girlfriend.
Several years ago I came up with the Flex42 plan. My goal with it was to teach myself moderation so that habits could be developed and continued “most of the time.” If you are interested in this, I am attaching the program and easy fill-out form below. I have some great friends who are incredible at moderation. Maybe they are vegan 90% of the time, or can have an adult beverage only on weekends.
So I am researching the simple things that can make a difference to my mental wellbeing and plan on adapting these according to the Flex42. Oddly enough, or maybe obviously, most of these things also contribute to enhanced physical wellbeing. Who knew? Okay, we all probably do.
Dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin all play a role in our happiness. For me, the Big Seven for Serotonin etc. are:
Hydrating
Exercising
Getting good sleep
Writing
Eating well
Learning (Spanish, a new trade, travel, reading etc.)
Having good friends (nurturing relationships)
So here we go 2024! Let's see if we can make some little changes that make my small brain work a little better. Signing off from my current office in the Dominican Republic. Cheers to that!
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