Ahh.. it is that time of year again. Time to reflect and ruminate on the past and ponder and plan for the future. As we turn the page on the calendar we are flipping into a new year. What does this year have in store for you? The possibilities are endless!
As you know I am a person who believes in resolutions. Although for me I really consider my resolutions to be goals. Last year I spelled them all out in my post, Happy New Year! I spent some time looking back over last year and the goals that I set for myself. Simply stated they were:
1. Live a healthy life (physically, mentally, spiritually)
2. Keep it organized
3. Spend time with family and friends
4. Travel
5. Grow professionally
I feel like I have done pretty well. I was more successful in some areas than others. I give myself A’s for items 3-5. I would say that 2014 has been fully centered on family, friends, and career. Interspersed within the year there was lots of travel. I traveled as close as Carmel and as far as Ireland – with trips to Boulder, Boston, and Hollywood in-between. Oh yes, and that cross-country drive to Vermont. Yes, I can say I earned an A+ in achieving my goal of filling my year with travel.
So let’s look goal #2. Keep it organized – eh, I give myself a B. I wish it was better, but with a family this size, all the comings and goings, and the career – it is a challenge. What I seem to do, quickly gets undone. Keeping it all organized is an ongoing process.
The big one. Number one on my list: Live a healthy life (physically, mentally, spiritually) feels like it got short changed the most. I have had some wins – like training for and swimming Alcatraz. That was one of my highlights of the year. I have signed up with Team-in-Training, and I am currently training for a triathlon. All good stuff. However, overall I feel like I ended the year completely wiped out. Maybe it’s because I have been living with this monster of a head cold for the last two weeks. But as any teacher tells you – we go, go, go and the moment we hit a school vacation: we get sick. And December was especially busy! But whatever the reason, I’m tired. It feels as though my “being” was a bit shortchanged this last year. For that reason, I am declaring the year of 2015 the year of self-care. I admit saying that out loud sounds a bit selfish! But I am thinking of this in terms of the airline attendant reminding the adults to place the oxygen mask on their face before helping a child. We need to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. Self-care. That’s my big one for 2015.
So what is self-care really? Simply it is the practice of taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. For me, I want to incorporate meditation into my life. That is a big change. But I also need to drink more water. That will be a small change. I want to find a way to balance all that I do without shortchanging my body, mind, and spirit. I should also get more sleep.
So for me 2015 is the year I focus on Self-Care. Come, follow my journey, and along the way I hope you, too, find ways to help you take care of yourself.
