Auld Lang Syne

So begins another new year, and all the resolutions that come with these sorts of momentous occasions. Change is good and for some people a big event like a new year is a great time to start a change. I am not one to be a huge believer in resolutions, but I do see value in them. I think that anything that promotes positive change in our lives, whatever that may be, is valuable. That said, I have been thinking about the year ahead and some of my goals and what I want to accomplish and started making a list of things I want to do or change in 2020. Writing things down makes them more concrete for me, so I thought I’d share.

1. Read more. This year, I want to immerse myself in more books. Fiction, non-fiction, self-help, etc. All of the above. When I am reading more, I feel more mentally stimulated. It helps me at work, as well as in the rest of my life. For me, sometimes “read” more means more audio books because of all the time I spend in the car for work. I do plan to increase my time spent listening to audio books, but I really want to spend more time with… wait for it… paper books. I don’t want my time spent reading to be screen time. Part of why I want to read more is to reduce screen time.
2. Write more. Writing is an outlet for me. It helps me center myself and refocus when I am struggling with life and all of its anxiety. When I initially started considering this, I thought about setting a finite goal like “publish a blog every week,” but that’s not necessarily reasonable. Sometimes I just don’t have an experience or feeling I need to write about. I do hope to publish blogs more often this year, so I hope you all enjoy.
3. Maintain a more positive attitude. This is something I have been working on for a while, and I do believe I’ve made progress, but this will forever be a goal. Life is a gift, and it is important to treat it as such. Every second spent in a bad headspace is a second that you cannot get back. Our seconds of living are not infinite. That said, maintaining a positive attitude does not mean that a person must walk around bubbly happy every second of every day. For me, it means little things like remembering that things don’t happen to me, they just happen, and how I handle them matters. It also means that having the “I can’t” attitude needs to be a thing of the past.
4. Minimize my alcohol consumption. In 2019, I made a lot of positive diet changes and got consistent with my workouts. One thing I continued to hold onto was my alcohol consumption. I don’t drink to excess constantly or anything. However, I am basically mentally trained to cure boredom with food and drink. It isn’t uncommon to fill a Saturday afternoon with “lets go grab pizza and beers.” While I do think this is something that is okay to do on occasion, its become a thing I do too often. It is often harmful to my training and doesn’t align with the fitness goals I have set for myself.
5. Avoid situations and people that don’t feel positive or happy. This goes back to maintaining a positive attitude for me. While I know and appreciate that I am very much in charge of my mindset, part of that is surrounding myself with like-minded, positive people and situations. I wrote a blog a little while back about a change of scenery and the importance of cheering each other on and not being in situations where an entire group of people are having a conversation that is nothing but bashing someone else. I meant everything that I wrote. I want to be in good situations with uplifting people whenever possible.
6. Stop minimizing my feelings and allow myself to be more vulnerable. You guys, I can be a lot to handle. I am so emotional. At my worst, I am sensitive, stubborn, difficult, and borderline depressive. I care about everything and I feel everything. At my best I am generous, caring, and always available to the people I love. I spend so much time trying to fit in a box and not be “too much” for people. While I do think it is important to have control over emotions, I also think its important to let people see me for who I am, even on the tough days. Looking back, I think most of the times in life when I have fallen into a longer term, negative attitude has been the result of burying feelings.
7. Stop worrying so much about what my body looks like and focus on what it is capable of. I have spent too many years thinking I weighed too much. 2019 was maybe the first year that I really started to appreciate all the things my body can do. We ask our bodies to handle so much, and really, we should appreciate them instead of hating them. I can lift heavy weights, do gymnastics movements, run long distances, and climb mountains, among so many other things. I have a lot to celebrate. I am physically capable of so much, so why do I still let a scale define me some days? That is some crap that needs to be left behind.
8. Take space when I need it. This is simple really. I do not need to be constantly available to the world. Of course, it is important to be there for friends and family, but it is also important to be available for oneself. I am done showing up for every little outing that comes up. This year I am going to take time away from people when I need it. I am going to give myself space to breathe. I am going to allow myself to say no and be okay with missing out on things. Mostly, I am going to allow myself time to reflect and be alone when I am tired either physically or mentally.
9. Prioritize sleep. Anyone who knows me knows that sleep is such an issue for me. I am either getting 9 hours of sleep or 3. I have a hard time falling asleep sometimes. I am on prescription medication to help me sleep. I am going to try to be as consistent as possible with bed time. From a training perspective, it is so important for recovery. From a life perspective, it is so important for a good attitude. Getting enough sleep is also detrimental to controlling my emotions.
10. Spend more time talking about the present and future than the past. We cannot change what has happened in the past, but we can sure as hell plan for the future. We can also be present in the now. I want to talk about hopes and dreams for the future with my people. I want to put my phone and other distractions away and be present to have these conversations in the moment.

 
I truly hope that 2020 is the best year yet for all of us. I really hope that in a year’s time I can look back at this blog and say that I made some progress towards all these things. It’s the roaring 20’s and its time for a glow up.