Thursday, March 9, 2017

2017 Be More: What's up with that?

New Year's Resolution: Two Months In
It's hard to believe I haven't blogged for two months - the time seems to have gone by so fast and so slow at the same time.  I left off with my 2017 resolution: be more.  Be more, it turns out, means so many things.

Be more present.
We've become a society encapsulated in technology.  While I don't describe myself as a person that can't be without technology, I do realize that I spend way more time in the virtual world than the real world for my liking.  I can remember having conversations with my daughter or husband that I didn't really listen to because I was distracted.  It hit me one day that my lack of presence in the discussions could lead to no conversations down the road and that is not a direction I wanted to take.  In order to be more present, I put down the phone or laptop or mute/turn off the television when they come into my space to talk.  They are WAY more important than anything else and I wanted them to feel that from me.

Be more appreciative.
Really?  How general is that one?  For me, this means trying to consciously appreciate what I have in life, like how awesome my friends and family are, having a warm house to come home to and a reliable car to get me around.  I can be a negative, pessimistic person and when I start down that path, it gets wider and longer very quickly so I am trying to be more aware of how good I have it.

Be more amazed.
Not sure if you've noticed this but we live on a planet with tons of cool things to experience.  The sky alone is an entire topic of amazement.  The clouds, or lack thereof, the way the sun shines through pouring rain is an anomaly in itself that still mystifies me every single time it happens.  Rainbows, double rainbows, sunsets that look like the world is on fire and eerie sunrises through the fog.  That's just a small portion of the day sky, not even touching the night sky.  Then there's trees and animals and insects and so on.  Just get out there and be amazed by this place, you won't be disappointed.

Be more kind to yourself.
There's a few components being addressed here.  Sometimes, I have an internal, self-deflating inner voice that puts me down.  I consciously work to knock that bitch down and I've come a long way but still need to focus on the virtual smack down from time to time.  Another way I am trying to be more kind to myself is to make healthier food choices and get more physical activity in.  Now, being kind to myself does not involve taking away any foods - I am living one life and it won't be one without cake, cookies, ice cream, cinnamon rolls and so on but it will be one that involves more fruits and veggies!  Physical activity, for me, is simply doing more.  I get up around 5:30 to get 30 minutes of exercise in, usually walking or a weights/walking combination four or five days a week.  Getting this done in the morning usually leads to higher energy levels through my day and a better attitude because I've already started my day successfully.  This is also time I get alone, to focus on me, because the other people in the house are usually sleeping while I'm getting my sweat on!  I've been feeling tons better since making these changes, which actually started well before the 2017 resolution.


That's what I've been up to for the past two months.  Let's see what else I can do to be more this year.

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