Broken New Year resolutions making you feel despondent? Here are some cool things to do in the New Year that are not guilt-inducing and will leave you more creative, energized, self-aware, and healthier.
My hubby and I drove to the Berkshires last summer. One sun-dappled afternoon, we wandered through small gift shops laden with unique items. I came across a purse. The price of the purse was close to what I would pay for an original piece of artwork. I passed on the purchase, but the image of that purse nagged at me. I put my ingenuity to work. Bong! I could buy the purse to carry on special occasions and also display it in my home as an original creative piece. Lesson: If you want something, find multiple purposes for it to reduce guilt and buyer’s remorse.
Start a Gratitude Jar or a Mood Jar. Take your pick.
Gratitude Jar:
It may seem trite, but years ago, I vowed to find three specific things to be grateful for each day and to recall them right before bed. Over time, I noticed my shifting toward a more positive mindset. Instead of looking for things to be mad about (and I was expert at finding plenty) or over-focusing on the negative, I became pre-occupied with watching for specific things on that day to be thankful for.
Mood Jar:
When the mood strikes you, describe your state-of- being in one word. Write it down. Date it. Drop it in the jar. At the end of the year, dump out the contents. Read through your entries. Assess the degree of positive vs negative moments and brainstorm about how to increase the former. Lesson: awareness breeds contentment.
Another cool thing? Designate a door for people who enter your home in 2019 to sign their names in permanent marker. I’m not sure why I wanted to do this, but my husband wasn’t a fan. First, I proposed we utilize the rectangular column in our front foyer as the perfect repository of signatures. He flatly refused. We compromised and selected the pedestrian door from the garage to the house as autograph central. I like keeping track of who comes and goes. Lesson: I’m not sure why I felt compelled to do this, but I have learned to follow my gut.
Post a list of healthy things to do daily on an inside cabinet door in your kitchen.
Studies have shown in surgical settings, a visible to-do list increases the probability of all going smoothly and that nothing important is forgotten or neglected. Plus, if you are neurotic, like me, checking-off things accomplished jump-starts a surge of adrenalin. Lesson: As we age, our short-term memory goes South. Adjust.
And the coolest thing to do? Keep this quote close. From the novel, The Dinner List, by Rebecca Serle: Happiness is not constantly needing things to be at their full potential.
Keep Preserving Your Bloom
(the best you can),
Iris