2014: The Year of Me

I don't really go in big for resolutions. I've never been an avid resolution setter. As someone said on twitter the other day, if it's important enough to you then you just do it, you don't wait for a special day to start being better. However this year I've decided to make some resolutions. This year I turn 35 and when I reflect on my life in my 30s I see that its been a massive period of growth and change for me. I've become more willing to be myself, found my own style, lost friends and made new ones and lost some again.

This year I embark on a new adventure. On the 29th of January I begin my journey to becoming a Nutritional Medicine practitioner, Naturopath and Herbalist. I'm not sure about the herbs and stuff yet, my main focus is on learning the science behind nutrition, how our bodies work and how we can heal ourselves by making choices about what we put in our mouths. It seemed a natural step after my journey from 100.5kgs to the 74.5kgs I am now (I put on a couple of kgs over December dammit!). I am both excited and slightly trepidatious about this new journey, there's a lot of learning to do and a lot of it is science, but after doing a chemistry and anatomy and physiology bridging course last year to get prepared I think I'll be okay.

Plus this year I will be the proud mother of not one but TWO high school students. That's a scary thought. Wasn't it just yesterday that they were babies in my arms? (such a cliche). Having two in high school and one in primary school (who is too young to walk home on his own yet) while I'm studying will make logistics a little tricky but we'll make it work. I'm going to need to get good at planning and preparation though. Especially for dinners to make sure we are eating healthy meals every night and not falling in to the "I'm too busy" trap.

So with all this excitement happening this year I decided that I needed to set myself some guidelines, goals, resolutions (or whatever you want to call them) for 2014. Its going to be an amazing and challenging year and I need to make sure I don't let myself get distracted by unimportant things. So here they are...

2014: The Year of Me

I will stop telling myself that I am broken and that there is something "wrong" with me. I will embrace my differences and understand that they make me who I am.

I will stop doing things simply because I feel a duty or obligation to do them. I will only do things that I want to do, because I choose to do them.

I will not make excuses for who I am. My opinions, ideas, thoughts, friends, diet, taste in music etc etc are part of me and I am awesome. So there.

I will put myself and my own needs first. I am important, I matter and I should be valued, especially by myself. My health, both physical and mental, come first.

I will stop feeling like I am missing out because I don't go to events that make me feel socially anxious. If people are really my friends they will understand and make the effort to see me in a setting that does not leave me housebound for days afterwards.

I will acknowledge the things I am not so good at and respect that they are a part of me.

 

I will stop allowing myself to feel bad because of what someone else says or thinks about me. Furthermore I will stop assuming I know what people think about me.

I will stop making room in my life for people and things which do not make me happy. I will make extra time and effort for the things and people that do make me happy. Life is short and I will endeavour to fill it with as much happiness as possible. Because I am worth it.

I will not give up when everything gets too hard. I will push on, challenge myself, use the strength and resilience that my life has given me, pick myself up and do better.

I will allow myself time to be sad or angry or grumpy or just a bit meh. These are valuable feelings and they will be easier to handle and pass quicker if I acknowledge them. Having negative feelings does not make me broken or a failure. It makes me human.

I will thank people for what they bring to my life as often as possible. I will tell people I love them.

I will take time to reconnect with myself when I need to and I will be the best me that I can be. 

and finally...

I will blog when I feel like blogging. I won't worry what people will think about my posts, what they will think about me. My blog is the place I write down my life to help me work through it and make sense of it. If all I ever do is whinge then so be it. This is my space to be and write and express whatever I want to. I write for me.