It’s a New Year

Reflection – Tuzigoot National Monument – near Cottonwood, AZ

Happy New Year everyone.  For your listening pleasure while reading this post, please feel free to press play below.

New Year’s Eve has always been my favorite holiday.  When I tell people this, they’re usually surprised.  Isn’t it such a let down, they might ask?  All that planning, getting cabs in line, dressing up, people backing out on you on your last minute plans?  Sure, that’s happened before.

But for me, New Year’s Eve is not about drinking champagne or getting kissed at midnight, or a large disco ball that millions of people watch in a square.  Although it’s super fun, that’s just Hallmark stuff.  Instead, I think New Year’s Eve marks a time of reflection, of hope, and of renewed determination.  New years resolutions are a chance to say I want to be a better version of myself.  We all are already just great, perfect and beautiful to the core, I believe it (and so should you).  But there might be things we do or say or think that make us feel less than happy, alone, distanced from our loved ones, and especially distanced from ourselves.  Believe me, this is easy to do.  We live in a highly industrialized, global world, with media stuffing our faces 24/7, where success, money, and power are often valued over qualities of friendship, compassion, and community.

That being said, I thought I might share my new years resolutions with you for the 2013 year.  Thanks to some of the awesome tips from Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project, I feel more prepared to meet my goals than ever before.  Her awesome post on keeping your resolutions focuses on the idea of adding something to your life.  So often, resolutions are about taking something away, “quit this,” “don’t eat that,” etc.  Think about it.  Do you want to think about improving yourself in terms of denying yourself what you love?  I certainly don’t.  If you haven’t read Gretchen’s blog, I highly recommend it.

Alright, here goes…turning the switch to vulnerable mode.

Tina’s 2013 Resolutions

Resolution 1: Drink 80 fluid ounces of water per day.

Resolution 2: Eat four cups of fruits and vegetables per day.

Resolution 3: Write for at least one hour every day.

Resolution 4: Move my body for at least 30 minutes every other day.

Resolution 5: Make a point of celebrating every friend and family member’s birthday.

Phew, that wasn’t so bad.  What I also learned from Gretchen is to make resolutions that are specific and measurable.  Notice, I didn’t come up with “eat more veggies.”  Instead, I said exactly how much.  This gives me a small goal to reach every day and by extension, a victory for every day (which makes one much more likely to succeed in the long run).

Last but not least, write them down!  Inside my calendar for 2013, I created a checklist for myself with each of the resolutions shortened to simply Drink, Feed, Write, Move.  Every time I reach my quota throughout the day, I get a check.

The last thing to remember about following your new years resolutions is that IT IS OKAY if you fall off the wagon.  Don’t be hard on yourself, just get right back on again, and move on.  Remember, every day, every hour, every minute, is a chance to change your life for the better.

It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day, it’s a new light, and I’m feeling good.

Happy 2013 everyone.  I hope it’s a great one.