05 January, 2015

EXPERIMENTS IN BLISS: GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A NEW YEAR

Happy New Year, everyone!  You can read my first official post of 2015 HERE.  I'm thinking of officially switching over to my wordpress blog.  Let me know what you think.  

Sending love!
xoxo,
melanie

01 January, 2015

Experiments in ... Holding My Self Accountable vs. Allowing My Self To Falter (aka: A Resolution Roundup)

(Note:  This post was also featured on Resolution Revamp.)
It's December! Already! How did we come to the closing of the year so quickly? It feels like I was writing out my resolutions just last week. But, I guess, time flies when you're having experiments in bliss.
What a wild and wonderful year it's been! While I must confess that I have lagged on my resolutions in this last quarter of the year, I am exuberantly proud of the personal progress I've managed to make in 2014. I have completely restructured my lifestyle and my health continues to improve daily. As a direct result, of course, my quality of life is improving. This process, like so many others in my life, and in Nature, is happening at the Tortoise's pace. The Aries in me can get impatient at times, but I just keep reminding her that most true and lasting positive change takes time. My true nature seems to be more that of the Tortoise than the Hare, anyway, so this pace, in the big picture, suits me just fine.
So, I think I'm going to just dive right into my resolution round-up. Let's see how I did, shall we?
January was all about organization. Resolution #1: Organize home and life. Considering the fact that I was getting settled into my new loft and starting to fall into a good flow of client retention at work, I feel like this resolution was met. I will pretty much always believe that there can be more organizational improvements made. That's the Virgo in me.) But I feel very good about my organizational work this year. Yay! One resolution met!
February saw the advent of the elimination diet. Resolution #2: Treat myself to an elimination diet during the month of February. Then adjust everyday diet accordingly to eat for optimal health and not for emotional reasons. This was perhaps the best and most important gift I gave myself this year. In fact, it's one of the best things I've EVER done for my Self. This elimination diet, which ended up lasting through March, was the beginning of my discovery of the low fat high carb vegan lifestyle. And this lifestyle has been and is still creating so much positive change in my health, and in my life, in general. Hooray! Two resolutions met!
Exercise was the theme for March. Resolution #3: Get moving! Exercise regularly and joyously. Physical exertion has been an ongoing topic of scrutiny for me this entire year. I get plenty of exercise. I walk or bike almost everywhere. My job is physical. I stretch and wiggle all the time. And I occasionally even fit in some formal workouts. So, I have no qualms about claiming the prize on this resolution. Would I like to make some changes and improvements in this arena? Yes. But I'm satisfied with where I am until those changes can be made. (More on this in an upcoming post.) Awesome! Three resolutions met!
April was about cultivating creativity. Resolution #4: Do something creative every week. Make actual artist dates a la The Artist's Way. Have some kind of finished project to show for your efforts at least once a month. Okay, so this is where my footing starts to get a little slippery on the resolution road. While I have managed to participate in many creative endeavors this year - probably more than I have in the past several years - I have not been as consistent as this resolution dictates. So, we'll call this one a Room For Improvement.
Meditation was the plan for May. Resolution #5: Cultivate a meditation practice. I was doing some really good work on this resolution for a while. Unfortunately, I eventually let Life seep into my practice and suddenly so many excuses seemed to take precedence. However, spiritually speaking, this is what a meditation practice is. It's not about perfection, but about practice. It takes time to make it a habit. It involves failures as well as successes. And it's as much a lesson in how the failures are handled, as it is about how many successes are had. So, I'm considering this one a Room For Improvement, as well.
June was an attempt to separate my personal life from my working life. Resolution #6: Give myself days off of work and don't work on those days! Seems like such a simple aim. Alas, it continues to prove otherwise for me ... often to my detriment. I continue to struggle with my own boundaries about how much I can reasonably work. I'm also a sucker for helping out when I am needed. And while this stems from a good place of wanting to be a helpful and contributing member of the work team, my inability to refuse these requests for help most often leave me overwhelmed, overworked, and with a strained immune system. So, while I was doing okay with this resolution during a few months mid-year, overall I am calling this resolution a fail. Or rather, this is an opportunity for more reflection on my personal needs and how to provide for and protect those needs in my own words and deeds. Let's do it!
Financial health was the name of the game in July. Resolution #7: Save some money. Well, I did manage to save some money this year. However, I also managed to spend most of it in these last few months. I don't regret putting the money where I did, but I'm eager to start saving again. This time, I hope I can manage to create a more substantial nest egg. Another growth opportunity. It's on!
August asked me to indulge my social side. Resolution #8: Be more social. I think my failing with this resolution was that I didn't designate any specific parameters to be met, so I have no real concrete way of gaging how successful I was at achieving it. That said, I feel like I gave a decent showing out in the world. I even hosted a couple of parties. I'm still fairly hermity, but I managed to get myself outside much more often than I have in years past, so I'm calling this a win. Alright! Another resolution met!
September was about taking care of my Self. Resolution #9: Make room for some kind of Self care every week. Well, while I didn't get too caught up in documenting how often I was doing things for my Self, I can say that I practice Self care regularly. Whether it be meditation, hydrotherapy, yoga, time in sunshine, cuddles with my best bunny friend, or sundry other delightful treats, I treat my Self often. So, this resolution is one that can be happily checked as accomplished. Heck yeah! Five resolutions met!
October wasn't about me. It was about others. Resolution #10: Volunteer at least once a month. I am very sad to admit that this resolution got lost in the shuffle of end-of-the-year busyness. It's a downright fail. I mean, er, another opportunity to work harder in 2015! I'm looking forward to it!
November urged novelty. Resolution #11: Try something new at least once a month. While this is a notion I support, I admit that I wasn't specific enough in it's phrasing. I'm sure there were many new things I tried at many times throughout this year, but I did not always take note of them. So, I think I'm going to consider this a faulty resolution. Maybe I will try to tweak it into something more measurable and specific, perhaps, for next year?
December was all about spirit. Resolution #12: Cultivate a spiritual practice and attune to Nature by observing the Wheel of the Year, Esbats and Astors. I'm afraid I didn't do very well on this one, either. While I was almost always aware of when these events were taking place, I was not good about formally (or informally, if I'm being honest) acknowledging and honoring them. We'll be seeing this resolution again, dear readers. Be ready.
So that's it. Five resolutions met. Two resolutions partially met with Room For Improvement. One faulty resolution. And four resolutions unmet leaving opportunities for new growth. It's not perfect, but it's decent. And I'm happy with this progress. I'm looking forward to setting some new resolutions for 2015. I suppose I will have to get busy with that really soon. Still, it's gonna have to wait until another entry.
Happy New Year, lovelies! 2014 has been a wild and wonderful ride. Thanks for sharing it with me! If you'd like to share how you did on your resolutions this year, I'd love to hear from you. Just leave a comment below (or message me directly if you tend toward a more private nature). May 2015 bring you health, wealth, bliss and love!
xoxo,
melanie