A Brand New Year!
Hi friends and followers.
It’s that time again to reflect on the year gone past and to usher in a brand new year. It’s like starting with a fresh blank page. You can choose what you want to concentrate on, what to change, and what to let go of. the last one is really important, because there is so much in life that can hold you back if you let it. Letting go of old baggage can be very cathartic. life is too short to keep thinking about old hurts and repeating old habits. Time to try something new. It’s helpful to do something symbolic like write down all the stuff you want to change or get rid of and throw the notes in the fireplace, or light a fire outdoors and send them into the cosmos. If you like, you can put them in a Chinese lantern, if you are permitted to release them in your community. It’s a visual reminder that you are letting the past go.
Time to think of what you want to change. Everybody is used to making resolutions to lose weight or stop smoking, and we get about three weeks into the new year and we’re back to our old habits. Making resolutions is like setting yourself up to fail. This year, I have decided to make gradual changes is my lifestyle and see if I can maintain them. Things like stopping using coffee cream and replacing it with 2% milk this week, then maybe next week, buying multigrain bread instead of white. rather than going “cold turkey” with a multitude of change, it gives you a chance to acclimatise to healthier eating. if you are a smoker, figure out when you want a smoke the most, then make yourself wait an hour every day for a week, and see if you can eventually eliminate that smoke break. Substitute another activity, ie: chew gum or drink water during that time if it helps. I treated myself to a set of motivational audiotapes which I set aside some time each day to listen to. It’s surprising how the messages stick in your subconscious mind and help you to shut down that little demon’s voice that urges you to eat those chocolates or have another cigarette. Visualizing change helps, too. Post a picture of the kind of body you would like to have on your fridge or “stash” cupboard. (Come on, all of us who are overweight have one.) Don’t let past incidents of falling off the diet wagon influence you. We let all that past negative stuff go, remember? This is a whole new approach. If you have to have some chocolate, go for it! Don’t be hard on yourself, you can try again tomorrow. Try not to binge, make a little go a long way. Enjoy every particle of your smoke, if you have to have one. There’s nothing more detrimental to a fledgling diet than complete deprivation. Be kind to yourself!
Try something new! What have you always wished you could do, but have never taken the time to try? Would you like to be able to speak and understand French? Would you like to try writing, drawing, or painting? Would you like to meet new people? The internet may be a great source for many of these activities. You Tube has tons of instructional videos, you can buy software to teach you so many things. Lots of information is out there on the web to get you started in lots of great leisure activities. If you want the face to face contact, take a course at a community college. Be a couch potato no more! All of a sudden, there’s not enough time in a day to do all of the things you want to do!
You will be amazed by the changes in yourself. Suddenly you have interesting things to talk about. Your confidence level rises, and you become vibrant and attractive to other people. More importantly, you feel better about yourself, and that, my friend, is gold!
And so, to all of my friends, family and fans, I wish you a bright and Happy New Year with all good things coming your way! I can’t wait until April to share my book, The Lions Den with you. Taking a chance to try something new has changed my life. I hope you give yourself the freedom to see what you can do too!
Remember to:
Dance as if no one is watching, sing as if no one is listening and live every day as if it was your last.
Old Irish proverb
Norma
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