Happy New Year, everyone. Even though we continue to deal with a raging pandemic, I'm trying to stay optimist about 2022. I already have two trips planned which is two more than all of 2020 and 2021, not counting the weekend road trip to Portland in October that I briefly wrote about here. The two trips I have planned in 2022 involve flying on planes so I consider them major trips. We are going to Hawaii for one trip and then I'm going to Sedona, Arizona with a girlfriend for my second trip. The above Lucky Cat pin is a New Year's gift to myself that I just ordered to bring me luck in the New Year and to keep reminding me to have a positive outlook for 2022. Isn't she a cutie? We all need a little luck these days in fighting this virus that just won't quit. I'm hoping that if I wear this pin, it will keep me in a positive frame of mind because that is what my New Year's resolution is about this year. This is going to be my Year of Reconnection - reconnecting to my inner self, my emotional needs and being mindful in order to achieve that. You hear the word "mindful" a lot these days. It's very popular. I remember years ago when Intuitive Eating became the big thing, which is similar to being mindful. Now, with mental health awareness being so prevalent because of the pandemic, you hear a lot about mindfulness. It's actually a lot harder than you think to be mindful which is why I am going to focus this whole year on working on it. I've been learning more about it since I started working with Hannah Freese, RD and from all the many months of physical therapy for my three joint replacements and also since I started taking Pilates. I've learned that I need to be mindful because my thoughts are powerful. Whatever I think, is what I will do and that pertains to what I eat and how I physically move. I have gotten lazy in my old age and take the easy way to move about instead of the mechanically proper way to move about. My muscles have gotten lazy which is what I've been learning. Now, I work to strengthen them but even if they are stronger, I still need to be mindful that I don't go back to my lazy habits. If a movement is hard, I need to visualize it in my mind and focus on what muscle I will be using and then I do it properly. In physical therapy, I've been taught how to correctly walk again and how to correctly sit down and stand up. I know it sounds so elementary, but it's a big deal! As for food, I need to practice finding substitutes for my "dopamine fixes" besides sugar. Sugar is the most inflammatory thing I can eat yet I crave it all the time like a drug because I've always used it for my dopamine fix. But there are so many other ways to get my "fix" besides sugar and that is where being mindful comes in. That is where learning to reconnect to my inner needs and self worth comes in. It's a lot harder than it may seem but as Hannah would say - "I am a woman who can do hard things".
How did I get to this Year of Reconnection? I could not have gotten here without the past three years:
2019 - Year of Reconstruction - I planned two joint replacements that year which wasn't a lot to look forward to but I knew it had to be done. I got a new total hip and a new total knee.
2020 - Year of Rehabilitation - I was in physical therapy for 12 months for my knee replacement and it seemed like that's all I did that year. The pandemic didn't faze me much. Since most things were cancelled, it gave me the time I needed to focus on my rehabilitation. After PT was completed, I started doing Pilates and about that same time, I started working with Hannah Freese, RD.
2021 - Year of Reformation - I continued with Pilates and Hannah's eating plan called The Freese Method which was really a transformation for me. I could feel my body changing, my strength changing, my energy level changed and I started developing a new awareness about myself. My other knee kept getting worse, though, so I ended up having my second total knee replacement. Luckily, there was a lull in the pandemic and they were doing elective surgeries again. But since I was in such better shape, I only needed 3 months of PT and I continued my Pilates at the same time as my knee rehab.
2022 - Year of Reconnection - Now, it is time to focus on my emotional being and inner needs. I've been thinking about this for a long time. The past three years have taught me that things that seem impossible to achieve, actually do happen if I just continue to chip away a little bit at a time. I will change my dopamine fixes to things other than food. I do have this food blog so I’m aware that food does consume a lot of my thoughts but I don't need to get my dopamine fixes from food. I bought a journal as a Christmas present to myself from @trainwithjoan ( I follow her on IG) and started writing in it to help with organizing my thoughts and lay out my plan each day. Writing down a positive thought each day is an important part of this resolution. Writing down my negative thoughts and burning them is the other part.
Most people's New Year's Resolutions are about diet or exercise. I've addressed those during my Years of Rehabilitation and Reformation and I feel like I've made great strides. Now, I need to Reconnect with myself to give me the confidence to continue to succeed in those two areas because it is an ongoing journey. My ultimate goal is to be strong so I can enjoy life with our grandchildren and continue to make the trip to Japan when they move back there in 2023. It's a lot harder to stay in shape as we age but I'm not going to fail because of bad habits. My new journal has a spot for writing down thoughts because at this point, my thoughts are what will guide me to success on this health journey. It's about training my mind. Hannah says we don't "will power" ourselves to do things. We do things because we feel happy about it, confident and motivated to do it. That is my New Year's Resolution.
Welcome 2022!
Comments
Post a Comment