The dawn of a new year has not generally been a big deal to me. I haven’t liked to spend a lot of time reflecting on the past year, and I see no point in making unrealistic resolutions that will only be broken.
Auld Lang Syne is, for me, a horrendously depressing song.
For a long while now, I’ve just felt like it was silly to settle on some arbitrary day to relaunch my life. If I did want to do a hard reset on my life, my birthday feels like a more logical date to choose as the starting point.
This year, though, I’m going to spend some time at the end of the year thinking about gratitude and successes — without my usual fixation on success defined by work. (Already feeling pleased that I said “this year” rather than “starting this year.” That’s a different level of commitment.)
The Good Stuff
Physical
I started to become a lot more in tune with my own body. Maybe it’s the yoga, maybe it’s the efforts at mindfulness. Whatever it is, I’m always amazed when I can sense what my body really needs.
I learned that I can resolve a recurring kink in my neck/shoulder by just hanging from a pull-up bar for a few minutes. I know that when I move into a certain yoga position, my right knee is going to pop — or that my big toe will crack! I’m getting better at knowing when I’m actually hungry and listening to what my body is telling me about what nutrition it needs.
I’ve begun to wonder how much of the fact that this feels pretty amazing and new to a 60-year old is that I’ve never been especially athletic. There have been times in my life when I was a pretty active runner, times when I spent a lot of time lifting weights at the gym, and many more times when I just generally didn’t take great care of my body.
But I’ve never been particularly aware of my body, and I’ve never had a good handle on the edge of my physical limits. I didn’t realize that quieting my mind would allow me to explore those limits. Just learning to say, “It’s okay. You can keep going a little further” to my body has been a major shift.
Now, though, I feel like I’m always learning about my own body, what makes it tick, and what it’s telling me.
I also find myself feeling good when I achieve some physical challenge that I set for myself. In 2020, I somewhat randomly set a goal to do a total of 500 pushups in a day. Once I was able to do that, I moved on to doing challenges on WayBetter. Then a stretching program, then an online personal trainer, and now a yoga/strength practice.
I’m often surprised at the fact that movement and exercise have become something I look forward to — and in fact need.
I’ve been a fairly healthy eater for several years (not counting the drinking, which I stopped in 2020). This year, I’ve really done more to learn about nutrition, experimented more with different recipes, and have even started to incorporate fasting into my lifestyle.
Work
I work full-time directing BS and MS degree programs in digital marketing. I’ve been at this for over 13 years, but that’s fine because:
- I have tended toward consistency in my work life. (Actually, that’s probably a fair statement about my life in general.) I stayed at my first job post-college for 20 years, so I’m not even close to my personal record yet!
- Digital marketing is always changing, so there is always something new to learn and curriculum to adapt. I believe that I like digital marketing for that very reason — it truly requires lifelong learning.
I have resumed my freelancing work, doing content writing and digital marketing strategy for clients. This gives me a different channel for being productive, and I find it generally rewarding. (I will admit to having to learn to see the reward — other than financial — in writing about septic systems, but even that has helped me become a faster writer.)
Mental / Emotional / Spiritual
The past few years have brought pretty dramatic changes in my life. From the outside, those changes might not be obvious, because I have the same job, live in the same home, and continue to live alone.
But the less visible changes have been massive.
I’ve been involved in Recovery Dharma for about 18 months, and that has piqued an interest in Buddhism that I’ve always had. That has led to learning more about spirituality and starting to really develop a personal spiritual philosophy.
I’ve done a ton of personal development work. Historically, I’ve been drawn to this sort of thing, started down a path, and then stopped. This year, I purchased and completed a pretty intense personal development program from Mo Saleem, and I’m currently participating in Leo Babuta’s Fearless Living Academy. Both have been beneficial in helping me think about my purpose and take concrete steps toward what I want.
I’ve maintained a pretty consistent morning yoga practice, and a less-consistent meditation practice. (Working on that meditation thing!) Both give me a little space to “be” without feeling productive in the way I have typically defined that.
I am volunteering for several organizations, including SAGE, the Orlando Youth Alliance, Ten Thousand Villages of Winter Park, and Leu Gardens. I am planning to find volunteer opportunities to work with seniors in some capacity in 2022.
I have followed through on learning things that I don’t “have” to do for my work. I’m learning a lot about gardening and plants, and I’m finally re-learning Spanish after “thinking about it” for many years.
I took a mini-vacation by myself, enjoying a few beautiful days at Firefly Cottages in Cedar Key. It was a great little getaway that helped shift my perspective toward valuing downtown a little more./
Like most, I guess, the past few years have brought many challenges in my life, from the universal (hello, COVID and crazy politics) to the deeply personal (losing my father, my daughter having multiple serious health issues).
But having a new, more positive perspective has allowed me to deal with those challenges without undue stress and, I hope, with some grace.
As I wrote that last sentence, I suddenly felt that I’d found a word that I would like to define 2022. (Weird, because that’s another new-year ‘tradition’ that I have traditionally rolled my eyes at!).
I want 2022 to be full of GRACE.
