Hello, my friends! So much has happened since we spoke last! I won’t go into all of it, but it was a lot of big life things that no matter how much you think you have a handle on your emotional triggers, it some of it still jumps up and bites you in the butt. I moved, I had the anniversary of my grandmother’s death, and her birthday. On top of all of that, I’ve been working with my doctor testing medicines to get my daily eye-induced headaches/migraines under control. I’m on my second medication now. It seems to be working well, but the side effects are so random and strange.
ANYWAY. I’m popping in here today to tell you about some things that I’m doing NOW…the fast-forward from all the things between my last post and this one. I’m on Day 11 of my new habits (or the new behaviors I’m trying to make habits.)
- No more negative self-talk. For the longest time I’ve been my own worst enemy, the biggest bully, and the meanest critic. I’m using an app on my phone that works in cognitive behavioral therapy, and I’m working on my self-talk and self-love. I am consciously having to change my thoughts. Now that I am continually making myself aware of the behavior, I had NO IDEA just how often I was being so negative. Even just the smallest thing, like not calling yourself fat every time you look in the mirror, makes a huge difference in your perspective. I am not even close to being in a healthy mind, but I’m 11 days further down the path.
- Exercise. It sounds so simple, right? And it really is that simple. Just move. Do something. Endorphins make a difference. I’m learning to love exercising again. I’m running and practicing yoga on the daily. I’m honestly really enjoying both! It has been such an awesome feeling seeing even just the tiniest bit of improvement in some of the yoga poses. I can see why they call yoga a practice. I’m kinda getting addicted. The other thing about these two specific forms of exercise that I’m liking right now…I’m doing them alone and they are solely mine. I can get lost in my head and in my body and it’s that kind of getting lost that is leading me back to me.
- The 5 Minute Journal. Every evening I have a shortcut that runs on my phone that reminds me, every time my phone goes into “good night” mode, it reminds me to do my 5 minute journal. This journal is a template that is already made and literally takes minutes to do. It makes me list 3 things that I did that day. And has me write something that I could have done to make the day better. Sometimes I write a lot and sometimes I write very little. But at the end of every day it’s nice sitting back and taking stock of the day. It’s made me realize what is big, what is small, what matters to me, what doesn’t, and how to move forward.
- Vitamins. Like every 80 year old woman should, I prep those bad boys in a pill box every Sunday and it’s all ready for the week. Take your vitamins.
Sure, it’s only 11 days. I’m going to get up tomorrow and try to get 12. Not every day will be perfect, and that is the hardest lesson for me to learn. If I don’t get one day right, it doesn’t mean I tossed out the baby with the bath water (there’s an old Missouri phrase for you.) It doesn’t mean that I start over from day 1 again. I just need to keep going.
I hope you all are doing so very awesome. Let’s keep going, shall we?
TODAY I LOVE: carmex (why did I stop using this several years ago? GIMME)
SONG OF THE DAY: “Play That Song” by Train
creating a queen 