So this is it, my last Healthy Holidays post. Thanks so much for participating and sharing. I hope you’ve gotten as much out of these past few weeks as I have. Since I won’t be talking to you again until the new year, I thought I’d share about new year’s resolutions… sort of. In late 2012 I woke up and I was tired of my life. I was tired of being obese, I was tired of pretending to be happy, I was tired of going through the same motions day after day and missing out on all the great parts of life. Sure, I did things, but I wasn’t experiencing things. I was in a constant state of being overwhelmed. I wasn’t depressed, I wasn’t suicidal, I was just over it. I was also constantly sick (as I’ve mentioned in previous posts) and I can’t even imagine what my poor husband was going through dealing with the emotional rollercoaster that was his wife.
I’m not really sure why that particular day was the day I decided to do something about how I felt, but something sparked inside of me and I decided it was time to make a change. Since the end of 2012 was nearing I did what probably most of us do and I made a new year’s resolution to do one thing in 2013 that would make me happy. That is actually what got me started with making my own personal care products. Now, you don’t know me that well yet, but trust me when I say that I do not do anything half-assed. I think by December 2nd I was testing out toothpaste, deodorant, and face wash recipes like a crazy person. And from that moment on my life has continued to grow and become more enriched every single day.
2014 was a big year for me because it was the year I decided to tackle my lifelong weight struggle and in 2015 I decided it was time to enrich my mind as well as my body and I vowed to learn about something that interests me. I chose to start reading up on feminist thought, which has taken the form of reading books ranging from The Feminine Mystique to Bossypants.
What is your New Year's #Resolution this year? Come share! Click To TweetOver the years I’ve changed my goal from the next one thing that will make me happy to the next one thing that will make me happy and a more interesting person. I define interesting person as someone that I’d like to talk to and be friends with. It’s a very personal description and I encourage you to define interesting person in whatever way makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning.
I’m packaging this in neat little annual packages for the sake of simplicity, but actually, other than in 2013, I haven’t waited for the new year to start my next one things. Also, there have been way more next one things than I’m writing about. Pretty much all of my Wellness Wednesday posts will be born from next one things that I’ve been doing over the years. And the fact that I’m even writing Wellness Wednesday posts is because of the last next one thing that I did. Since we are nearing the end of 2015, I thought I’d share my next one thing with all of you and I hope you’ll share your next one thing in the comments. Feel free to start in a week and call it a new year’s resolution or start it whenever you want, regardless of the date on the calendar.
My next one thing is to finally take up a regular exercise practice. I know it sounds like just another forgotten new year’s resolution that we all make every year, but it holds a deeper meaning to me. I completely and utterly despise exercise. To me, exercise is that thing I used to do to punish myself for being fat and for that reason I’ve never had a healthy relationship with exercise. So that’s my next one thing. I want to reframe my thinking and prove to myself that exercise is an act of self-love. I am no longer that miserable person who hated herself and because I now care about myself, I will exercise to strengthen my body and my mind. I hope that exercise will become how I pamper myself and hopefully, with some practice, it will become the thing I run to when I’m looking for a way to bring some peace and balance to my life.
I’m open to suggestions on how you move your body and take care of yourself. Please also feel free to share your next one thing. And thanks again for participating in Healthy Holidays. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this as much as me!
P.S. Happy almost birthday to my poor husband! His birthday is December 31 and for years he has had to endure my complaints that his birthday cuts into my New Year’s Eve celebration plans. So, I would like to publicly announce today that I am SO GLAD he was born and I totally forgive him for choosing this day for his birthday.