With 2016 ending ‘down in the dumps’ in many aspects of my life, leaving me feeling emotional, lost & un-grounded, I’ve been making some big efforts to change that.
Leading up to the New Year, i really started thinking about myself. About what I needed, about what I wanted. How I wanted to feel, what I wanted from life. As a mom & a wife, I feel I’ve been giving a lot of myself to others. Aiming to always please, never checking in with myself, never filling my own cup. I realized that it was time to stop thinking about others first, before myself. Obviously my kids will still get priority for the most part, but I am going to strive to find some more balance in it all. And I won’t be a bitch about my “self thinking”, because I care about people’s feelings, but it’s just gotten to the point that I need to empower myself again. Feel confident to speak up, when it’s so normal for me to stay quiet. I’m going to go for that solo walk without asking ‘permission’. I’m going to start focusing on what I need, and from there, build my foundation of contentment, which then will, hopefully, let everything else fall into place.
Aside from personal self care & self work, I’ve decided this year is going to be about letting go of stuff. Crap. Shit that lays around taking up both physical space & mental space. Planning out simple tasks to complete, one step at a time, as to not overwhelm, because, well, I can let anxiety take over pretty easily when I feel overwhelmed, and I just don’t want that anymore. I want to bring positive, calming vibes to our home, instead of just seeing all that needs doing, I want to see the comfortable space to raise my kids in.
I won’t lie and say this is the first time I’ve tried to go about with this ‘new frame of mind’. I’ve had it many times before, and don’t follow through. But the feeling of it is different this time. Both the emotional within me stuff & the physical around me. Something has to change. Because it has not felt good. For a long while. And I just need it to feel better.
Some small changes I’ve already incorporated and have made a great difference is that I’ve started meditating. Just 10 mins a day, with a guided meditation. Now, I’ve tried meditation before too, and never consistently continued. But, again, this feels different this time. Not to mention being gifted a years subscription to a Meditation app is a big help. Headspace is the name of it, I’d highly recommend it. It goes about it in such a way that it’s not about forcing away thoughts or distractions, rather letting them come as they do, then gently bringing you back to inside your body. No pressure. I’m still just on the 10 day beginning section, but the app itself has different elements for many different aspects of life. Including a section for kids.
Another small element I’ve added into my daily ‘routine’ is Angel Cards. There are many ways to use them, but my purpose with them is to choose one at the beginning of the day, to give me a ‘focus word’. Something to guide me through the day, something to focus on, to come back to, when I get too clouded over by all that comes. Just this simple thing has helped so much. Between the meditation & angel cards, I’m already feeling a lot more grounded and present.
Also, cutting out Social Media, well at least Facebook & messenger has been a great help to getting back to “self”. To stop looking for little snippets of escape into other people’s lives, or reading too many articles on what you should or shouldn’t be doing. I found myself being to “judgey” against myself, rather then just letting it slide off me like I used to be able to do.
Some books I have on the go right now, also helping, are Shonda Rhimes’ “Year of Yes” a fun & funny read, inspiring and just easy to read. And Dr. Sue Johnson’s “Hold Me Tight”. Cause let’s face it, relationships are hard. and Hold me Tight has helped me realized what has been missing in my marriage. Or at least, put a ‘name’ to what I was already thinking. Another read I am really excited about, to submerge myself into getting to my true desired feelings(and my mom is going to do it with me too!), is Danielle LaPorte’s “The Desire Map”
*disclaimer: I am an affiliate for both Amazon.ca & Danielle Laporte’s website. But it’s because I truly am inspired by the books I’m sharing about. I also had technical difficuties with adding in the links, so please look to bottom of this post for the links to take you to the books mentioned above*
So basically my intentions for this year are between lessening the amount of physical stuff around me, and calming the overwhelming ‘negative thoughts’ and taking charge of myself and my feelings. And today I have felt really good, after many days, weeks, months, of feeling, well, not so good. And it’s been a lot to do with the change of mind frame & feeling good in my home. So, I’m going to ride this new wave of motivation & inspiration, and let it take me as far as it can, and then hop onto the next one and ride it’s power.
HOLD ME TIGHT-
YEAR OF YES-
mettarose.com 