Tag: New Year’s resolutions

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Life

Can we make 2023 a more relaxing year?

Image: Mehmet Hilmi Marcin, iStock

2023 is fast approaching.

This is the time of year where people make resolutions; eat healthy, get fit, etc, etc. How about we… relax? Focus on overall wellbeing?

The last few years have been rough to say the least

Covid threw the world a massive curveball. In Australia, we were in and out of lockdown. People were out of work. Socialising was put on hold.

People were (and still are) worried about children. They were often isolated. Their education was suffering. Earlier this year, primary school teachers encouraged children to play card games to regain their social skills.

2020, 2021 and 2022 have been a rollercoaster. A mess. Yet, people have been expected to bounce back. Back to work. Back to socialising. Back to where we were before.

But have we been able to go back to normal? No. Not healthily anyway.

There’s no Christmas spirit

It’s less than two weeks until Christmas. And nobody is in the mood. The atmosphere is underwhelming. Why?

A woman on Facebook (who I’m not friends with), posted an interesting piece earlier this month.

Quoting psychologist Naomi Holdt, she wrote that no one entered 2022 on a “full tank”.

People entered 2022 tired, traumatised and… lost. We were expected to just bounce back. But we weren’t given time to process. Process grief, trauma and fear.

She also points out that many people are probably using busyness as a mask; to mask the pain and fear, as well as “catch up” on all aspects of life.

Meanwhile, people around the world are having a hard time. They just can’t bounce back. Some people are still battling with their mind.

Financial stress is hitting people worldwide

A major source of stress for people worldwide is cost of living. Earlier this month, I wrote that many people in Australia, US and the UK have been forced to make steep sacrifices over Christmas, including going without gifts.

Inflation is only getting worse. And it’s predicted they’ll only get worse in 2023.

I know, it’s a lot of doom and gloom. It’s so uncertain. So what can we do?

Tips to for mental wellness in 2023

Black man with head tilted back slightly and eyes closed, doing breathing exercises
Image: electravk, iStock

Eat healthily and exercise regularly. Practice relaxation and meditation techniques. This is all stuff we all have heard a hundred times before. Maybe in 2023, we can start practicing it.

Tipstorelax.com shares these tips to maintain mental wellness in 2023:

  • Eat healthily and exercise regularly. Practice relaxation techniques, including meditation.
  • Simplify your life. Evaluate your schedules and don’t be afraid to to cut back. Likewise, don’t be afraid to get rid of any posessions that no longer serve you. Learn to delegate tasks. You don’t have to do everything on your own!
  • Practice gratitude daily
  • Identify your purpose. Find your passion and joy.
  • Keep in contact with friends and family
  • Accept reality
  • Avoid perfectionism (I have to keep reminding myself of this one!)
  • Be playful
  • Maintain your environment. Keep it clean from clutter and dirt.

Make 2023 the year of mental health

On the 1st of January 2023, I think we should just breathe. Just relax. We should prioritise mental health in 2023.

Personally, my aim is to get work, at least part – time. It’s going to be a long road, I still want to maintain my mental health in the meantime. With the love and support from those around me, I think I’ll be able to do that.

I hope the same for anyone who reads this. Make 2023 the year to breathe, to reach out and to honour your needs. Get help if you need it.

What are your goals or hopes for 2023? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Categories
Life Opinion/Commentary

Last minute ramblings for 2017

Happy New Year WordSwag design.

It’s nearly the end of yet another year. Some have 2018 all planned; new year’s resolutions and goals included. Some will be living it up, partying with friends and/ or family. Some will be camping. And many will be living it up at Sydney Harbour (1.6 million people are expected to attend celebrations).

Others simply couldn’t care less. They may not even be awake until midnight.

I usually have high hopes for the new year. I used to be obsessed with New Year’s resolutions and have stayed up until midnight every year except one, since 2000. Now, I’m more relaxed. I’ll most likely stay up to midnight, (until recently, I’ve been a bit of a night owl and often stay up until after midnight, anyway).

 

Not long after 1 January, (or it might on that day), it’ll be twelve months since I’ve started this blog. It’s been a blast!  I’m so glad I did it! I really have high hopes for it. Thank you to all those who have read posts, commented and followed this blog and supported it on social media. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how far it’s come. Thank you, again.

Next year, I would love to take this blog and make it even better; take it to the next level. I would love for this to be a dotcom site. That’ll be my first one ever! I’m excited in what I’ll be able to do with it when I do. The frequency of posts, at least for the first half, may not be as frequent as this year. If, for some reason, I take a prolonged break from blogging, I’ll try and let you know beforehand.

 

That’s all for the moment. Have a safe New Year’s Eve and a great 2018!

Categories
Life

Possible word for 2017

Mamamia publisher, Mia Freedman came up with an idea last year. Instead of New Year’s resolutions, Freedan came up with having a word for a year. The word is a theme that you want to live by to make your life and the lives of those around you better. Sounds great. For the last couple of days, I ummed and ahhed, thinking of a word to come up with. The one that immediately came to mind was ‘writing’ – keeping up with this blog and the Certificate IV in Professional Writing and Editing. I thought of ‘discipline’ in both professional and personal life in all areas. Then, an unexpected word came up to me on the weekend.

Acceptance.

Acceptance of myself and life in general. Acceptance that life isn’t perfect, I’m not perfect, (far from it). I’m a work in progress and always will be. See, over the years, I’ ve always expected things to go a certain way. I always had visions of where I should be. New Year’s Eve was a day when I expected almost everything to change  – and change immediately at the stroke of midnight.

 

I always had expectations in my professional life that were so rigid that when I couldn’t finish the Diploma because I couldn’t find a place to do Work Placement, it left lost. My plan was so rigid and straight forward – finish the Diploma of Community Services at 24, do a Bachelor of Human Services/ Masters in Social Work, having them done at 27, (which meant I would have finished itvlast year have finished it last year), then work, and live a life and be a person I thought I should be. When that didn’t go ahead, to say I felt lost is an understatement. I felt worthless, a failure. My self -esteem was like the Tooth Fairy – it was non – existent. For a year or so afterwards, even when I started Diploma in Early Childhood Education  and Care, I still felt like I’d failed. I was more desperate. I often found myself in tears for no apparent reason. It wasn’t until the third day of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) in 2015, that things started looking up and I had a sense that I was OK. It was OK that life didn’t fit a rigid schedule. I was OK with who I was. Fast forward almost two years, while I haven’t gone down such a dark path since the end of RYLA, I have worried about where I’d be in my life, especially as I approach 30, (in just over two years, which is pretty close to me).

 

This word – – acceptance- a word that hit me out of the blue – should I accept it? I should probably try relaxing a bit. Just a tad. Sure, I’ll continue to work hard and work on what needs to be worked on, but maybe with a little bit of grace and not to expect perfection, because… well, it ain’t gonna happen in this life is it? I feel weird, even as I admit that. This word thing might be worth a try.

Have you given up on New Year’s resolutions and adopted a word to live by in 2017? If so, what is it?

Categories
Opinion/Commentary

New year – a marketing dream

 

 

So, all the partying has stopped. Chances are, you have eaten or thrown out the Christmas lunch and you’ve gotten over the hangover from New Year’s Day.

Let me ask you something – how are those resolutions going? You may still have stuck to it…. it’s only the 2nd of January, after all. I’ve read some blog posts and it seems that there is a backlash aginst New Year’s resolutions as a whole. Mamamia founder, Mia Freedman has ditched new year’s resolutions and instead, has suggested focusing on a single word to focus on throughout the year. Nice idea. When I tried it, I thought of about ten words. Hmmmm, might need a bit more thought. Gemma Hartley of Ravishly believes that a better way is to focus on self love rather than abberation Michaela MItchell, also from Ravishly has rejected the ‘new year, new me’ mantra. Which is the thing I want to talk about.

New year, new me.

Sounds like a bit of a jingle, doesn’t it? An advertisement slogan. It’s short, easy to remember and has repetition.

Last year, marketing manager of Fitness First, Samantha Bragg told news.com.au that the number of people signing up for a gym membership rose 15% over the new year period. Also, take a look at what I found while scrolling through a tag on Ravishly:

First link – an ad for Tony Robbins.

 

A few days ago, I watched a bit of Todd Sampson’s show, Body Hack. He stayed with the Hazda tribe in Tanzania – one of the last surviving hunter – gatherer tribes in the world.

I remember when Sampson was watching a funeral of one of the grandparents who’d recently died. He said something that struck me. Unlike us in the West, the Hizda tribe don’t have the same concept of time like we do. When I heard that, I realised that they wouldn’t have a new year. Anything like that would be completely foreign to them. Why? Maybe it’s because they aren’t exposed to mass media and marketing. They would not be told for months that Christmas is coming, New Year is just days away. No posters displaying Boxing Day and end – of -year clearance sales. No TVs with Jenny Craig ads. When you think about it, we are reminded daily about time; dates and events coming up.

Reassessing priorities

I’m not against New Year’s resolutions. I get sucked in most years. However, last year, I left it late and did a rough goal list for the next two years. But I have made resolutions in the past, a big list of them. Have I kept them? Like most people, no. I do think the end of the year is a good time to plan, dream and reflect. Then again, that can go pear- shaped, too. I like Mia Freedman’s idea. A year focussing on a single word. Now to think of the word…

Discipline?

Love?

Family?

Friends?

Relationships?

 

I can think of one that I’d most likely stick to – writing. Yeah, that sounds good. If I can focus on this blog and the writing course I’m enrolled in. That would be great. Now, I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.