Bring on the New Year!

On this last day of 2008 I took at look back at where I was as the year began. As far as I can tell I was declaring a love of ginger tea, experimenting with neti pots, and coming out against resolutions.
Not much has changed.

I still think ginger tea is the best possible cold remedy out there, and I have even managed to get Pete hooked. I still have my neti pot and while I am not a complete convert, I do use it from time to time. In fact, I used it just the other day. Pete, on the other hand, still refuses to try it. I guess what he wants to put up his nose is his own prerogative. huh. I definitely did not know how to spell prerogative.

But the one thing I am taking a different stance on is resolutions. Why not make them? Sure, it may be less than optimal to only think about self improvement once year, but once is better than nothing right? And who says I won't try to self improve at other times in 2009? I bet I will.

In light of the stressful times that we are in right now, and the possibility that things might get worse before they get better, my resolution is a simple one. I will remember, and say to myself out loud from time to time, "There are so many things to be happy about!" Because there are. Even when life is looking really crappy, or confusing, or sad, there is something to be happy about. For me its family and friends who I love a lot.

But your resolutions don't have to be so serious. They should just be toward the end of making you happier. And so I will leave you with the best resolution I have heard so far this year. My friend Nicole resolved to learn the Beyonce Single Ladies dance. seriously. amazing.

I couldn't find an embeddable version of the real video so I'll leave you with this instead. Arguably better anyway....

Breaks vs. Break-ups

As might be expected, a break from writing correlates strongly with a break from wellness in my life. Or at least a break from running. But I've got an excuse. In fact, I've got excuses. I won't get into them right now because they all boil down to one thing. I was busy. really really ridiculously busy.
Everyone gets busy. Everyone has times in their lives where the people they care about, or the job they do, or some combination of important things takes precedence over the quest for good health. I have three things to say about this.

1. Don't beat yourself up about it! This is medium wellness. Not uber wellness. Normal people need to take breaks from time to time.

2. In wellness, there is a difference between a break and a break-up. For example, often I will think I am just not going to run during a particularly busy week - just taking a break. But that leads to me not running for 3 months. That's a break up. With running its easy to tell the difference. If, by the time I get back to it I can't run a mile without my lungs feeling like they're going to explode, its been too long.

3. Finally, it's important to find wellness tips that fit into your already busy life without much adjustment. That way, when you totally fall off the running wagon, or find yourself partying 5 nights a week rather than sleep, or whatever, you wont give up on those little tips that have become a part of every day life - like brushing your teeth. or wearing pants. you know, things you just do.

So now that I am back, I am going to focus January 09 on those little things. Those things you can just do whether or not you are sticking to your bigger wellness projects.