Resolutions

Health and Organization Beat Out Travel and Reading

According to the data pulled from Google by iQuanti, these are the most popular New Year’s resolutions: 

• Get Healthy: 62,776,640 searches, a 13.77 percent increase over last year during the same time period, when it was searched 55,177,290 times.
• Get Organized: 33,230,420 searches, dipping by 7.41 percent compared to last year’s tally of 35,888,700.
• Live Life to the Fullest: 18,970,210, spiking by 13.04 percent from last year, when it maxed at 16,782,030.
• Learn New Hobbies: 17,438,670 searches, up 4.72 percent from last year’s total searches of 16,652,950.
• Spend Less/Save More: 15,905,290 searches, up 17.47 percent from 13,539,500 in 2016.
• Travel: 5,964,130 searches, down by 0.82 percent from 2015’s 6,013,550,
• Read More: 4,746,560 searches, down 5.63 percent from last year’s 5,029,790.

Grand Total: 159,031,920, up by 6.67 percent from last year’s searches, which numbered 149,083,810.

Oh, 2018! I'm going to go to yoga today, anticipating insanity. It's January, after all. 

I've been reading a lot of long summaries of 2017 on FB and the like. I've seen 100 #bestnine. 

I've read Neil Gaiman quotes on the NY 100 times, and I like Neil Gaiman, so bring it on. I have friends doing Whole30, one on a juice "cleanse" and several who are joining new gyms or pledging new restrictions. It feels peaceful heading into the new year without those concerns. My health is excellent, and while I enjoy constant changes to what I do and when I do it, I have no big plans to change up much this year. I will run a marathon in Oregon in April, I will climb two 14'ers this summer and I will get my Trainer Certification, but physical stuff isn't atop my list this year. This year, I'm vowing to #optoutside every single day. Whether a walk with the dog or a solo hike or a run with friends, the outdoors brings me tremendous joy and peace. I'm not giving up anything (no sugar! No joy, no way), and I'm not tying my self worth to a number on a scale or a promise of being a new person because the page flipped on the calendar. If I can do one thing this year its to encourage others to view their health way, way beyond a number. If you work out to look a certain way, and only to look a certain way, that is great. Your reasons are your own. However, I can tell you, I've lost interest in vanity exercise. 

People are wiser than they know. I believe that if people know that there is no purpose behind what they do, they are less likely to continue doing it. It's wonderful it you can do the elliptical for an hour while reading, but if something was chasing you could you get away from it? Its wonderful that you lift big heavy weights, but if you, in the process of running away, fell in a hole, could you pull out your own body with just your arms? I don't need to be able to life 220 lbs, but when I took a header in the trees in deep heavy unpacked powder, body downhill and skis uphill deep under a foot or so of snow I was grateful that I could lift my own weight.  I had to literally pull myself up by tree branches, and was grateful that I had functional strength. Its fun and all to do extreme stretching, but without purpose who cares if you can put your leg behind your head? I mean very literally, who cares? Cardiovascular fitness is good. Strength training is good. Balance and flexibility training is good. If you can put it all together and find that balance and joy and freedom in your own body? That's great. 

Yesterday I got out and ran 7 miles with the girl. Hit a HPF class at 4:30 with some girlfriends. It was too much ~ I haven't run since before Thanksgiving, I didn't hydrate enough between running and yoga, and I won't be doing that again!  The kids had friends over, we cleaned up the house. Bowl Games. Thank you cards. Delicious food. A couple of boys are sleeping in the basement along with my kids. There is no school this week, and I'm arranging to being kids in and ship kids off and basically keep everyone happy with little external stimuli. 

This week the message is "stewardship". I am (on pace, I do things a few years after the rest of the world, it appears) changing up my relationship with "stuff". I never really got the minimalism thing ~ with three kids who constantly change sizes and my own changing size between pregnancies and babies, I felt like we had a lot of shit coming in and out all the time. Things have stabilized a bit on the "stuff" front. These days the kids change sizes less, I'm not changing sizes anymore, and I live in a place where I don't need several different wardrobes~ and all of a sudden I long for less. Less to wash, less to sort, less to keep track of. I intend to take better care of the things that I have, and buy less things this year. That starts with getting our cars detailed this week and sorting through each of the kids closets and dressers to organize.

Get off of the wheel. It makes me CRAZY to think about how much people are spending on weight loss pills and shakes and punishment as we head into the new year. Your body has lugged you this far along. Rather than focus on how it should be different, how it will be better, how wellsprings of self discipline will shoot forth from your new 2018 self............and just say thank you. Nothing rooted in self hatred ends in self love. Appreciate three things about your body today. Love it. Confidence and health thrives in love and respect, so does health. Tread gently, change is not a black and white thing but a slow unfolding. The only piece of advice I have? Figure out what you love. Use class pass or Groupon to check out new workouts. Get outside. Try something new. We continue to do what we love. You will stick to any plan that is rooted in knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and what brings you joy. (For me, for instance, I don't like the bike. Nothing is more lonely than sitting in a room riding to nowhere, for me.) I could set up goals around the Peloton, but I don't love it, so I already know I would probably fail at the goal. I love to be outside, so that is where this years pursuits focus. I will run, hike and bike my way around this beautiful state because it feeds my soul. In feeding my soul I get to exercise my body. Win win! 

Many are off starting the "real" week today, so good luck to you! I hope you feel rested and joyous.