It is Time to Rethink Your Resolutions

I can’t even begin to tell you the number of years where my major New Year’s resolution was to lose weight, get in shape, or fit into a certain size. I’ve sent countless hours setting goals, counting calories, and researching the latest way to shed a few pounds. For many of us, this isn’t just a vain pursuit of a catalog ideal image but a real, true health concern. But in our journey to a healthier body on the outside, we can’t forget about our insides. Since according to research, this is the time most of us struggle with our resolutions anyway, now is the best time of any to challenge you to rethink your resolutions for the new year.

Sure, losing weight and taking care of your body is certainly an admirable and great thing to do. But what always seems to be forgotten by most of us is that it is not only what you look like on the outside, but what you look like on the inside.

What kind of care to we take to nurture our mind, heal our heart, or feed our soul?

Taking care of our mind, heart, and soul is just as important to a healthy and happy year as eating right and exercising. Major industries make billions of dollars revolving around portraying the perfect image of what you should look like on the outside. Imagine if modern society spent as much time nurturing our minds, healing our hearts, and feeding our souls-what an amazing world we would live in.

Why Should We Nurture Our Mind?

Our minds, like the rest of the muscles in our bodies needs exercise or it can suffer from atrophy. Alz.org suggests one of the ways to combat the onset of Alzheimer’s is to exercise your body and your mind. The best way to exercise our mind is to learn something new. When we learn something new, our brain creates new pathways which make our minds stronger and healthier. So when you are thinking about a healthier body this year, don’t forget about your mind. Learning something new doesn’t have to be expensive either.

• Check out your local learning cooperative for free or low cost classes.
• Head to the library for books, videos, or even classes to learn a new skill.
• Check out online learning sites like Craftsy, Coursera, Khan Academy, or Udemy. Sites like these offer many free and low cost courses to satisfy any curiosity.

Why Should We Heal Our Hearts?

Carrying a grudge, whether against someone else or even ourselves, can contribute to anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Holding on to anger from past wrongs, mistakes that have made, or  mistakes we feel others have made against us clouds our vision of hope. We often use this anger for others as an excuse for harboring feelings of resentment and to feed our own self-righteous indignation. If we are constantly using the actions of others as an excuse for mean or nasty behavior towards them, that does nothing to heal the hurt in us. All it does is add dirt to an already festering wound. Healing can only come with forgiveness. Let go of past wrongs and start fresh this year.

Sometimes this even counts for ourselves. I know I have a habit of beating myself up for mistakes I’ve made- perhaps I wasn’t as patient as I should have been. Maybe instead of choosing to be kind and understanding I was judgmental (Miss Judgy McJudgypants) and condescending. Upon reflection, I tend to beat myself up for my own mistakes. It won’t happen overnight, but with time and conscious effort, we can forgive and move forward, but how?

• Start a journal- putting our thoughts and feelings into words can help us to sort out everything that is going on in our heads and make sense of feelings we experience. There are many free printable ones available online. I am even working on one now with free, printable, daily prompts. Check back or sign up for my newsletters below to be the first to know when they are officially available.
• Write a letter- can’t seem to get past the pain of the past? Draft a letter, even if you don’t send it, offering forgiveness.
• Seek help- if you are carrying around a heavy heart, every day can feel like a burden instead of the gift that it is. If you are struggling with a seemingly insurmountable problem of the past, find a counselor or trusted friend to talk it through with.

Feed Your Soul

Studies show that fostering a deep faith can give hope and inspire a quality life. It can be very easy to lose ourselves in the busyness of everyday life. We have schedules to keep, errands to run, and to-do lists to check off. I know for me, it becomes very easy to put matters of the soul on the back burner. I think, “Oh, I will get to it..” or “I’m SO tired, maybe I’ll make time tomorrow.” Meanwhile, our faith withers away to nothing until something bad happens. Then, without a strong faith, we lose our footing, stumble and fall. Bad things happen in our lives and we blame God. We are left with a malnourished soul with nothing so sustain us through the inevitable trials of life.

Think of it like a rainy day fund for your soul. If you don’t make any deposits, then there won’t be anything there when you really need it.  

So, now that it is officially time when most of the resolutions we have made for the New Year lay forgotten, rethink and refocus those resolutions. Keep your body in check, of course, but don’t forget about those most important parts- your mind, heart, and soul.

Until next time, make every day a Sunday.

~Leanne