So what's your new years resolution this year?
When I Began to contemplar What My Biggest New Years resolution for 2009 Might Be, the usual suspects Appeared, as They Do Each Year; Lose more weight and get and stay in shape. While, These Are decidedly trite and bland Resolutions, I do Need to Make Them Priorities and will. I've lost 70 pounds in the last 7 months, and with 15 more pounds to go, I am feeling about myself Much Better Than I Was last year. I eat well and I Extremely Somewhat Exercise Regularly. My blood pressure and cholesterol Levels bear out the Health Benefits of Lowered with my weight loss numbers all around. I will continue on the way That I Already am going, But These oh-so-common Simply Resolutions Are not good enough for a true 2009 New Years resolution.So, while losing a bit more weight and Keeping Fit Are high priority, it Took me some real soul searching to find What I Really Need to resolve to do for myself, and my family, in the year 2009. I need to learn how to Be less high strung, less tightly wrapped, less whatever you choose to call Someone Who is always in a state of high alert, ready to react, or Often, overreact to Any situation, no matter how small. All of the weight loss and Exercise does precious little good if me I can not find a way out of Being in a constant state of stress and warp speed anxiety.Upon choosing the New Years resolution for 2009 I found myself Wanting the answer as to why I , or Anyone, versus Being is high strung laid back. I searched the web, Various using key words, looking for the answer. I Took personality tests. I Learned about ennegrams and gland functions, and the theory behind Them, and found That my personality, body type and the way I think is Ruled by my thymus gland. Some tiny gland in my upper chest, That All But Disappears after one hits puberty, you and Continue to shape my whole life? Huh? The more I read and Research, the more desperate I Became for the reasonable answer, as I Truly Can not stand it when i do not know the answer to Something. Who Could I ask? What doctor or Celebrated Psychologist Could I interview to see if They held the magic key to why folk Are Some laid back while Others, like me, Are wrapped as tightly as an over tuned piano. Finally, my very wise 24 year old daughter Asked me one question. "Mom," She Said, "Can you remember a time When You Were not high strung?" Not quite Understanding the intent behind her question, I spoke of a week long vacation in the Caribbean, the one Completely relaxed week of my life. Finally, I Said, "I was born high strung. I Have Always Been this way, just like your little brother out of the womb flesh tightly wrapped." "Right," she replied, "It Are you just how and the why is irrelevant. It's What You Do About It" So very true! I do not needed to know why I am so overly emotional and overly reactive to resolve to change it in 2009. But, how to begin? Act As If ... With the unanswerable question of the why of my excitable personality Chased away, I Began to focus on how to Truly Achieve my goal. Again, it was my daughter Who remind me of the time honor, "Act as if ..." or the "fake it Until you make it" technique, first and Document Used by Alfred Adler, an Austrian physician and Psychologist. Along with Sigmund Freud and others, Adler co-founded the Psychoanalytic Movement in the early 1900's. "Act as if ..." works just like it sounds. One Acts As If They Are Whatever They Want to Be, But Are Not, Until It Becomes an ingrained way of living. So, I need to think and act as if I am not high strung. I need to practice Being calm, cool and collected in order for it to Become a habit. While acting as if sounds pretty easy, it's really quit Challenging! I Have Been working at acting as if I am a calm person Since my chat with my daughter. Sometimes I remember Not to react or overreact to a situation Before I come undone, and am Able to change my reaction Into Appropriate action. Sometimes, I remember midway through to Perceived crisis, stop myself, and begin again, Responding as if I am calm, peaceful person dealing with whatever molehill That I am making a mountain out of at That Moment. And Sometimes, I forget Completely Until It's all over and my blood pressure is Already-through the ceiling. Then I rattled my little self settle down and recommit myself to faking my way Into Being a more peaceful person until i am the relaxed, unstrung person That I wish to be.Quiet Time: Prayer of us Have MeditationMost or read, or Heard That quiet time is very important to Our mental and physical health. That Means Completely quiet, quiet time. Time Spent Not in front of the TV or computer, It Means When You focus your time over Worked Something Other Than mind on your constant daily stress. Dr. Mehmet Oz and Others Suggest That Everyone Needs to take 60 minutes of this type of quiet time Each day, no matter what. Some Say That your life depends on it. For a person like me, That I believe to be true. For Many of us, We Need To learn how to turn off Our brains and to remove ourselves from the worldly worries for events 10 short minutes. Some Find That yoga works. Others Have the discipline it take to Properly practice meditation. For me, I know That quiet time in prayer works wonders. It Does not Matter What I seem to pray about; Often I talk to God just like I'd talk to my best friend. I pray while laying in bed, so while my mind relaxes, my body relaxes, and Often I pray myself to sleep, so I choose to have my quiet, prayer time When I can sleep for a bit.Since Safely this works so very well for me, I resolve to take time out DURING the day-put myself in time out, if Need be, to quiet myself with A Few moments of laying down and praying when i begin to get too Worked up. With hope, I'll relax, gather my thoughts, and return to life, or Any situation, with a mind and body.Exercise Settled: Dancey, here's They tried and true suggestion Stress Reduction. I resolve to Exercise Every Day, Not only to keep fit, But Some to burn off nervous tension of the endless That I carry with me, like an albatross, Each Day. However, I DO NOT want this Exercise to Be an added stress or burden. Another, "Oh, darn, I need to ..." sort of thing thing. I want it to be fun and joyful, so I resolve to dance for 20 to 30 minutes Every Day. I love to dance, But Rarely make the time to do it. Well, i have CD's and a way to play Them. I have floor space and motivation, Been so what's stopping me? I will dance with my tightly wrapped Equally, four year old are Every afternoon, when to Daddy isn't around to laugh at us. That I am sure it will do Both of us a world of good, for HAVING tried it, I can say dancing to burn off Excess Energy is a lot fun, and a darned good workout, to boot! Bed Set A Time And Decent Stick To ItRight now, it's 9:45 pm By the time That I am done writing this article, editing a bit, reading it over and over A Few Times, It Will Probably Be 10:30. Something will keep me at the computer Until 11 pm, and Then I'll want to listen to the news. Finally, I'll hop Into bed and begin to read to "unwind." Apparently, It Takes me a very long time to unwind, as On Any Given Night, I will finally turn out the light at 1 a.m. or later. I am not a great sleeper, waking Every couple of hours for 10 or more minutes, Then I am up around 8 a.m. entre Oh, and when i do finally turn off the lights, it will take me, at the very least, 30 minutes to fall asleep. Obviously, I am not getting enough sleep Nearly. Also, Obvious Equally, if I am in a constant state of sleep deprivation, I am not going to Be at my tippy top when it comes to dealing with day to day stress peacefully.Hence, I resolve to choose a more Suitable bedtime and bedtime routine, and to stick to it. This is going to Be very tough for me. Once I Have Every one off to bed and I am alone, no matter how tired I May be, I get my second wind. This is when i get all of my own work done. I'll Need to rework my day to get my own stuff done earlier. I need to use better "sleep hygiene" and not spend time in front of the computer or TV close to bedtime. I shouldn't read in bed, Either, so the experts say, But that's going to Be hard to give up. In 2009, I resolve to Be in bed by 10 pm and to turn the lights out by 11:30 p.m. Stop Skipping Meals: Eat BreakfastI Do not eat breakfast. I do not * think * that i have time to eat breakfast, just as I do not * think * that i have the time to take my time with anything. And además, It Will Be lunch time soon, anyway, will not it? Yet, I keep the Same experts Bringing Up, Tell Me That eating breakfast is a must to Maintain a steady blood sugar level, as well as to Aid in Continued weight loss and emotional eating Prevent Later in the day. Three meals a day, and two small snacks is to be my goal. So much wasted time eating! Can I commit to that? Hard Though it May be, it Makes Sense to do so. I've Always Been prone to hypoglycemia, and if you have any experience with Being overly hungry or a little low blood sugar in the area, Then You'll Also Know That Any person in Such a state is a walking time bomb of emotions Until That person is fed. Therefor, I resolve to eat some sort of breakfast and to eat a couple of small snacks Each Day. These snacks Can Be Something as easy as an orange, Some grapes or a small handful of nuts. Since my four year old has Be running to the kitchen Many times a day, I'll make it a habit to remember to get myself a little something, also. I May Have to post a note. I get so busy in my head That I forget to eat, so Taking the time to eat, and I literally mean That Allowing myself time to eat, can not be bad, Either, as I'll be Forced to sit down and relax for a FEW minutes. Maybe I need to change my perception of time, all together ... hmmm, next year.No Caffeine, More WaterThere Was a time, not so long ago, When I drank coffee around the clock, and I do mean around the clock. I work too many, very odd hours and very changeable and I Never Went Anywhere Without Coffee, And That included bed. At That time, the caffeine Seem To Have little effect on me. These days, I am well on my way to an anxiety attack Before I am half way-through one cup of morning coffee. A sensible person realize That Might Perhaps caffeine Can Be Done away with all together, if this is the effect of Sale less than one cup of coffee. Since I am a sensitive person, I resolve in this coming New Year to switch to decaf. I love the taste of coffee and I love my green tea, But It's the taste and antioxidants That I crave, NOT the stimulation. Since Can Be Both beverages forms found in decaf, I will drink Those instead. A high strung person and Stock Does not Really Need Substance That will up the emotional ante, does she? Nope. Also I will drink more water in 2009, and will post notes in Various places around the house as reminders Often as I am so "busy" that I forget to drink, Even When thirsty.A friend Once Told Me That Even When I Was sitting perfectly still, That I look as if I were vibrating. While that's an apt description, and a humorous visual image, it's very uncomfortable to Be packing so much raw energy around Every Day. Truly I hope and pray That my 2009 New Years resolution is kept, with booming success. Thus, I will now begin to put all of this great passion and energy to Better Use. In 2009, I will create the 30 hour day.
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