January Blahs--Let's be real
I picked a word to represent me for this new year of 2020. Authentic.
Some say it is a good word, some say it is too easy for me because I am already authentic. The truth is, I am authentic, to a point but not completely. So I’ve decided to share some realities with you today.
I have the January Blahs.
I have been talking about mindset and how we create our own realities. That is true. I am not always in a positive mindset. I find myself making excuses and explaining away things that I don’t like, or don’t want to do. I complain (quietly in my head) about things that don’t go the way I want them to. If I’m honest, and I try to be, it’s more natural for me to complain than it is to be Suzy Sunshine when it comes to my own life. I have to make a concerted effort to be aware of when those thoughts start running around in my head.
One of the things I suffer from is SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). I don’t do well with continuous gray days. These last couple of months, there have been more gray than sunny days. I found myself not wanting to do anything. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t want to get out of my warm cozy bed some days. It didn’t help that my husband and I are living in a 27’ aluminum trailer. Even though we have aluminum walls and ceiling, off-white upholstery and curtains, light color wood, when it’s raining out and we don’t open the shades or curtains, it is gloomy inside. My husband is content to just sit in the darkness with a lamp and read. If I don’t open the shades, I just sink into a flat mood and mild depression. I have practices that help me change my mood and turn my attitude around. They work, but only if I actually do them!
When I realize what is happening, I start my mornings with my appreciation journal and meditation/prayer. If it isn’t pouring rain, I get outside, if even for 5 minutes! If it is pouring rain, I go to the opposite end of the trailer from my husband, open the shades, do a full minute of deep breathing, in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, out for 4 counts. I do it 5 times. While I’m breathing, I direct my thoughts to images that make me happy. Sunshine on a forest path. Sunset over the ocean beach. My grandsons playing and laughing. I’ll write those things in my journal. In the evening, before I go to bed, I think about all the good things of the day. I think about how I changed my thoughts from negative to positive. I write in my journal about what made me smile or laugh, what made me feel good, what I actually accomplished. Anything that is positive. It definitely puts me in a much better mindset - for sleep and when I wake in the morning.
The other thing I really have to be mindful of is what I am eating. When it is cold, wet, and gray outside, I want to eat comfort foods. I want carb loaded foods, chocolate, chips, all the things I know I shouldn’t eat. The more of a funk I fall into, the more off my diet becomes. I may make a fruit smoothie for breakfast and be sure to eat my plant concentrate powders, but when we are driving a lot, I usually make sandwiches for us to eat on the road. Those sandwiches include bread, and even though my bread is gluten free, it is still processed food. And I like chips with my sandwich, so I eat those too. Then after I eat the salty chips, I crave something sweet, obviously that means chocolate, so…
Yeah. It is a downward spiral. So again, I have to be mindful to bring myself back up and out. I really have to think about what I am putting into my body. I make an effort to eat more salads when we eat out. Since fresh fruits and veggies don’t have much flavor this time of year, they aren’t very enticing, so I put lots of them in my smoothie to help get more of them.
This is definitely not my favorite time of year!
Being mindful of what’s going on motivates me to make the necessary changes, and I’m working daily on my mindset and eating to keep my body healthy but I’ve developed some bad habits so it's high time for my monthly detox! You've heard me talk about these before. You know I love to do these things with others, and I'd love to do them with you - I need your accountability and I'd love to be your accountability too! If you would like to join me, or want to know more about it, reach out. Let's keep 2020 going strong!
