goals & gratitude

This post may look familiar to some of you who are on my mailing list. This is the one time I hope no one opened their email, ha ha. I write my posts ahead of time and schedule them to publish (appear online). Well, since this was scheduled for 01/02/18 – I had forgotten to change the year from 2017 to 2018 (this happened in December) – so it published it immediately. I heard *ding* and saw my email.

Ruh. Roh. So please forgive me, won’t be the last time this year I bet – Happy Day to you  – barbara

Ahhh, it’s that time of year – to set goals – might as well get in on the fun, and join the masses that have goals to eat healthier, exercise more, learn to cook or maybe a new language, read more books the list goes on and on…

Some of my favorites:

Learn to say “No” sometimes – it’s OK. You can’t be everywhere at the same time and it’s hard when you’re stretched thin with work, home, life to try to fit in one more thing. Sometimes it’s barely possible. It’s OK to say no (thank you for teaching me this, Mom!).

Read more books. I know not everyone likes to read, I get that. Just like I don’t care to watch sports (*GASP), it’s OK, we all don’t like the same things. BUT… if you can at least fit reading an occasional book into your repertoire, it will help you relax, keeps the brain working, which is so important as we age. Studies show that we do not get that same benefit from reading magazines (which I also read). I think the most important thing is to read things other than Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Move, move, move… I’ve always been a walker – but I know as you get older (damnit) you get stiff and things hurt more often. It’s crazy. A physical therapist friend of mine told me that the only way to age without pain is to STRETCH – and I’ve read a lot about strength training. So… these are on my list to actually DO, or at least do MORE of!

Eat healthy – I think we know what to do, more fruits/vegetables. Try to drop the sugar, especially sugary drinks. Skip the “white food” (white potatoes, rice, pasta and opt for the whole wheat or multi grain). Cooking Light is a great resource for me – great recipes – it turns out to be fun and also a challenge.

Lastly – each and every day think of something that you’re grateful for. Maybe jot it down – it doesn’t matter how insignificant. Something like a stunning sunrise, the smell of coffee brewing, your puppy barking – anything, no matter how small.

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Catch you back here tomorrow!