Yoga Pants Life

I’m not a resolutions person, partly because I feel like it’s a setup for failure and partly because I feel like it’s stupid to be all “I’m going to cut out all sugar/booze/bread/carbs/spending and workout more and be perfect starting January 1st” but continue with the (possibly destructive) behavior you want to abandon in the first place until that time. If there’s something you want to change, change it now. Don’t wait. Just work towards changing it now.

Also, I tend to be free-spirited when it comes to stuff like this and I feel totally constrained by the absolute terms of “I’m cutting this out completely” or forcing myself to “do this everyday” it’s a setup for failure. Some people need a hard-line and boundaries…but I’m not that person. I work much better when I’m not feeling pressured or constrained.

Last year, I decided that 2016 was the year I wanted to ‘coast’ through life. I didn’t want to think about changing jobs, relationships, etc. I just wanted to work on being content where I was at in life. I was tired of running myself into the ground trying to meet other people’s expectations of what I should do or look like. I even stopped wearing make-up, totally by choice and I loved it! (and am still mostly make up free, save for mascara and occasional eyeliner and eye shadow.) 

Taking the pressure of other people’s (and society’s) expectations off resulted in a mostly good year for me. That’s not to say I didn’t have struggles and I was always content – heck, I’ve been fighting a bout of depression for the past couple of months –  but overall it was a good approach for me and it was nice to stop worrying so much about what other people thought I should be doing.

Of course, this didn’t sit well with everyone in my life. The thing is, I know the expectations/worry/criticism come from a good place and I so appreciate that people in my life want to see me succeed and good things to happen and I believe they will in good time…when I’m ready to make them happen.

So, all of that being said, I’m not making any solid goals/resolutions for 2017…but I am declaring 2017 the year of ‘shut up and get it done.’ Seriously. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself, dwelling on the past and do something about things I want to obtain or change.

For example, I want a better marathon time, so I need to put the work in. This means running more and lifting weights and cross training. Instead of worrying and letting my fear of failure stop me, I’m just going to do it. I want to beef up my emergency fund and save for a new (to me car) – great! Shut up and stop spending money on things I don’t need so that I can save for what I want/need. I’m not thrilled with my current weight/body shape. Stop crying over the number on the scale and make changes to get to a better place.

I should note that I don’t have a solid goal in mind…like, I’m not trying to save $10,000 this year (though, that would be amazing) or get to 130 pounds (also amazing.) I just want to end the year better than I started and be proud of what I accomplished.

Of course, some of this will be easier said that done and nothing will magically change overnight. I also still want to coast a bit and continue working on contentment because I feel like it’s so important to overall health and happiness, but I think it’s all totally do-able.