Tag Archives: health and wellness

2025 Is Here: Make It Yours

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Today we turn the calendar to January 2025. For many of us, it’s the end of our holiday vacation and we’re headed back to work tomorrow. I’ve had a nice, long, not at all fun vacation but the pain from my dental surgery is mostly gone and I’m grateful.

Today, I start my January No Spend Challenge and couldn’t be more excited for the personal growth and good things that will come from this. I have referred to this a lot lately and will talk about it in depth tomorrow if you’re interested. 

This month I will also begin planning my 2025 adventures. After all, having something to look forward to is a key to happiness and having adventures to anticipate is one of the happiest things in my world. Some of those adventures will be close to home and others a little further flung. I did less than normal in 2024 and I’m sure that’s partly due to a lack of planning. I won’t make that mistake again. 

Today I will start working on my January goals. I set new goals every month and they tend to be related to a theme. Mine are mostly connected to my No Spend Month and help to support that endeavor. 

But first, I will spend much of today relaxing and reading. I struggled to read last year but seem to have gotten my groove back in the last few days. Here’s hoping that can translate to lots of reading for all of 2025! I have a backlog of good books collected last year so I need to get busy. 

Friends, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Whether you spend it reading or adventuring or just muddling through, I hope you make it a good one. You get just one life to live. For some, that’s almost too much to endure while it’s not nearly enough for others. Let’s pack our days with the things that bring us the most joy, peace and fulfillment. Let’s not waste a single moment on things that don’t matter. No one arrives at the Pearly Gates complaining that they should have worked more or spent more time arguing with their family over what they heard on the news that day. 

This life, this day, this moment – it’s your adventure. Make it fun. Make it a great year.

Long weekend

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It’s a long weekend for many of us in America since Monday is Presidents’ Day. The weather is going to be absolutely gorgeous today. At 45 degrees and sunny, one could not ask for better hiking weather and I am tempted to hit the trail this afternoon.

Unfortunately, my body is begging for rest. I had a sinus issue this week, complete with a cough that kept me up most nights. And, of course, the neck issue I developed Thursday persists.

I’m starting to fray around the edges.

So I bought a new pillow, some pain cream and some quick prep foods to make mealtime easier this weekend. I also bought this clearance journal designed to help me slow down and plan wellness improvements.

How sad that I’m seeking health advice from the clearance shelf.

It’s important to listen to your body and to give it what it’s begging for. So unless I feel significantly better this afternoon, I’ll be hanging out with my cat, a book and my tv remote. This isn’t really my speed but here we are.

Enjoy your Saturday and wish me luck!

An Orangery Metaphor

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The Denver Botanic Garden uses an orangery to weather tender plants through the winter. Here you’ll find small orange trees, succulents and all manner of plants in a type of greenhouse. Some things look strong and healthy while others look half dead.

The common thread is that they will all pull through the winter and be moved back outside to thrive on more friendly days next year.

I have a bad cold that I’m desperately trying to prevent from becoming a sinus infection. It started on Thanksgiving and I just feel cruddy. I also got my Covid booster on Saturday and had some minor side effects from that on Sunday morning. In other words, I’m cruddy and tired and feel half dead like some of those plants.

Luckily, it is just a cold and I’ve been able to rest and drink lots of fluids and eat fresh citrus for the last few days. Things will be better soon if I continue to focus on self care.

This is something we humans aren’t very good at doing sometimes. Yet there’s no replacement for rest and genuine self care when we are under the weather. Society teaches us to buck up, to power through and to fake it till you make it. If you are unwell, that is garbage advice.

Rest. Hydrate. Nourish your body.

This is how you bounce back better than ever. You owe yourself that. Your body and mind deserve that much. Remember that the next time you’re tempted to ignore your body’s pleas for help.

Self Care Sunday

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I protect my free time on Sundays the same way a mama bear protects her cubs. If I agree to do something on a Sunday, it must be really important or I must really like the person who invited me.

The phrase “self care” sounds self indulgent but I’m not lazing around in a bubble bath all day. Instead, this day is reserved for certain household chores, laundry and preparing for the week as well as for more traditional self care efforts.

I respond well to structure and planning. I also respond well to rest and relaxation and to the sense of accomplishment that comes with a well spent Sunday.

This is what I seek on an average Sunday:

Wake up naturally. The is the only day out of seven that I am not ripped from my sleep by an alarm and then forced to leave the house. This simple act feels decadent.

Eat well. Breakfast is normally a really good smoothie with peanut butter on toast. This is my normal daily breakfast but on Sunday there’s time to actually enjoy it. I aim for healthful foods on this day because there are no excuses when there’s time to cook.

Be enlightened. I typically watch CBS Sunday Morning, a magazine show that covers lifestyle, history, current affairs, entertainers and almost anything else the folks at CBS can dream up. Sometimes I kick up my feet and watch but some weeks just listen while doing chores. Much of what they cover doesn’t sound at all interesting in advance but I nearly always enjoy the stories and learn something.

Do laundry. Starting the week with an empty hamper ensures that whatever I want to wear is clean and there are plenty of clean towels. I typically put together some outfits to choose from including scarves and other accessories to save time on work mornings. Also, the bed sheets are always changed on Sunday because there is nothing more decadent than clean sheets.

Meal prep. Grocery shopping usually happens on Saturday or maybe Friday after work. On Sunday, I cook a few things to make weekday meals easier. This is the ideal day to experiment with new recipes or to make things that require more time. Soups that need time to simmer or beans that take hours to cook are good candidates. Homemade granola always happens on Sunday too.

Sweat. At some point, I like to break a sweat. This typically happens on the treadmill or maybe with an exercise dvd. This is followed by a hot shower and clean pjs. That’s right, I wear pajamas all day. Judge me all you like but it makes me happy.

Work the brain. This means that I kick up my feet and curl up with Scout to read, journal, do crosswords or catch up on other things that give my brain opportunity to stretch.

Embrace the quiet. Soft music, smart stuff on tv and plain old silence are important to this introvert. It allows me opportunity to calm my mind and mentally prepare for the week ahead.

Whatever I please. Real work always comes first so that the last half of the day can be devoted to whatever I feel like doing. Sometimes this means decluttering a drawer because this makes me happy. Sometimes I process pictures, write a blog post or watch a movie. If I’ve been too busy to keep up with housekeeping it often makes me happy to do some chores. It really just depends on what I’m in the mood to do.

Rest. Going to bed early on Sunday sets a good tone for the rest of the week. I love to take a book to bed early and then wake up feeling good on Monday.

In short, everything I do on Sunday is aimed toward improving quality of life during the work week and making myself healthy and well.

It’s not a bad way to live.

Do I feel like I’m missing out on something by basically hibernating one day a week? Not on your life. I feel stronger and happier for it.

The weeks when I skip my routine are harder weeks. The simple acts of staying fed and clothed take longer and eat up valuable time that could be used for fun, rest, exercise or basically anything else.

It’s not that I can’t function without my Sunday routine, it simply makes life more pleasant and easier.

Clearly, this wouldn’t work so well for someone with kids or a significant other. This is one benefit of being on my own and I am milking it for all it’s worth.