Reflection on 2016

2016 was not a great year. Actually, there were times when it frankly sucked. You may have realised from my total shut down towards the end of the year. I turned off Facebook, removed Instagram. I was like a boat perilously taking on water. All unnecessary items were tossed overboard.

In 2017, I am pegging things back a notch. I have spent the past few weeks contemplating, reflecting and re-evaluating. I have been asking myself what I want to do with this new year, what is most important to me. I have been doing this by working on a personal mission statement (inspired by reading Katy Bowman’s Movement Matters book). This process challenges you to consider your core values by thinking what keywords epitomise you (it’s as if someone looks you up in the dictionary…what will they see as your definition?). Some people also call it legacy. I have written before on this blog about how I would like to be remembered.

So I will share some of my keywords with you. Relaxed. Improving. Silly. Mindful. Strong. Comfortable. Outdoors. But my top three are definitely these…..Love. Family. Health. I wanted to share these because I have decided 2017 is only about these three things. I am keeping it simple. These words will drive my decisions and my activities. If it doesn’t somehow fit within these three core values, it’s out. And, I am afraid, some of the time, that means this blog will be out too. It takes a lot of my time to just focus on and appropriately give service to these three foundational parts of me. What remaining time/energy I have to give will sometimes make it to this blog/page. But oftentimes I will be experiencing and savoring in my love, family and health.  

Love. When I think about values this is always the first thing that pops into my head. I love to love (I am a Leo – a people person!). It is partly about me doing the things I love to do but mainly about fully loving those people in my life. Being with them, honouring them, supporting them and just squeezing the heck out of them.  What I often neglect or ignore is self-love. Yep, that’s a tough one. And I don’t just think this is me. We all struggle to acknowledge and appreciate who we are and what we do. But in 2017, I plan to learn to love myself. I am going to start shouting out my awesomeness… to whomever will hear. I will love all of me. My imperceptions, my mistakes…without judgement – which means without my default reaction of mentally bashing myself up. NO more. I think this might be easy to say but it is my intention and I have shared it with you all now, so feel free to call me on it. I have some good friends who will do that don’t worry (they often do when I verbalise my mistakes or shortcomings).  

Family. I love my family (and yes, you friends out there, you all get wrapped up in this core value). That husband and kids of mine mean everything to me. We are a strong family unit and we love each other unconditionally. But like most families, unconditional love does not exclude misunderstandings, fighting, and sometimes feeling like you could strangle them. As I am sure all of you parents out there will know, raising little people can be hard work. Yes, we know, it is rewarding, you wouldn’t change it for a second but…it does require a lot of mental and physical energy….and a whole heap of patience! But I am willing to put in these hard yards. They are worth it.

Health. To effectively manage my pain, I need to do a lot of stuff! I need to meditate, stretch, keep moving, pace my daily activities and fuel my body in the ways that work for me. The time it takes to do this stuff adds up! In a day, it might mean and hour or two (if I am to do it properly!). It’s a big commitment but I do it. I do it because it works. I do it because it helps and it makes me feel good. I do it because it reduces the intensity and frequency of my pain, especially flare ups. I am stronger, happier and more able to cope when I do these things. And when I don’t do it – well, the reverse. I hurt. I ache and I feel like I can’t cope. And when I get like that my decision-making skills, my communication skills, my overall personality suffers. And to fully honour my first two values, I need to ensure this one gets its good measure too.

So in closing, I may not be around much this year. I am going to be busy strengthening the foundations. I am doing the things that matter to me. And a massive step towards my intention of self love is to know and truly believe that is enough. I am enough.

Be kind to yourself and live the life you want.

You have control.

Change… It’s in you.

…and go shout our your awesomeness to whomever will listen.