May - Repair and Restore

I fell off the map this past week.  I’m often frustrated by how up and down I am as it makes being consistent with goals extra challenging.  The 'I feel like doing nothing' mood that has been plaguing me for the past several days has made it extremely hard to pick next month’s topic.  After writing my post on anger management I thought, gee maybe you should work on not being a psycho.

I’ve decided on a month that’s a bit of a mixed bag.  I’m going to call it Repair and Restore.  Basically, I’m going to try to be more in touch with what I need, not what I want, or what I think I should be doing.  It’s about taking care of myself. 

I think I have some of self-destructive habits.  Not like hookers and blow destructive, but little things, things I’m not even that conscious of that detract from my happiness by contributing to these funks I get myself in.  So the goal is to be super aware of myself and what I need.  For example, when in a bad mood I tend to shut down and go into hermit mode  Spending the afternoon in my room stewing about whatever is bothering me sends me into a funk that can last days whereas if I went for a walk, got out and did something else to clear my head I often feel instantly better.

I plan on taking better care of my body.  I could eat better; I could also drink a lot more water.  Distinguishing between wants and needs with food will be hard.  I rarely feel like a snack and think, mmm carrots would be great.  You also can’t but carrots in the convenience store downstairs.  You sure can buy chips and candy though.

I’m not about to start hitting the gym 5 times a week, but I do need to incorporate exercise in some form into my life.  If it would stop randomly snowing I would say walking home from work and going on longer walks with my dog.  Maybe taking a class in something other than yoga.  Something fun.  I have debated indoor rock climbing if I could get a group together.  Or driving to Banff and going on a mountain hike.

If I need time alone I need to finds ways to get it.  I want to pick up a couple new books and when I go on my long walks with my dog after work I'll stop somewhere and sit and read.   

Another thing for taking care of my body is to do nice things for myself like get a mani pedi, a massage, etc.  Bringing back some of look good feel good.

Doing the happiness project has made me fairly self involved, but his month I am giving myself permission to be selfish, think about what I want, and do things for myself.