Hello 2024! Hello Covid!
Hello Beautiful People,
Welcome 2024! I hope 2024 is bringing you joy and good health. I was super excited for 2024 to hit. I was preparing to hit the ground running. I've been getting things more organized. I've been diving into the Hygge life. I've been working hard to reduce my stress and to say No. I was very excited.
I started 2024 in Maine. I went up for Christmas and I stayed until New Year's Day. Guess what happened. Covid. I finally got it. Ugh. It hit everyone in the house. But, no one tested positive until I was home. ARGH!
I almost completely relaxed over Christmas. I felt the stress and anxiety go away. Some emotional moments were a little stressful, but I'll talk about that later. And then I got home and my family is sick and I'm not there to help. Of course, I got sick too, but I got a very mild case. I had a runny nose. I mean it ran constantly for three days and I had tissues stuffed up it for that whole time. It did zap me of energy though. I'm still recovering from that. I am so very thankful for my vaccination and boosters.
So I haven't been working out in 2024. I've been building up my energy and strength though. Today I had a client before Preschool and another after. I felt good after, but I didn't want to push it so I've been resting ever since. Resting has been the HARDEST thing. This is crazy. I've been making moves to find more rest and relaxation in my life and when it's forced on me I want to scream. When I knew I was going to be in bed all day I figured I would watch Harry Potter all day or something. I binged 90 Day Fiance thanks to Max. It was perfect.
I should probably bring up New Year's Resolutions. I really try not to make resolutions. I try to change my habits or set goals/priorities. However, if you have been with me for a while, you know that EVERY year I say that I want to learn how to knit a hat or socks. I've been making scarves for 20+ years. I cheated a little, but I made a hat! Grandmom got a loom that can crank out stitches for Christmas and it was my job to test it out. It was a little frustrating with very little instruction, but I watched several videos and made my first hat. Hooray! My Secret Santa got me one that arrived last week so everyone gets a hat this year! I'm most excited to make some for the homeless and pass them out when we go out with Hit the Streets.
So what are my goals/priorities for 2024? I have several.
The first is to blog weekly again. I really enjoy it and it's how I hold myself accountable. I really don't worry about if there is no one reading this or if everyone is reading this. I do this for me. But, I would like to FINALLY include posts about what I learn when I study and how it can apply to you.
The second is to continue my Hygge lifestyle.
I'm all about cozy. I live for blankets, candles, reading, and hot chocolate. I finished over 100 books in 2023. I listened to a lot of audiobooks, but I read a lot too. I'm trying to find more reading time. For the past two years, I have celebrated Jolabokaflod with friends and family. That is the tradition and giving books and chocolate on Christmas Eve and then sitting and reading. The idea is to relax on Christmas Eve and not be so stressed.
This past year I made an effort to make my Christmas gifts personalized. I'm still working on some, to be honest. But, I want to keep this up so I need to get an earlier start on them for next year. And so I have planned out to make some presents every month. I even started to freeze my gingerbread dough. It looks like you can freeze it up to 3 months. I have a batch in the freezer now and I'm going to make it next month to see how it goes. If it works then it's a game changer and will give me the gift of time this year. Speaking of my cookies. I made one last batch in Maine and it was delicious.
And third, I am prioritizing my mental health. My physical health will also be a part. When I am in better shape I am in a better headspace, but it isn't always a guarantee. I feel it in my body when I don't have my regular stretching sessions. I have been working with a client who is really focusing on what his body is telling him. We often discuss how the pain may radiate in one area, but the source is somewhere else. That is often an issue with mental health also. You all know that I have anxiety. I stalk my luggage on plane rides after the issues with them that last two trips. I cannot relax until I know it is on/off the plane.
I took this picture from the gate. It's the pink one.
Anyway, one of the things that is good for my mental health is staying off of social media. In 2023 I posted every day. I was posting two things daily. The first was a picture of the Bible passages that I was reading. It was my third time committing to reading the Bible in a Year. If you get a chance I recommend it. I started because I want to know context when someone is preaching to me. It's not an easy read and there were days that I wanted to stop, but it's important to know what people are referencing and for you to know the whole story. The other thing that I posted was my Golden Girls Daily trivia calendar.
I will never get off of social media entirely, as it's how I stay in touch with a lot of friends and family, but it's not an especially healthy place to hang out for long periods. Now, at the same time, I do want to be more active on my Confessions FB page. So I want to take more time off, but I want to be more active. I'm such a walking juxtaposition. I'm a mess I tell you.
Okay, I will confess that there WAS a fourth goal. Lent starts on Valentine's Day. It's right around the corner. I always give up chocolate for Lent. So I had planned on giving up milk chocolate in 2024. If I was going to have chocolate it was going to be dark. Well, I haven't quite kept to that. I'm going to kick that off this weekend.
I'm going to call it a night. I had a massive migraine last night so I am going to sit back and enjoy my British Murder Mystery that I discovered the other day. I'm such an old lady.
I do have a post that I started last month about Thanksgiving and the start of Christmas. I'll try to get that finished within the week.
I appreciate you.
Jennie
xoxo
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/ConfessionsOfAFormerFatGir
yeah, sorry, I messed up and the "l" is missing....I need an assistant :-)
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