A Brand New, Shiny Year!

Well, here it is 2013 and it started off with a bang for me.  Or, maybe not so much as I was in bed by 9 o'clock on New Year's Eve with the flu.  Yes, I'm one of those people who do not get the flu shot but instead, try to allow my body to be able to defend for itself.  Sometimes, however, whether due to holiday travel (think total confinement for 3 hours in an airplane breathing in the air that probably, no definitely, contains various germs that make themselves known through everyone's coughs and sneezes), or partaking in some holiday indulgences, the body's defenses are just not up-to-par.  So, I got the flu.  I am happy to say that after six days I am almost back to normal.  The tiredness and cough are still lingering but those only serve to remind me to take it easy and REST.

There was a time when I made a conscious effort to make a New Year's resolution only to have forgotten it somewhere between Valentine's Day and the end of February.  This year I really don't feel that there is one resolution that I would choose and if I could choose only one, I think that would be difficult.  As human beings we are constantly growing and changing and learning.   Through out my life I have always been very, very hard on myself in my quest for something unreachable - perfectionism.  I am learning, finally at this age, to be happy with who I am and how God made me. And so, if I were to make any sort of resolution it would be more of a change of my mindset from the unattainable to acceptance.  To accept my limits and boundaries and to be at peace with who I am.  An example of this is with sports - growing up I disliked being on sport teams; however, I loved to run.  And so I joined the cross country running team and LOVED it.  Time passes by and running was placed on the back burner until a couple of years ago when I decided to take it up again.  Well, I thank God for my chiropractor and a wonderful and very gifted massage therapist who have treated my many aches and pains and have gently pushed me in the direction of gentler exercises.

My body is not meant for hardcore exercising.  As much as I would love to run miles each day, take up boxing, boot camps, or participate in triathlons, I am not meant for these.  Instead, I have chosen to listen to my body by being a student of yoga, walking my dog, dancing for fun, hiking with my family, and anything else that get's me outside and enjoying this big, glorious world.  What do you like to do?  Making an effort to do some sort of daily exercise can make such an improvement in your life.  If its been awhile, start off with a 10 minute daily walk.  If you're time-constrained, start off with a 10 minute daily walk.  Get it?  It doesn't take much to start and that 10 minutes will eventually turn to 15, then 20, then 30 then.... Well, you get the picture.  Happy 2013!!