How did April come and go and we’re still in this bizarre new other world? Sigh.
Continue Practicing Gratitude
I completed the Yale course, The Happiness of Well-Being. It is free and I highly recommend it. You can find it here. I continue to note things daily that I’m grateful for, although sadly/happily my gratitude jar has been packed away (more on that later). I’m in the black on this one.
Continue Spending Time With Family and Friends
This is a joke, right? Okay, in all seriousness, I’ve spent more time with my immediate family of husband and sons than ever before and it’s awesome. I’ve literally never been happier surrounded by them all 24/7. And also, please, for the love of all things selfish, I need a day to myself. We didn’t get to see family live-and-in-person, but we did do a FaceTime with my mom and brother and his awesome family. I send cards to friends/family once a week; silly cards, thank you cards, all kinds of cards. Just things to let people know I’m thinking about them. Since that’s kind of all we can do right now, I’m in the black here, too.
Continue My Self-Care Regime
With how hot it’s been I’ve stopped getting in the sauna three times a week. When it’s hot it’s just too much of a chore for me. I do, however, maintain self-care by practicing yoga, meditating, and watching The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu because I just need to disappear from this reality for awhile (even if it’s for an even creepier and also not-that-hard-to-believe reality). I’m in the black on this one, too.
Spend More Time Outside
We have been spending so much time outside in our yards, y’all won’t even believe me. We literally spend a minimum of four hours outside every day, and it is actually much closer to eight to ten. And it’s been wonderful. The more we are outside the better the kids sleep, the better I sleep, the happier we all are in general…Outside: it’s where it’s at. I don’t have an updated pic of our 1000 Hours Outside Challenge but it’s easily one-third full. Crazy. We’re in the black on this one, too.
Write for One Hour Every Day
Super in the red on this one. I’ve spent an hour writing every day, but not here. I’ve made a few April posts on my blog, but most of my writing has been in a journal and in cards. I’m in a bit of a fiction writer’s fog right now, a little too overwhelmed by everything to sit and write calmly at a keyboard. In fact, this little bit of sitting here typing is sending me into a bit of an anxiety attack. I literally want to be doing anything else.
Submit at Least One Piece for Publication
Each Month
As discussed: not happening.
Read at Least One Book a Month
I’ve only read two books this month. Two. More than my one book a month goal, but surprisingly few with how voracious a reader I am normally. But I just can’t, y’all. I can’t. The only way I can focus enough to disappear right now is visually with movies/shows. But at least I’m in the black on this one for this month.
Take a Stained Glass Making Class
I still plan on being able to make this NYR happen this year but it’s not entirely in my hands right now. All dependent upon quarantine.
Summary
So, here’s the thing: we’ve been BUSY. We decided that since we are “stuck” at home, we might as well do all the things we’ve been needing to do to the house: renovations, paint, that sort of thing. This is nearly impossible to do with kiddos in the house, sooooooo, we moved into our trailer and are camping in our front yard. Ha! I say “moved into” but we still go into the house to go to the bathroom and shower and stuff, so we’re really just sleeping in the trailer and eating our lunches at the little bistro table out front. It’s been wonderful for the kids because they spend tons of time outside now from sun-up to sun-down, and because it helps them take their minds off the fact that they haven’t been to the library or park (or anywhere) for so long. They love that we’re “camping.”
My husband and I spent a few weeks packing up the majority of our things to get them out of the way and then selling all the stuff we found that we’ve never touched in five years. It’s been a fabulous kind of cleanse and purge and has helped sincerely with my feelings of overwhelm as it’s given me something to focus on besides the pandemic.
How are you doing on your New Years Resolutions? Are you meeting your goals? If you’re having trouble, take a look at my post on Achievement and let me know if it helps you!