Birthday Gifts to Me, from Me!
January 1 generally signifies the start of a new year, full of resolutions and resolve. My birthday happens to fall just about halfway between that and the end of the year, so as a birthday gift to me, from me, I'm giving myself a mulligan. Not that I play golf, but I've heard the term: when your best shot turns out lousy and you get a do-over.
So a do-over of New Year's Resolutons - my list of birthday gifts to me:
learning to like my newly au natural hair, but not love the cut. Even when other women tell me they like it. It's two inches short of okay. (Is there anyone else out there who HATES when your bangs are dorky short? Brings back memories of my first grade picture, after my sister gave me a 'trim'.) Even dorky bangs are a good reminder that - indiscernable to the naked eye - things ARE happening. Within a few months it'll be bearable and I won't cringe every time I walk by a mirror. It's been interesting to see how what our hair looks like affects how we view ourselves overall. I'm also learning that other women, who choose to still color their hair, don't want to hear about the effects of hair dye on your scalp, or the cost, or or or.
instead of losing weight (my January 1 plan) I'm up a few pounds. A gift to myself is downloading some great music on my iPhone and resolving to give myself the gift of taking care of me, before anyone else. If I don't do it early in the day everything else creeps in and sucks up all my time. Taking time to track what I eat, exercise regularly, and eat ice cream now and then too because life is just too short to only eat salad - all a gift I'm giving me.
coming up with a routine for our home. I've been challenged for over two years, with a newly retired husband, to come up with anything that resembles order. Don has agreed to go into town once a week, run errands, volunteer at the Care Center, then grocery shop. He more than hates cooking, but doesn't mind buying food. I like to cook but could never go into a grocery store again. We think this might work for us. He might like picking out what he eats and enjoy a bit of time away from me. Note: Cows be afraid, very afraid. Bound to be more cow deaths to handle the beef he's sure to bring home.
quitting some things. I quit greeting at the church, and also gave notice at the Care Center. The end of this month I'll be done volunteering there and plan to take that day for restoring my soul a bit. I'm still involved in our Open Table and that takes up enough of my time right now.
starting some new things. Taking a day every single week to spend with my daughter or daughter-in-law, just because. For helping. For fun. For investing in lives - little and grown.
getting enough sleep. Except for a rare occasion I am giving myself the gift of getting 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep every night. Amazing how much better I feel with enough sleep, and why on earth did it take me so long to figure that out? If you call me before 9 am or after 9 pm I likely am not available unless I gave birth to you or you gave birth to me. Does anyone else not love being called before 9 am, or after 9 pm?
being me. Just being me. Not trying to be what someone else might like, or agree with, or want to spend time with. That also means figuring out how I want to spend my time, doing what and with who. We recently had dinner with a couple and afterwards Don told me he thought they were nice. I told him, "nope, don't need to ever spend time with her again - not at all my type of woman on many levels. He's great - her not so much." Life's too precious to spend it with people who will leave you feeling empty after spending time with them. I'm speaking from experience here and bet many of you can relate.
changing my mind. About anything and everything except the really important stuff. We're talking about a lot of things, thinking about changes up ahead - big and small. Who wants to live a life that is completely figured out and never budges from the original plan? Not me.
So Happy Birthday to me - 57 and still figuring it out, but as always, excited about the journey - one day at a time.
So a do-over of New Year's Resolutons - my list of birthday gifts to me:
learning to like my newly au natural hair, but not love the cut. Even when other women tell me they like it. It's two inches short of okay. (Is there anyone else out there who HATES when your bangs are dorky short? Brings back memories of my first grade picture, after my sister gave me a 'trim'.) Even dorky bangs are a good reminder that - indiscernable to the naked eye - things ARE happening. Within a few months it'll be bearable and I won't cringe every time I walk by a mirror. It's been interesting to see how what our hair looks like affects how we view ourselves overall. I'm also learning that other women, who choose to still color their hair, don't want to hear about the effects of hair dye on your scalp, or the cost, or or or.
instead of losing weight (my January 1 plan) I'm up a few pounds. A gift to myself is downloading some great music on my iPhone and resolving to give myself the gift of taking care of me, before anyone else. If I don't do it early in the day everything else creeps in and sucks up all my time. Taking time to track what I eat, exercise regularly, and eat ice cream now and then too because life is just too short to only eat salad - all a gift I'm giving me.
coming up with a routine for our home. I've been challenged for over two years, with a newly retired husband, to come up with anything that resembles order. Don has agreed to go into town once a week, run errands, volunteer at the Care Center, then grocery shop. He more than hates cooking, but doesn't mind buying food. I like to cook but could never go into a grocery store again. We think this might work for us. He might like picking out what he eats and enjoy a bit of time away from me. Note: Cows be afraid, very afraid. Bound to be more cow deaths to handle the beef he's sure to bring home.
quitting some things. I quit greeting at the church, and also gave notice at the Care Center. The end of this month I'll be done volunteering there and plan to take that day for restoring my soul a bit. I'm still involved in our Open Table and that takes up enough of my time right now.
starting some new things. Taking a day every single week to spend with my daughter or daughter-in-law, just because. For helping. For fun. For investing in lives - little and grown.
getting enough sleep. Except for a rare occasion I am giving myself the gift of getting 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep every night. Amazing how much better I feel with enough sleep, and why on earth did it take me so long to figure that out? If you call me before 9 am or after 9 pm I likely am not available unless I gave birth to you or you gave birth to me. Does anyone else not love being called before 9 am, or after 9 pm?
being me. Just being me. Not trying to be what someone else might like, or agree with, or want to spend time with. That also means figuring out how I want to spend my time, doing what and with who. We recently had dinner with a couple and afterwards Don told me he thought they were nice. I told him, "nope, don't need to ever spend time with her again - not at all my type of woman on many levels. He's great - her not so much." Life's too precious to spend it with people who will leave you feeling empty after spending time with them. I'm speaking from experience here and bet many of you can relate.
changing my mind. About anything and everything except the really important stuff. We're talking about a lot of things, thinking about changes up ahead - big and small. Who wants to live a life that is completely figured out and never budges from the original plan? Not me.
So Happy Birthday to me - 57 and still figuring it out, but as always, excited about the journey - one day at a time.
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