The new year has many possibilities for people to make changes in their lives. I am one of those people.
My focus for 2025 can be summed up in three factors. One is my job. I hope to manage my full-time job to the point where I have the least amount of stressful situations as possible. I would also like to enjoy more of my work, specifically with work relating to Commander History.
My second factor is on managing my physical/mental health. I have moved back to my parents' place, so they would normally have more healthy foods for me to eat. I also hope to maintain an exercise schedule for at least a year.
My last factor that I want to work on is socializing. I want to be able to make friends whom I can talk to often. I do have friends, but I am looking for friends to talk to and/or hang out with almost daily.
As long as I am able to make progress on any of these goals, I would say I have achieved my new year's goals.
A brand new year! Yay! A blank slate, new opportunities.
But does that idea overwhelm you? Are you riddled with stress in making New Years resolutions while filled with guild over last year's forgotten goals? I understand completely, and as exciting as it is to reach for new dreams, it can be frustrating.
So try this instead. Create a morning routine.
A developed morning routine sets you up for a good day, a productive day. Getting out of bed and accomplishing a few specifically chosen tasks will encourage you and catapult you into the rest of your day. Studies show that habits, done every single day, are a steppingstone for success. If you study any mega-successful person, I guarantee that they have a list of things they do every morning before beginning their day.
Now it doesn't have to be a long list. In fact, it should only be a few things, three to five, that you do daily. But these things can have a massive impact on your life. Here are examples of morning to-dos:
· Make your bed—gets you up and going as well as giving order to your life.
· Meditate—Read a chapter of Proverbs from the Bible or inspirational quotes.
· Go for a walk—Just a short walk in the morning is healthy and inspirational.
· Write a daily to-do list—Then enjoy marking these things off when accomplished.
Remember to put things that get you going, but also that you look forward to. We all want to be excited to wake up and begin our day. This list should not make us want to pull the covers over our head but to jump out of bed, ready for the day. That means you may want to include watching a funny YouTube video or taking ten minutes to look through a favorite catalog or read a chapter from a favorite book. There are so many ideas for morning routines.
Make your own list and see what happens. Craft one tailor made for you and enjoy the new year!
M.M.
Confession time... I've broken a law or two in my day, but no one would consider me a miscreant (except for Malinda on alternate Thursdays (a story for another time)). However recently I found out that I have been a consistent, daily, lawbreaker for two years.
How's that you say? Well, apparently my driver license has been suspended since August 2022. I had no idea. No singing telegram, not even a "thinking of you" card. Florida, throw a guy a bone! How's a person supposed to know, especially when the reason had nothing to do with anything I did? Not just an oopsie... this is a second-degree misdemeanor in our lovely state.
It seems that when my son got insurance for his car and he was removed from our insurance, his new insurance company "failed" to notify the state that his car (which at the time was titled in my name) was indeed covered. Now, did the insurance company, a reputable company that has been offering automobile coverage in the state for many years, forget to contact the state, or did the state fail to update their system? You can probably guess which way I lean.
Doesn't really matter. I suppose I could have spent time digging in to determine exactly which party was responsible but frankly it would have cost me more in time I don't have, to MAYBE discover that the state was at fault. This would be no guarantee that the state would waive any fine. I just wanted to get my license reinstated as quickly as possible. I have an aversion to outstanding issues with governmental authorities.
To their credit (if this is any silver lining), I could pay the fine online and once I did, the state reinstated my driver license almost immediately.
You ever in a "life's a breeze" place, then suddenly realize a hurricane is sneaking up behind you? It's the "everything's fine until it's not, and hasn't been fine for awhile," kind of weird.