Happy New Year!
This past year I didn’t do a lot of writing and that felt right. I was working more on my podcast (sort of), and life was busy. But it’s the new year, and as of right now, I feel like writing. In fact it feels so nice being back with my little laptop and cup of coffee on the 1st of the year!
If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to take some time and reflect on the last decade. Really go there. I did this yesterday and I couldn’t BELIEVE all that happened in just one decade. No wonder I’m tired!
Here are some questions I asked myself, (and by the way they come from a workbook Mel Robbins has created called Best Decade Ever which is free to download. If I was tech savvy I would include the link but, ya know, just google it 🙂 And thanks Mel Robbins for these questions!)
1.) Write down three times you felt most excited or energized in the last ten years.
2.) What big goals have you accomplished in the last ten years? What are you most proud of?
3.) What did you not complete that you wish you had accomplished?
4.) What do you think held you back or kept you stuck?
Set aside some time this week, to really answer these questions. Honor yourself and the decade, because I guarantee you aren’t patting yourself on the back as much as you should be. A lot went down!
As I looked at these questions, my pen started flowing. Stuff HAPPENED this decade. Good stuff, bad stuff, scary stuff and risk taking stuff. Many of which I had filed away and totally forgotten about.
Here’s how my decade began:
At the end of 2010 I was diagnosed with melanoma, which is a malignant skin cancer. At the early part of 2011 I had a surgery that removed all of it, and showed that no cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, thankfully. For the rest of the year I couldn’t shake the uneasiness I felt, that life is soooo short. And so after a trip to Sweden, visiting a dear friend and finally allowing myself to freak out that I had had CANCER (?!?!?!?) and not just keep a “brave face” I told her I had been stuck. The cancer had woken me up and I wanted to move to New York…some day. As in, “wouldn’t that be cool?” Some day….
Well I got back from the trip and decided to just see if there were any jobs in New York for nurses specializing in sexual health. Oops, there were. And oops they were looking for someone right now, and oh wait they were the sister clinic to my clinic in Boston. Within a month and a half I was moving to New York and starting my new job at that clinic. (Hyperventilating that entire month and a half, I’m not even going to pretend I was calm.)
That is how I STARTED the decade: cancer, then moving to NYC. I truly believe because my decade started out like this, the rest of the decade was like, “Ok, I guess flying by the seat of our pants is our new normal!”
So moving back to you, how do you want to begin this year and decade? You get to decide. Do you want to: take more risks, be more vocal, listen more, fall in love with your body, eat like your body is a temple, make lasting connections, make more art, lose your imposter sydrome, incorporate travel into your life, open your mind, get unstuck….
Whatever you decide, may I make a suggestion that might help? Make dates with yourself and keep them. Even if you have nothing planned, put away your phone, turn off your TV and even allow yourself to get bored. Because boredom is WAYYY more powerful than you may think. Ideas come from boredom, when you suddenly aren’t distracting your mind with social media, netflix or the news. Some of you will have more time than others, no need to compare, just honor yourself by taking yourself on a date (even if that date is in your own house). My guess is there are ideas that are dying to be allowed some space to surface. Give them some space and feel free to report back.
Okay folks, as I always say you’ve got this.
Take care of YOU.
Self-care for Caregivers 