what’s on my mind for 2018

Today is a rare day with time for reflection since I am home alone, without work and without Reese, for the whole day. Since we are leaving for LA this week, we switched one of her pre-school days to today as we pay for 3x per week even when we’re on vacation. While I could have worked, I took the opportunity to stay home, catch up on tasks that I have wanted to do for weeks and months even (e.g. clean out our car) and just take the opportunity to do what I want without distraction.

Initially, I felt guilty dropping Reese off this morning, but after an hour or two of time passed and I crossed a few things off my list, even if it also included quite a few household chores I just needed to do, I realized that I should actually do this more often. In fact, I’m pretty sure today is going to help me be a happier, kinder, more present mama, wife, colleague, and friend this week. In a nutshell, this feeling also encompasses my own resolution for 2018.

Last year was rough. Even with an amazing and supportive husband and family, and a generally very well-behaved toddler, I still feel like I’m just pulling myself out of 2017 and not letting it hang over into my attitude this year. It’s funny because during the year I felt stressed but it seemed mostly manageable. There were still small victories and joys in each day, and throughout the year. All that stress took a toll though and I’ve been stuck in a rut of dissatisfaction with myself, my inability to deal with difficult (and sometimes just plain annoying) colleagues, and my continued failure to show grace, both for myself and others, and seize the opportunity to actually control my own attitude each day. Nearly every Tuesday afternoon/evening, Martin said I had another case of the “Tuesdays,” the sure sign that I was generally grumpy about going back to work the next day. Then, that feeling bled into more evenings. And, the thing is, work is just a small part of the equation. In fact, it is so much more about self-care.

Bloggers, in particular, seem to talk a lot of about the importance of self-care these days, but that more often seems to relate to some new beauty treatment. While I definitely would love to get more massages and a facial (I’ve never had one!) this year, for me it is much more about taking the time to prioritize caring for myself holistically, particularly through time to exercise more (because I’m so much more pleasant when I do) and reading more books, two things I really enjoy and haven’t prioritized for too long.

So, today’s lesson and this year’s resolution is for me is not to neglect self-care. I aim to prioritize making at least 45 minutes a day for active self-care (i.e. sleeping in doesn’t count): exercising, reading, blogging, or even finally finishing one chore that’s been nagging me for weeks, without whining. Today, I’ve managed much more time, and I’m so much more recharged already. Let’s hope it becomes a habit, and an attitude, that sticks.

What have you resolved for this year?