New Years Resolutions

I'm not a typically a big fan of making New Years resolutions. They're usually overly positive and optimistic, but not practical or meaningful. They tend to cause us to guilt trip ourselves, and then later we beat ourselves up for failing. Most people fail at keeping New Years resolutions to some degree. I haven't made any in the past few years because I always have a goal of trying to better myself, no matter the time of year. This year, however, the beginning of the year lines up with my body's improving health. It's actually a good time for me to adopt new habits now that I have a bit more energy and mental clarity. So, what are my resolutions?

1. Make exercise a bigger priority. My doctor wants me doing 45 minutes of cardio a day. This past year I did work out regularly, but not consistently and not as hard as I needed to. I normally got at least 10 minutes of cardio in a day, on top of doing chores/ moving around purposefully. I rarely ever worked out for more than 30 minutes at a time - I rarely had the strength. While this was way better than in past years (where I had no exercise routine,) I need to try and do better, especially since I do have more energy and strength now. Small steps. I want to turn that "at least 10 minutes" into "at least 15 minutes," and I want to aim for 30-45 minute work out sessions at least twice a week (I will use my YMCA membership to ensure this.)

2. I want to make money. Somehow, someway. I want to financially contribute to our household again. I have been pursuing job opportunities in the past couple of months, but so far nothing has worked out because I either get sick inside the business (MCS issues,) or the stores that I seem to do well in are not hiring. I will not, however, take a job at a place that will make me sick. It isn't worth making a bit of money at the cost of my heath, which I've been working so very hard on repairing during the past year. (On this note - no, I have not abandoned my Zazzle shop. I will start working on it again in January. This month has been too distracting, and Zazzle isn't profitable enough to make a priority.)

3. Try to reduce our food budget without compromising the quality of the food we eat. This is a major challenge in North Dakota. It's difficult to grow food here because the weather makes for poor growing conditions during the majority of the year (unless you grow grains.) While I won't expect to be able to grow enough of my own food, there is another way to reduce our food budget, and we've already started. We bought half of a grass-fed local cow! My goal is to buy my meat directly from the ranchers from now on, because the price per pound of the beef is half that of grass-fed meat at the grocery store. I want to buy turkey, lamb, and chicken next.

4. As I need new clothes over the next year, I want to only purchase natural clothing. This is part of my goal to create the least toxic environment I can. I want to eventually (this will take years) have a wardrobe of only organic cotton, linen, hemp, wool, and real bamboo (not rayon.) My hope is that all these clothes will be free from additives of flame retardants and stiffeners, but my budget won't allow me to only buy from companies that promise no chemical additives (they're expensive!)


Small, obtainable goals, right? I think I can do these. I don't want 2015 to be a repeat of 2014, in which I spent the entire year (I'm not exaggerating here) focusing on healing. At the end of last year year I was hardly alive at all - I was horribly sick. I would say there were days where I was only 10% alive. Maybe even less. I would say I'm about 60% alive, on average, these days. I'm no longer a zombie. I feel human most days now, though a tired and weak human. I think it's time to start acting like a human again and try to rejoin society, even if just a little. I'm pretty sure I have the strength and energy to do it, as long as I don't push myself.

So, here's to a new year! Welcome, 2015!