A new year often brings a sense of renewal. I’m not one to make resolutions in January. It is a good time to check in on goals and make adjustments. Steady as she goes!
I’m stacking the deck in my favour for a good 2026 by ensuring each day has movement in it. Daily dog walks, cycling commutes, strength and flexibility. I’m set up for success and have fully ditched “all or nothing” thinking.
Resilience
I’m bracing for bad stuff too. Experience has taught me along with all the great things comes a healthy dose of hard stuff, horrors even.
It’s the complicated gift of middle age, being pulled in many directions without falling apart.
Going through tough stuff has taught me I’m a good hugger. Olympic level hug giver right here. Happy to demonstrate at any moment.
I hold hands at hospital bedsides very well. I stay careful and kind now, even when I’m really upset.
I’m more resilient thanks to my fitness adventures.
So my wisdom to share on this year’s fitness goals is here for you if you need it.
It all counts
Watch didn’t record? Garmin dump your ride? It’s ok if it didn’t end up on Strava. Your body knows you did it. Data is only one measure. You were there. You did it. Go you!
Say it again, it all counts
Barely got to the workout? Had to wrap up early? Needed to lighten the resistance? Take a lighter weight?
AMAZING! You showed up for yourself and invested in your wellbeing. Well done!
You don’t have to like it
There will be days it sucks and you don’t enjoy the workout. You will always feel a sense of accomplishment regardless of how it went.
If a given activity is really chapping your ass switch it up. Ditch the weights and do a cardio dance class. Yoga pissing you off? Take up a martial art. You don’t always have to like it. Way to go!
Confidence comes from trusting yourself
You know when you are sick and need to rest.
You know when you need down time.
You know when you need help staying motivated.
You know who to go to for help.
You know a lot!
Trust yourself!
Plans rarely survive encounters with reality
The beautiful plan will fall apart. That’s ok because you knew it would happen and made flexibility part of the plan. Please, please, please break up with perfection.
My MVP (minimum viable plan) is 60 minutes of movement. Walking, cycling, stretching, dancing in my underwear. It’s adaptable.
Weather is sweet? I’m on my bike.
Back getting tight? Add another walk and do some yoga.
Bike out of commission? Grab some dumbbells.
You get the idea.
Messy is good
Challenge yourself to be a bit of a wreck. Not all moments are instagram moments.
Exploring the edges of your capacity is exciting and helps you grow. It’s not necessary every day but totally required to keep monotony at bay.
Team up to survive
It’s a fitness wasteland out here. Team up in person or virtually with workout partners. You will get more workouts in more often. Harness the power of positive peer pressure.
HAVE FUN
I’m serious. Play disc golf, beach volleyball, snorkel with manatees, whatever makes this year different than last year. Be silly and do stuff. That’s part of fitness too.
That’s it
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you gleaned some gems that you can keep for 2026.
Spoiler, this is the advice I need so I wrote it down. Hopefully I don’t forget!
LETS GO 2026!
Nat is cozy in winter clothes. Michel, forever photographed just behind her and off to the side is looking lovely. They are in front of a brick house with lots of snow on the ground.
The practice of identifying and trying to follow through on X things in 202X has become my favourite New Year’s resolution thingy. I first tried it in 2024. And again last year.
I came nowhere near completing all the things either time, but that’s just fine. The lists helped me build some habits and identify where I wanted to make changes. Here is what I’m thinking for 2026.
1. Camp more at the cottage. Last year I figured out contracting, plumber and electricity, but I won’t have running water or heat until the electrical actually gets connected to the grid, hopefully by the end of 2026.
2. Get the canoe into the water and explore the lake. This will require at least temporary stairs to the water, and I hope to hire someone to build permanent stairs during the summer.
3. Hike some of the trails around the cottage area. This is a repeat because I never got up to the property often enough to explore. Maybe I can count tromping around on snowshoes this year? I have been keen to do that.
4. Bike at least 1,000 km, including a ride to Gatineau Park for a swim. This number decreases every year, thanks to an overuse injury and fears around longer rides thanks to the heart murmur discovered early in 2025. My e-bike being out of commission for much of the year didn’t help; nor did the switch to a lot more trip chaining so I could combine local errands with elder care across the city. I’m going to remind myself that nearby Lac Leamy is actually part of Gatineau Park (just not the hilly, ambitious part).
5. Read one book a month. I exceeded this goal in 2025, partly because I renewed my library card and started reading fiction again. So the stash of “owned” books hasn’t decreased much and this one needs to stay. Besides, it forces me to rest and that’s a good thing.
6. Read one magazine a week. That’s 52 magazines. I read 41 in 2024, am at 41 so far in 2025, and I have enough for at least another year. I’m going to try and read one more today.
7. Cook one new recipe a week. This is an old habit, and cooking just for myself and sometimes for Mom worked after Dad died in May. This has been a way to explore vintage recipes I think she would enjoy but this year’s challenge will be to add more vegetarian dishes she would also enjoy since my sister is vegetarian.
8. I want to do more recipe redactions from medieval cookbooks. Let’s say one a month? That part of last year’s cooking challenge collapsed completely due to all the other things going on in 2025. But using my collection of medieval cookbooks and blogging about recipes I have tried gives me joy I have missed.
9. Weed and care for my gardens and hopefully harvest more food. This is a repeat and I hope the weather cooperates better than it did in 2025. I’m looking forward to riding my e-bike to the furthest garden again.
10. Swim. I completed exactly half my goal of 200 km a year. I probably won’t reach 200 km, but it’s going to remain as a stretch goal, especially if I can get some serious cottage time.
11. More crafting. I blew past the deadline for last year’s February project. But it still needs doing, along with a whole bag of other unfinished projects. I learned the basics of sprang this year and want to keep exploring that new skill.
12. Sew at least five outfits that have been lurking in my fabric stash and “to do” list for 5 years or more. This is one I could probably keep going for at least a decade. So much fabric stash….
13. Declutter the things in my Mom’s house without adding to my own clutter. I have discovered several great new places working with refugees and other marginalized communities; the real challenge is moving stuff along in a timely manner.
14. Couch surfing vacation to southern Ontario. No change from last year or 2024. I have three planned babysitting weekends with my grandson, and hopefully another invitation to Sam’s for the bloggers’ barbecue, so I’m looking forward to building on those as a way to visit friends.
15. Volunteer less. This is a complete reversal from last year. I realized I don’t love leading harvests (but I do enjoy helping with them), and I’m almost done my terms on various boards. It’s time to let go and focus on me for a while.
16. Eat more fruit. I have a deeply ingrained habit of eating vegetables but not fruit, so my aim is two servings a day. I won’t be able to manage 6 prunes a day on top of that, but they can certainly be an option as my main fruit.
17. Spend more time with Mom. Elder care is going to continue being a big part of my life.
18. Stretch and modest strength training. Physio, yoga, some of the videos from Movement Union, and on-line Pilates, which I started in December and really love.
19. Shop from my pantry. I’m really good at preserving food, not so good at using it up. This is an ongoing challenge but I did make a little headway last year.
20. Meet up with friends. I hang out with way too many introverts. We love getting together, but it rarely happens. I’ll aim to meet up with one of them each month for coffee or a meal or something. This is a repeat because it didn’t happen nearly often enough but needs to happen. Those visits with friends were precious time to me.
21. Do something artistic. Will I finish that oil painting that has been sitting around for years? Work on my calligraphy and illumination? Take a watercolour class? Or just take my sketchbooks to the cottage and put them to use? My art supplies were trapped with the sewing machine for most of the year so this is a repeat.
22. Keep on top of my health issues. Notice and take action when things feel off, rather than trying to power through or refuse to acknowledge in the first place that what I’m feeling is not normal.
23. Relax. Deliberately spend time staring at trees, or lounging in the sun, meditating, or whatever. More specifically, hammock time. Use the one in my back yard and set up one between a couple of trees at the cottage. Another repeat, but so necessary!
24. Set up my bike for indoor rides and watch some movies while I cycle. I have never tried using my Garmin to track indoor cycling, so that could be a test this year. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just guesstimate distances by my average speed 14 km/hour) times the length of the show I watch.
25. Requalify as a lifeguard and swim instructor. This is something I have to do every two years and shouldn’t be a big deal, but it always makes me anxious.
26. I have no idea! This is a placeholder for whatever adventures might come my way, or new things I want to explore. This may have been my favourite last year. Maybe it will morph into this great resolution from a friend:
Every January for the past few years, Adrienne has prepared a series of yoga workouts available for each day in January. Many of the FIFI community have joined in for all or part of her series. This year, she opted to do only a seven day set, which I am happy to ignore
Adrienne is lovely, and her dog Benji is a delight. But I felt a certain pressure to join the crowd and do yoga every day in January, even though yoga really isn’t my thing.
The pressure was entirely self-imposed and arose simply because I knew others were doing it. Sounds a bit like every other New Year’s resolution. And it gave me the same result as so many resolutions: I struggled to make it to the end of January, then abandoned the habit all together. Kind of like Steve.
My January was filled with activities that gave me joy: lots of swimming and dancing, a bit of riding my bike. No winter activities like skating, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing yet, but the weather looks promising for February.
So thanks Adrienne for putting in all the work to develop those videos year after year, but also thanks for giving me a good excuse to stop trying to keep up with you every January.
Sam did a check-in on her list and I realized I couldn’t even remember mine! So I dug it out and discovered it wasn’t so bad.
1. Camp more at the cottage property ❌
I did get up a few times, but without my friend Mel, it just wasn’t the same. hopefully we can coordinate a longer visit next summer.
2. Start work on getting a cottage built there. I need everything from a building permit to a well to electricity and a septic system, and I have never done any of those things before. ❎
I have a cottage! I still don’t have running water or electricity, insulation, a kitchen or bathroom, but those are all problems for next summer. for now, I have a place to sleep, with a screened porch.
3. Get the canoe into the water and explore the lake ❌
Mel’s visit was too short to get the canoe out, and I really need to get some stairs built down to the water. Next year?
4. Hike some of the trails around the cottage area ❌
I was too busy with the construction project to go exploring, though I did spend time looking at maps. That counts for something, right?
5. Bike to Gatineau Park for a swim ❌
Hahaha no! I had grand ambitions to cycle 3,000 km this summer, but between retiring (no need to ride to work anymore) and constant knee/quad pain (more on that here). I’ll be lucky to hit 1750 by the end of the month. I don’t love riding to or from my part-time job in the dark or when I’m wet. Getting into that habit remains a work in progress. I did lots of cycling in Toronto though, and hope to repeat that adventure next summer, assuming there are still some safe bike lanes to use. I’m also seriously considering a few days in Montreal to explore all the bike paths and pedestrianized streets.
6. Read one book a month 🤷♀️
I’m on book 11. I might make it, but it will take work.
7. Read one magazine a week 🤷♀️
That’s 52 magazines: I’m on number 40. The stack of unread magazines is definitely smaller, but it’s not a complete success. I still have enough I could do another full year of this challenge, I think.
8. Cook one new recipe a week ❎
At last count, I was at approximately 90. This one is relatively easy for me now. I have been doing it for at least 15 years, which is a testament to the importance of building habits.
9. Weed and care for my gardens and hopefully harvest more food ❎
I let a lot of the grapes feed the birds this year, but managed enough vegetables to feed myself for several weeks this winter, as well as what I ate fresh.
10. Swim outdoors more ❌
This may be my big disappointment on the list. I just couldn’t get myself motivated to go to the local swimming hole most mornings. I did swim with members of my club at the lake about once a week, and I volunteered as a swim angel at an open water event again this year, and that was lovely; I have already volunteered again for next summer.
All the swim angel volunteers at pre-race training
The closest I came to winter swimming was helping a couple of people with their qualifying swims for the International Ice Swimming Association World Championships in Italy in January. My job was to help set the buoys – it was chilly work, and I’m impressed at the speeds my friends swam 50 and 100 m distances in butterfly or backstroke, plus a 200 IM. Aimee even did a 250 freestyle.
11. Make some gifts I have offered but not started (and there is a February deadline) ❎
I had to look up what I had made – turns out it was a nested linen shopping bag. I also made a little sewing kit with some handmade bone needles, for a later deadline.
12. Sew at least five outfits that have been lurking in my fabric stash and “to do” list for 4 years or more ❌
Huge fail here! The closest I came to sewing was acquiring more fabric.
13. Get back to crafting – I have too much stuff in my stash and don’t believe that the person with the most stuff when they die wins 🤷♀️
I’m almost done knitting a pair of socks, and I did a few other small things, but the craft stash is not noticeably diminished.
14. Couch surfing vacation to southern Ontario as part of Stratford Theatre trip with friends 🤷♀️
The Stratford Theatre trip didn’t happen, but I did manage a lightning weekend to catch up with many friends for a at least one meal in 5 different towns. I want to do this again at least once next year, adding in more friends and relatives I don’t get to see very often.
15. Volunteer more. I’m currently active with three groups but don’t spend as much time working with them as I would like ❎
I didn’t do much with the food rescue group, but cycling activism and social media dominated my year. I also took over doing social media for my Viking reenactment group and had a couple of lovely weekends brushing up on our presentation skills with them.
16. Visit my son in Toronto ❎
One good visit this summer, and another planned just after Christmas. I plan to do more next year – look out son!
17. Spend more time with my parents ❎
This became a pretty big one, but not for good reasons. Dad had some health challenges this year so I now spend a lot of time doing elder care.
18. Adventures on my new-to-me Brompton. More cycling generally, actually. 🤷♀️
The Brampton got a good workout this year, though I didn’t do any of the longer rides I had planned when I bought it. I don’t know that I did more cycling because I never recorded how much I did last year. However, I know I had done 1000 km by late May this year, so I definitely slowed down a lot, at a time when most people (including me) ride more.
19. Qualify as a lifeguard and swim instructor and look for a part-time post-retirement job. ❎
I qualified in April and started work in October. I love it!
20. Maintain some sort of yoga practice, still to be defined. Right now it’s a short video every night before bed. ❌
Who am I kidding? It’s all I can do to force myself to do my physio. I just don’t love yoga, even though I do fits and spurts of enjoying it for a week or two.
21. Empty my closets. I don’t buy much, but neither am I very good at getting rid of things I never wear. ❌
I’m edging a bit closer to success here, but the big purge hasn’t happened.
22. Be loud. This year I have discovered my activist voice and I like it. ❎
I did a lot of social media work for Bike Ottawa, wrote blog posts on various safety issues, presented to the Transportation Committee at City Hall, and helped with a presentation to the Committee studying Bill 212 (the one that will remove bike lanes in Ontario cities).
I even participated in a few safe streets protests (by bike, of course).
23. Relax. Deliberately spend time staring at trees, or lounging in the sun, meditating, or whatever. 🤷♀️
I am slowly learning that if I don’t get everything done on my long “to do” list today, I can try again tomorrow. That doesn’t stop me from continually adding to that list. I do spend some days lounging in bed.
24. I have no idea! This is a placeholder for whatever adventures might come my way, or new things I want to explore. ❎❎
I retired from my job in the public service. I became a grandmother. Retirement had been a nebulous goal, but I finally made the break and have no regrets. My grandson hadn’t even been a dream I dared to express, but once the kids decided they were ready, they were very efficient and he arrived in early December. I can’t wait to meet him.
Back when I was in sixth grade, I had a babysitting job one weekend but started to feel sick so I called my mom. She took over from me while I went home and slept – for over 24 hours. Turns out I wasn’t sick at all, just exhausted. It happened every few years after that for my entire adult life. Did I learn from this? No, I did not.
But maybe I’m finally starting to absorb the lessons.
Last weekend I went camping with friends and barely left our little area. I washed lots of dishes and helped with meals, but mostly I sat around the fire and puttered while talking to people I love spending time with. I came home feeling mentally refreshed and not too physically tired.
This week, I’m ordering a “cottage”, more of a pre-fab shed for my lakeside property. I have owned the land for many years but didn’t go there at all for the first 15 because it was too much effort. More recently, I got myself set up so most of my camping gear stays there and I have a tent already up.
There’s still a fair bit of work involved in final set-up and take-down each visit, plus the worry about who will care for my cats while I’m away. Hence the cottage, where I can unlock the door and have a bed ready to go, and the cats can come with me.
In between those two events, I spent a weekend reading books and magazines, skipping a swim, not riding my bike, and reaching a level of rest that I actually felt the desire to do some house cleaning, a job I loathe (but I do it, to be clear).
Why don’t I do this more often? I have no idea. Work has been a giant constraint, especially as I pushed myself to be a physically active role model for my two kids. Plus I needed the intellectual stimulation of my hobbies.
I suspect I fell into the whole supermom fallacy, wanting to believe that I could have a fulfilling career, raise perfect kids, have a beautiful home, and look fabulous while doing it all. That belief started back in elementary school, when I was anxious to make friends and excel at all the things, while changing schools every couple of years.
Even in retirement, it’s hard to let go of all the activities. I track everything: workouts, chores, craft and research projects, blog posts written, recipes tried.
I have a goal of reading 52 magazines and 12 books this year. I’m well behind schedule, but my pile of back issues is starting to look a little more manageable after last weekend.
But genuinely taking a day off to do nothing in particular, and not worrying about whether I’m ticking off some box on a mental checklist? That is going to take a little more effort. Or less effort? I’m not sure how to describe working at doing nothing. All I know is that I need to work on building rest into my routine
I am amused by this image promoting rest and relaxation, from the Asian American Organizing Project. They sound as conflicted as me about how to rest.
I am really good at making lists and plans, and really bad at following through. Case in point: this post started out as a quarterly check-in on my list published back in January.
I was certain that I would do way better than I have, especially now that I’m on vacation (and will officially retire in just a couple of weeks).
However, the weather has conspired against me for getting some of these things done in the first half of the year. So, no camping or kayaking, and minimal outdoor swimming. The cold is also playing havoc with the garden, or at least my willingness to be outside weeding and pruning.
And an unexciting Stratford season combined with everyone (including my son) being very busy is making my visits to Toronto and southern Ontario seem unlikely, though I’m still hoping for at least one trip.
The yoga practice completely collapsed, but I have taken up jazz class. I’m making some time to read, and visiting my parents fairly regularly. Lots of room for improvement here, but at least something is happening. Mom is threatening to make me learn how to use her serger, so that unstarted pile of sewing projects may start to get tackled, too.
What has gone really well? I did finish off all my lifeguard and swim instructor qualifications, and I applied for a job (though I still need to pass one more set of tests before being hired). My activist voice has been very loud and I have been incredibly busy volunteering for various bike/environment events. I even rode all the way across town for an event last Sunday. That was my longest ride ever, at 76 km. Now I’m dreaming about a 100 km ride by the fall; maybe that will be my 24th thing, the space I had left open for an adventure.
Clockwise from top left: the Ottawa Bike Social gang out for a ride at the Experimental Farm; Diane’s swim instructor badge; Diane and her friend Renee after a rare open water swim; Diane pulls the Bike Ottawa trailer to an event, using her e-bike.
A friend has a daily goal of 15 minutes of movement, so I thought she might enjoy tracking her efforts as part of the Facebook group 222 workouts in 2022. She wrote back that she didn’t think it would be a good fit because people who do 10k hikes and own Peloton bikes would not be interested in her 15 minutes of stretching or struggles with a 20 minute dance routine of warmups and isolation exercises.
My response to her original post this was to share this cartoon, and the comments below it.
Sam also shared this cartoon, but it is too good not to use again.
“If you read all the posts, there are plenty who are doing 30 minutes of yoga (I am doing that series and it is a lot of just sitting and breathing). But many of them won’t finish the 30 day series. I know I didn’t finish until about May last year. Late last year there were a lot of “I took my elderly dog for a slow shuffle” posts, and through most of the year many of us posted #slmsmph (stupid little walk for my stupid mental and physical health). The thing is, it doesn’t matter what you do, except to you. The rest of us are just there to be cheerleaders. There are weight training, indoor cycling and gymnastics workout posts that are irrelevant to my interests and abilities. But I like to look at the pictures, especially when people go outside to do a walk or bike ride. Having it pop up in my feed every day helps me remember I want to move, even if it is just to walk to the park and back (takes me about 20 minutes).”
She wasn’t convinced, but that’s okay. The year of tiny pleasures is also about doing what works for you.
My tiny pleasures right now are all things that don’t require me to leave the house because it is too cold. I am focusing on my on-line ballet classes, with some yoga offered by a work colleague, and the occasional gentle movement class with a local studio. I have abandoned that 30 day yoga challenge already.
As soon as it gets a little warmer, I look forward to getting outside with friends. A short walk with some duck watching, as I did with my buddy April recently, was a joyous hour of connecting with someone I haven’t seen in too long. That shared time was more precious than the thing we did (though 5km on a frosty day was nothing to sneeze at).
Diane in a brown furry coat and red hat, with April in a black coat, green hat and black balaclava
I am holding these two images close to my heart for 2022. The first reminds me that not every fitness activity needs to be exciting or a big challenge. The second reminds me that the best part about being active that I get to spend time with friends.
2022 isn’t shaping up to be a great year on the global scale, but I intend to make it as pleasurable as possible at my tiny scale. I will make opportunities to connect in person for walks or outdoor swims. I will continue to draw inspiration from my virtual friends at 222 workouts. And I will garden (good workout, good for the planet, good way to spend time with friends and neighbours). Mostly I will grow food, but I will also plant some flowers.
One of the trickiest things about adding something new to our lives (or about continuing a habit when other parts of our lives have changed) is actually fitting it into our schedule.
We can have a clear plan and all the good intentions in the world but we still need actual time to exercise, or meditate, or stretch, or whatever we have chosen to explore right now.
And if we don’t consciously choose a time for that new habit, it will probably get pushed down our to do list until we are scrambling to fit it in before we let ourselves go to bed or we end up putting it off until “tomorrow.”
I know this happens because I do it ALL THE TIME. My ADHD brain thinks time will expand to let me fit everything I want to do into a day. It NEVER works. I apparently do not have control over the flow of time after all.
So, if this happens to you, too, I invite you to take a few minutes today to consider WHEN you will work on your new habit.
Do you need to be in a specific location? Do you need particular equipment? Will you need to shower/sleep afterwards? Is it too noisy to do at night or early in the morning? Do you have caregiving responsibilities that you need to work around? When do you PREFER to do your practice and is it possible to do it then?
I know we would all like to assume that we will just automatically do the things we want/need to do in a day but the truth is that we need to make room for them.
And while you’re trying to figure out your timing, please ignore the nonsense advice that says “If you *really* wanted it, you’d make it happen.” because that’s garbage. Your desire to include this new habit in your life is only one factor in the equation and reality is much more complicated than that. Please do NOT let advice like that add to your pile of guilt-related shoulds. (In fact, burn that pile of shoulds at your first opportunity.)
If you discover that you don’t actually have time in your schedule for your planned habit right now, it’s ok to make a note in your calendar to reconsider it later. (I like to put things like that in my calendar so I don’t forget to return to them.)
And it’s also okay to scale down your habit so you can fit them in at the moment. For example, if you can’t figure out how to fit 10 minutes of meditation into your days right now, maybe you can start by taking three deep breaths while the kettle boils for your tea. Or you can do 5 squats while you text a friend.
Every little bit counts and your efforts will help you feel a bit better, even if you have to go slowly.
And, speaking of your efforts, here’s your gold star for today.
I’m proud of your hard work.
One of my year-round gold stars that I keep hanging next to the wall calendar in my kitchen. Image description: A star-shaped ornament covered in gold covered sequins hanging from a yellow pushpin on an orange wall.
For the second year in a row, I’ll be posting a Go Team! message every day in January to encourage us as we build new habits or maintain existing ones. It’s cumbersome to try to include every possibility in every sentence so please assume that I am offering you kindness, understanding, and encouragement for your efforts right now. You matter, your needs matter, and your efforts count, no matter where you are applying them. You are doing the best you can, with the resources you have, in all kinds of difficult situations and I wish you ease. ⭐💚 PS – Some of the posts for this year may be similar to posts from last year but I think we can roll with it.
Christine’s post from yesterday hit me at just the right time. My son and his girlfriend had just left after a week-long visit. During that visit, I did little except cook or sit on the couch and knit while chatting. My vacation is officially over, but I have two statutory holidays before returning to work. There have been multiple discussions about setting goals and how to achieve them. A favourite app for tracking walks disappeared when I upgraded my phone recently and I haven’t decided what to replace it with, if anything. Today was very much a “between time” and I started working on what comes next.
I have mixed feelings about New Year’s resolutions but I enjoy setting goals and tracking them. I will definitely be in on 222 workouts in 2022. I did well on that this year, and gave myself permission to count the movements that were little more than mental health breaks to get myself out of the house. Learning to acknowledge success in smaller chunks was huge for me, because I sometimes allow myself to be overwhelmed by big challenges.
The loss of my Walking to Mordor app made me sad, but it really wasn’t much more than a distance listing with excerpts from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to mark stops along the way. I had gotten about 1/4 of the way (somewhere over 700 km), so this year’s goal will be to re-read the books, and go on social walks or to do errands as often as possible (ideally at least once a week, but I may choose to cycle instead). I am not going to bother with another tracking app beyond what is already on my phone, or to push myself to do anything as physically demanding as the women in this picture.
The legs of three women in black leggings and brightly coloured sneakers walking up a rocky path. Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
I am resolutely refusing to set any sort of goal around riding, as Miss Fancy and I have not been getting along well lately. She resists being caught, and it has been so long since I have ridden that I worry my technique is what is making her cranky. I don’t want to set myself up for something I will hate doing. My daughter bought me a couple of lessons for Christmas, so maybe that will help once I schedule them for March or April.
Circling back to Christine’s original post about making space, I have decided to read one magazine a week. I have a weakness for magazines that pile up beside my bed. If I read one each week, that gives me quiet time and (eventually) a little physical space. It’s not quite meditation, but it will do.
Part of the large stack of elderly magazines I plan to read this year as my form of meditation.
It is not in my nature to stay in the reflective mood of this “between time”. Even as I wrote this piece, I found myself considering what I could more or differently, despite having spent much of the last year trying to accept that I am getting older, I can say no to things I no longer enjoy, and I don’t have to say yes to every new idea or challenge. Thank you Christine for having spent an entire month encouraging me to make space for myself. I didn’t try a single one of your exercises or quick meditations. In fact, I didn’t think I needed that space. I was wrong – I just needed to figure out what it meant for me. I am going to hang onto that reflective feeling for as long as possible, and give myself a gold star for my efforts.
If your wellness plan for this year is physical or practice-based, you have probably already outlined the steps and systems that will take you towards your goals. Those kind of plans tend to have tangible steps that you can measure in some way – minutes of meditation, cardio, or yoga or reps of one exercise or another.
But if your goals are more intangible, you will have to choose a different approach to measuring your progress.
For example, if you have decided that you want to feel happier this year, you might find it a challenge to create a plan and it might be difficult to measure your progress.
These calendars and their supporting materials give you tangible actions to take that have been proven to increase people’s feelings of well-being and happiness. And they don’t throw them at you all at once (which can cause me A LOT of unhappiness), instead the tasks are ‘scheduled’ for specific days.
If you are a person (like me) who can get overwhelmed by a long list of future ideas, having them organized into a calendar like this can make the project of feeling happier feel a little more in reach.
So, if you are seeking happiness this year, you can follow their daily advice. Doing (or not doing) these daily tasks will help you measure your efforts and you can check in with yourself every so often to assess whether you feel generally happier overall.
Another note: Please don’t think that I am suggesting that you MUST do everything on both calendars. That’s a sure way to feel overwhelmed. Pick one or mix-and-match. Do what you can with the resources you have and then see if their advice helps you to reach your goal.
Image Description: A multi-coloured calendar from the Greater Good Science Center listing different tasks that can help improve happiness levels.
Here’s a link to a PDF of the calendar above that includes clickable links to articles about the task of the day. The Greater Good Science Center produces a new calendar each month.
Image description: a multi-coloured calendar full of daily tips/activities for increasing your happiness.
Here’s a link to the Action for Happiness website where you can download a copy of the ‘Friendly February’ calendar. A new calendar is available every month.
