02 Mar Checks and Balance
It is winter, it is cold, there is still snow everywhere. It is that time of the year when many people find themselves in the emotional rut between the hopefulness of New Year’s resolutions and the first whiffs of spring. It can be bleak and raw and dull. It is a time when people’s certainty that this year will be different is shaken. Ugh.
So. . . what next?
I think that the first thing to do is to acknowledge how frustrating a place this can be. Just let it be so. The pounds aren’t coming off yet? Don’t despair, don’t panic and don’t give up. Just notice that this is so, and recognize that you are angry, or frustrated, or depressed. Or some combination of all three. And then make a decision for how you want to proceed in the next moment. Not a sweeping generalization for how you will act from now on, but how you want to nurture and care for yourself in this moment of discomfort. Do you want to stay in this place a little while longer? If you can check in with yourself, own the fact that it is not yet time to make some changes, then please accept this fact, embrace it and stop torturing yourself. If you do the same type of gut check and feel that a shift is necessary, then think about the kinds of changes you can realistically make in this moment. Even though it is cold and raw and snowy.
Mid-February is a great time to check in with yourself and take stock of how your regimen of self care is holding up. Are you implementing some of the changes that you had envisioned during the holidays? Are you continuing older patterns of behavior that you had hoped to be more mindful about? Are you having any fun? Winter can feel long and endless, but I promise you that the miracle of spring will be here soon. How do you want to welcome it?