ATTENTION: 2018 is around the corner! I repeat: 2018 is right around the corner. Do not sit still or keep calm. It is time to PANIC.
In the final 2 weeks of the year, I’m prepping for the new year, evaluating my goals and scheduling them into my calendar, and reflecting on the last 12 months. I can for sure say that 2017 was eventful. I feel closer to some friends while having drifted from others. I have the pain of remembering certain moments with my family, intermixed with the joy of other memories. I’ve had ups and downs with my boyfriend and our relationship has grown so much. And of course, I’ve grown a lot as well.
Veganism
I’m very interested in exploring this more. In the past few months, I’ve been really busy with work and as a result, my creativity with cooking has gone straight out the window! I’ve mostly relied on making salads everyday for lunch. I’ve gotten it down to a science. I know exactly what to get at the grocery store, how to wash, peel, and slice into 5 Tupperware containers, and BOOM. Lunch is prepared for the week in 1 hour.
I love efficiency, but it can grow boring quickly, so these salads have made veganism dull for me. I think the key to being a happy vegan (and anything really) is finding variety in healthy plant-based foods.
My boyfriend got an Instant Pot on Cyber Monday, and he’s trying new vegan recipes with it. I can say that I am a very happy camper. He made vegetable stew last week and tonight, he made a batch of kidney beans.
I’d like to spend more time as a happy vegan next year. That means 80% vegan diet, with a little room for treats, and exploring a variety of foods to keep me satisfied.
Travel
In 2017, I didn’t travel as much as I would have liked. I went to:
- Denver for my sister’s bachelorette party
- Hawaii for a volunteer trip to clean up the beaches
I didn’t go to Boston for the marathon because of my persistent hip pains. I also wasn’t able to go to Iceland, like my boyfriend and I wanted, because it seemed too daunting of a trip to plan and too stressful. I do hope to make time for it next year, around April/May.
Running
I’m disappointed with my running as well. I feel like I truly didn’t give running my all this year. I let other priorities take over, and this part of my life suffered. I logged a little over 300 miles for the year. I let my hip injury hold me back for too long. It’s still bothering me here and there. My hips felt great for the last few weeks, until I went to my boyfriend’s holiday party and danced away in heels. My feet were feeling reasonably tired by the end of the night, but I didn’t expect it to affect my hips. The next day, the pain was back. (Facepalm)
I’ve given it a week’s rest and will be back at it this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Alcohol
This is one area that I’m proud of. In October, I was evaluating my relationship with alcohol and decided it was no longer for me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not taking a stand and saying that alcohol is bad or that you should quit alcohol too. Quite the opposite. I think alcohol is fun, really fun, but I can’t quite seem to stop at just 1 or 2 drinks. I tend to go overboard (as I do with most things in life) and so I’ve decided it’s easier to say no completely, than to try to find the balance of 1 or 2 drinks. It’s been a little more than a month and a half, and I’m proud to say that it has been easier. I’ll probably write more about this another time, but I’ll leave you with this for now :)
Emotional Resilience
This is always going to be a topic that’s near and dear to me. I think society focuses so much on physical health (eat your veggies, get enough sleep, drink plenty of water) and so little on mental health. This is something I’m always challenging myself to get better at. Bouncing back after a tough day. Getting back up after an injustice has occurred. Knowing what’s beyond your control vs what you can change, and coming up with a plan of action for the latter.
Well, that’s a mishmash of my thoughts as I’m gathering my tools and gearing up for the new year! I’m starting a Project Management bootcamp class tomorrow morning, going on all this week, and I have the week after that on PTO. Woot! I plan to buckle down even more to put together a rough plan for next year.
Thoughts for you:
- Do you come up with New Year’s Resolutions?
- Do you reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly at the end of the year?
- Any goals for 2017? Any tips on tackling those goals?