My theme for 2014

I've never really been one for making New Year's resolutions.  They seem pointless and arbitrary and forced.  If I want to do something, I'll do it on my own time. 

When I decided to eat better and start exercising, it was on a random day in June. Not January 1.

I have a notebook that I carry around with me in my ridiculously heavy purse that, among random thoughts and notes, has all sorts of lists of things that I want to do and accomplish.  Some of them have been made at the beginning of years or seasons, but none of them are really lists of resolutions.  More like goals that I have at a particular moment in life - things that I think I want to eventually do, but that don't really have a set timetable.  If I accomplish them in the next year, great.  But I'd also be happy to do a lot of them in the next three years. Or in the next three days. 

So that's a long way of saying that I'm not really a resolutions person. (I'm also really not a New Year's person, but that's a whole other story.)

But I read an article on Huffington Post the other day that struck a cord with me.  It was about setting a theme for the new year.  Unlike a resolution, which is a specific action or goal with a set time frame (usually within the year), a theme is broader, and can apply to many aspects of your life.  

But to me, that makes it even more specific and more poignant.  Instead of just going with random, very basic resolutions that you think you should make - lose weight! save money! get a new job! volunteer! - it really forces you to think of an area of your life that is lacking, or even non-existent, and focus on it for the year.  A theme is easy to stick to because there are so many ways to accomplish it - for example, if you pick a theme of enjoyment, there are tons of things that you can do each day to bring more enjoyment to your life.  If your theme is health, there are myriad ways to make your day a little healthier.   

You get the picture.  

On the flip side, a resolution is often very specific and linear, and veering off of the path even slightly might lead you to quickly throw your hands up in frustration.


I had been trying to figure out a theme for 2014 since I originally read that article last week.  

My first thought was health.  I had a nasty 24-hour stomach bug about a week before Christmas, and thought maybe that was my body's way of telling me to slow down with all the crazy holiday binging.  I didn't gorge myself on Christmas Eve and Christmas, at least not to the extent that I normally do, but still haven't been particularly healthy for the last month or so.  So health seemed like a good fit and something that my body was craving.  But it just didn't feel right.  For me, when I thought about it, it brought up visions of eating more veggies and exercising more.  Which are both things that I love and want to do more, but it seemed more limiting than I wanted. I mean, if I ate cake and didn't work out, would that be failing to stick to my theme?

I thought of making self-care my theme.  But that just conjured up images of salt scrubs and long baths and nature walks.  Which are also things that I love and want more of.  But again, it seemed to limiting. 

I also thought of making me theme me.  As in, do me.  Do what is right for me and feels good for me and what I want to do (some would argue I do that anyway).  But that just seemed really selfish and slightly embarrassing to admit out loud. 

I was really struggling to come up with a good theme for the year - one that was broad enough to encompass many aspects of life, but narrow enough to really help me focus in on areas that I want to focus in on - and was honestly thinking about just scrapping the whole idea.  I had never made New Year's resolutions, so why was I suddenly putting so much pressure on myself to come up with a theme for the year?

Who cares.  Who would even know, anyway. 

Until yoga class on Sunday.  As I have done on many Sundays before, I had dragged myself out of bed and down to the gym for class.  (Seriously, 8:30 class on the weekends is too early for me.  Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest!)  I knew that class would be good, I'd get in a good stretch and my workout for the day, and feel like I accomplished something, all before 10 a.m.

As we were sitting in our final position, right after the group om, the teacher was wishing us well for the week and the new year.  I can't remember her exact words, but she said something about our well-being. 

I totally had an aha moment in the dark, quiet, freezing yoga room. 

That's it.  Well-being. 

That's my theme for the year.  

Well-being.  

Being well.  

It encompass health, it encompasses self care, it encompasses strength and agility and meditation and mindfulness and a plethora of other aspects of life. 

I'm not exactly sure what it will mean to me as the year progresses, or how it will manifest itself on a day-to-day basis. 

But right now, it means doing work that I love and that makes me feel good.  Doing extracurriculars that I'm passionate about. Or that are crazy fun and different. Moving as much as possible.  Eating well.  Indulging when I need to.  Taking time out for myself.  Getting outside.  Cooking.  Cuddling with the dog more.  Spending more time with people that I care about and that care about me.  Spending less time with people and on activities that don't add a lot to my life.

It means making sure that I am well physically, mentally, emotionally.

I'm excited to see how this plays out throughout the year.  I feel like I need to make signs to post to my computer and my phone and my mirror and my fridge and my door and my dog and anywhere else that I frequently see, to remind me to stay on theme. 

The great thing about this is that there's no goal.  I'm not saying that I have to do X number of things each day to contribute to my well-being.  There's no set date that I need to accomplish something by.  Hell, I can go days or week or months without accomplishing anything and it's fine.  

I'm sure that there will be days where I'm not on theme.  And that's fine.  Because, to me, part of my well-being is being ok with not being perfect.  Being ok with messing up and making mistakes and sometimes being lazy and sometimes not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. 

So we'll see how this goes - this might end up being an every year thing, and this might end up being a one-time experiment.  Either way, I'm sure it's going to be something worthwhile. 

Tell me, do you make resolutions?  Or doing anything to start new on the first of the year?  Or is January 1 just another day for you?