how about a new year's revolution?
Did you wake up New Year’s Day and discover that your Facebook feed was full of people making resolutions, setting goals, and generally setting their 2018 up for failure BC (Before their first cup of Coffee?) Are you feeling the pressure to set yourself some worthy self-improvement goals?
Feel free to say No to that.
Why not start your year invoking pleasure? Why not be good to yourself by inviting into your life the things you want more of, things that feel authentically good to you?
“But Tracy”, you say, “I want to lose 10 pounds. When I lose 10 pounds I’m going to feel great in my body. Why is that so bad?”
So glad you asked.
It’s great that you want to feel good in your body – I’m a fan of that, that’s the whole reason for the work I do. My issue with resolving to lose 10 pounds is that the resolution keeps your focus on the “I have ten pounds of fat to lose’ part instead of the ‘I want to feel good in my body’ part. And walking around chewing on celery sticks, hyper-aware of those 10 pounds of jiggly fat DOESN’T FEEL GOOD. It’s hard, and uncomfortable and tough to stick with, because it doesn’t feel good.
And you, dear one, were born to feel good. Your desire to feel good is what gets you up in the morning, encourages you to form relationships and stimulates your creativity. You are supposed to feel good, that’s how the world works.
This year, why not choose to focus on things that bring you pleasure? You could make a list of things that you love, things you enjoy, and things you want more of. Just making the list feels good, as you spend time remembering, imagining and anticipating pleasure. (Feel free to stop reading and go make that list now.)
You’re back? Good.
Maybe one of the things on your list of pleasures is “delicious home-cooked meals”. This gets you thinking about what might be fun to make, what new tastes you can discover, who you can invite to cook and eat with you. That’s fun. You browse for recipes, you make a trip to a specialty grocery store, and you invite your tribe to join you Friday nights (Bring your own cutting board). Your Friday Night Food Nights are enjoyable and entertaining, and way healthier for you than take out, and pretty soon you’ve lost ten pounds and had a lot of pleasure doing it. Now THAT feels good.
Make your list. Read it and savour it and celebrate it. Follow your inspiration; take the action that leads to the fulfillment of your desires. Invite pleasure into your life and see just how big and beautiful your 2018 can be.
