To better look after my health and wellness - this year I need to do the things I've been putting off for a long time, such as visiting the doctor and the dentist. I also want to strive to continue to eat well and exercise regularly. I would like to be able to even improve at the gym by doing things like squatting 20kgs regularly and running 10kms occasionally.
This resolution has been my greatest success and biggest challenge for 2012. I started the year off right with making regular trips to the dentist--my teeth are in great shape and I have the electric toothbrush to prove it. I finally found a female doctor and got a pap test--which by the way is so much easier and less painful than in the States (Australian women do not realise how lucky they are).
I have explored becoming a Flexitarian. Which is my way of saying I attempt to steer clear of meat and most animal products, but I understand that I can be flexible when I eat out and go to others homes. I am endeavouring to stay away from cow products--as they are the least environmentally friendly of all livestock--but that is a relatively new shift and may time more time. I have begun to sample many vegan based meals (and even experimented with nooch or savoury yeast flakes and it's amazing stuff) and have found that I enjoy cooking them more--even though they require twice the effort. I look forward to continuing to experiment with new foods for the rest of the year and lead myself down a path to eat healthier and more satisfying foods.
Exercise is still going well, though chronic knee pain has set me back with running. For a while I succeeded in regular 8km runs every week (breaking the 50 minute mark a few times) and even some 10km runs for fun. Then in July when the knee pains hit, I was forced to take a break from running and even from Body Attack! I've slowly started to run again, aiming for a 4km run maybe once or twice a week and I have returned to Body Attack. I have picked up RPM and while it's not the same as running, it is kinder on my knee and a fabulous cardio work out (I have also succeeded to make 20kgs my normal squat weight and have maintained that post-injury. SCORE).
To work on my spiritually and inner balance - I'd like to take more yoga classes and mediate more often, but I would also like to explore going to church again on Sundays when I am not donating plasma at the Red Cross (which I look forward to continuing to do in 2012).
I have begun 7am Friday morning yoga classes, which I find far more effective at centring my mind and body. It is also far more enjoyable to do it with my husband. I also sometimes make a Saturday class to start my weekend off right. I have not made it to church yet, and do not actually feel all that guilty about it. I feel that plasma donations and Lions Club volunteering are better, more altruistic uses of my time. If there is a higher power out there, I don't think it is going to punish me for using the little spare time I have to enrich my community and others lives rather than sitting in church. I have also turned to spending time hiking and camping more to find spirituality and inner balance. If there was ever a way to feel whole with the world, it is stepping out into nature. I love taking the time to step out of my comfort zone, away from all the technology and creature comforts that our society clings so tightly to and just spending time in the natural world. The more switched on our society comes, the more empowering it is to switch off. It's like a novelty, a chance to completely switch off, slow down, notice the little things, let the brain go--aside from yoga, it is the best way I have learned to find inner balance. And when things start to get too crazy in life, I start to plan my next trip to the bush.
To work on creative endeavours and explore my passions - Now that I have a thermometer for developing film, I would like to get to back into photography and hopefully one day get back into alternative processes. I have started a tumblr for a photo a day project, in hopes to document my life, one photograph at at time--also to get myself into the habit of seeing the world through photography again. I also hope to develop this blog again a documentation of my life in a city. Instead of being about my life in Toronto, this time about my life in Melbourne.
I have been fairly faithful to my Tumblr and those photo a days are ticking over. I haven't touched my photo chemicals and if I don't do that soon, I am going to regret it--perhaps when the break between semesters finally happens and I find myself with a spare few hours. I have not redefined my blog or written about my life in Melbourne. I love my life in Melbourne very much and I think it would be nice to share it with my family and friends through blogging--I just know I have taken on too many things at the moment. One of them is studying part time. Two classes has taken up a lot of spare time. There is also the fact that I am now Lions Club Treasurer--and there is a lot of report writing and banking to do every week. Add to that work and a full gym routine on top of the volunteer requirements and some social activities squeeze in there. When the day is over, I really only have enough energy to sit there and let the television play. Sometimes I clean the house and snuggle the cat. Perhaps I need to work on time management.
Keep in better touch with my family at friends back in the States - I know that it is easy for life to get in the way, but I know I need my family and friends in my life so I need to write more emails and make more phone calls. I don't want to lose those relationships and I want to make sure they can grow even though we might live miles apart.
Well, I can officially say that I have sucked at this resolution. Even with Facebook and all the Internet in the world this suffers. Being busy is no excuse, but it's the best excuse I have. I sometimes don't even have the time to catch up with friends in the same city, let alone the people halfway around the world. My mother and I, for all that we are best friends and rely on each other, are not great at keeping in touch. Our lives are so hectic and our time zones so opposite that there is a phone call every 4 months and gchat a bit here and there every day. Our emails are also infrequent--but our love is very strong! My other friends and family are harder to keep in touch with, though I always respond to emails and Facebook when I get them. Though I guess i'm terrible at initiating contact sometimes. I think about all of them often and I miss them all. I think sometimes they have no idea how much I miss them. I hope that I get better at this. I hope that Shannon is better with keeping in touch with his parents when we move away. It would be better for all of them.
Well, there you have it. The mid year review. I'd say I'm at about 50%. Being reminded of what I want to work on for the year gives me some hope that I can make it happen. The last two resolutions need some work, but I think there's still time. So I better get to it!
