Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great evening that was relaxing and fun. Most of all, I hope everyone had a safe New Year.
I’m sure everyone is making resolutions or has made resolutions for the new year. Are you having an easy time with them at this point, or are you already struggling to keep them?
I’ve made resolutions for this year. I also made resolutions last year, which I did pretty okay at keeping. If you remember, I had said I was trying to eat better and work out more. I had started working out in the gym at our office (pretty sweet when you think about it), and I was making real efforts to eat better. I was making sure to eat hard-boiled eggs before I’d work out, I was drinking tons of water, working out 2-3 days a week. This even led me to get better sleep while being a single parent of a toddler!
Working Out
Working out has never been something I’ve enjoyed. I hated gym classes in middle school and high school. And I’ve most certainly never liked to work out in the morning. But this was something I wanted to do so I could be healthier for myself and my son. My parents were willing to keep my son a little longer on the days I’d exercise after work, and this enabled me to push towards being healthier.
But I fell off the wagon of healthier living sometime around Easter. I had gone out in my backyard and noticed additional damage of when someone had tried to break in my bedroom window before, and this caused me to be paranoid about leaving my house. Seeing this made me feel like I had to go home sooner after work, which meant forgoing the workouts. I know it sounds crazy, but my thinking during that time was, “No one will break in if I’m home more.”
But now that I’m in my new home, which is in a safer neighborhood, I feel like I can get back to exercising after work and making healthier choices. So, I’m going back to resolutions.
Eating Better
First, it’s probably obvious that I’ve decided to go back to working out and eating better. I was getting dressed recently and I noticed how a lot of my jeans didn’t fit well anymore, and I knew it was because of my poor diet and lack of physical activity. To add insult to injury, I went to the doctor’s office this morning, and I had to jump on the dreaded scale. It confirmed what my jeans and my clothes have been telling me. I need to lose weight!
When I was working out last year, my shirts were fitting better, and even my jeans were less snug. My face was getting thinner, and I was really feeling much better. I had more confidence in my appearance, and I was getting great tips from team members to help me stay on track with my goals.
Reading More
Here’s something else I’ve sworn to do more of but have failed miserably. I want to read more. There’s a line from the movie, “The Holiday,” that resonates with me. The character Amanda says, “You know, I want to read a book! Not a magazine, an actual book. For years I read these reviews, I buy the books, but I never read them.” I have bought so many books over the years that looked interesting or had great reviews. Have I read them? No. And I want to. I truly feel that there’s a connection between reading and being an articulate person. Because of this, I feel that if I read more, then I will become more articulate.
Self Improvement
Another resolution I have is to improve myself. While I don’t think I’m a terrible person, I do feel like there are things about me and my personality that could use some improvement. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve gone to bed thinking about certain events from the day and worried over how it made me come across to people who interact with me and what they thought about me. Did they think I was a bad person? Did I say the wrong thing to this person? Being mindful of what I say and do is one way that I can work on improving myself.
I’m sure many of the team members with Albuquerque Plumbing Heating & Cooling have made New Year’s resolutions, including weight loss/healthier lifestyles, being more successful in their careers, spending more time with their families, etc. It takes dedication and determination, which are two traits that our team has in abundance.
We wish you lots of luck as you work to keep your resolutions this year. It will take commitment and a change of habit, but it will be totally worth it. Hang in there. You can do this!