What Worked and What Did Not

It is Friday! And it is the 10th of the month which, I thought, would be a great time to join Marsha and her Ten on the Tenth link-up.  Only posting two (occassionally three) times a week, I often miss the 10th of the month and, I will admit, sometimes the prompts for this one are tricky for me.  But, today seems like a winner.  Actually, I am going to modify it just a bit.  The prompt was Ten Things You Want to Either Remember or Forget about 2024.  Just like week, I posted about some of last year’s highlights.  So no need to rehearse those.  And, quite honestly, there was aplenty that I would like to forget about the last year (which will probably go down in the top five of difficult years) but, again, no need to dwell there.  But I recently read a post about things that worked and didn’t work in 2024 that I enjoyed…so, this is my spin on the two post ideas.

Things that worked and I should probably remember from 2024 –

1 – walking.  Who could have imagined that I would have fallen in love with any form of real exercise, but it is true.  This yucky winter weather has kept me inside lately and I can tell the difference.  Walking obviously helped me physically but even more so mentally.  I felt better and was in a much better “headspace” when I was walking every day.  Definitely need to remember that!

2 – getting up early.  My days go so much better when I get up early.  Again, winter’s dark mornings have started to creep up on me and “slow mornings” have turned into lazy mornings.  There is a difference and I really need to get out of bed.  Even if it is still dark. (And cold – ugh).

3 – eating breakfast.  I know intermittent fasting is all the rage and so amazing.  I would even agree with those statements to some degree.  But, intermittent fasting, for me cannot mean skipping breakfast.  This morning person not only loves breakfast but just craves a meal in the morning.  Whenever I have tried to fast through breakfast, I set myself up for failure.  There are other ways to benefit from intermittent fasting….something I need to remember.

4 – stretching.  I know little to nothing about yoga but getting out of bed and onto the floor in order to stretch and/or move my body in ways that look like yoga moves….well, it feels amazing.  Stretching in general feels so good.  And the quiet of the morning allows me to clear my head (not in a yoga meditation type of way – of which I know nothing about) and start the morning well.

5 – intentional gratitude.  On the last “leg” of my walks, I spend time rehearsing a gratitude list.  Sometimes I say them outloud.  Other times, it is all in my head.  (I do not journal or write things down.)  But I have a conversation with my Heavenly father where I am intentional not to “ask” or petiton Him for anything but solely thank Him.  Thank Him for the daily things, the big things, my spiritual blessings and the simple everyday things.  Many people have said it before, but gratitude makes a huge difference (and I would completely agree) but it often takes intentionality to make the most difference.

Some things that did not really work for me (and I might as well forget) in 2024 –

1 – trying to control things/situtations.  Especially those over which I have no control.  Which is most of them.  I cannot control situations.  I cannot control others’ reactions, responses or attitudes.  I cannot mitigate all family drama.  Or much of any drama.  I can only control me.  And sometimes that is struggle enough.

2 – a minimal wardrobe.  It is trendy, I know.  Many want to purge their closets, get rid of their clothes and/or only have a set number of items to choose from every morning.  I suppose at one point that sounded like a good idea but it is not for me.  I don’t need three closests full of clothes but getting dressed and ready each morning starts my day off right. I enjoy having clothes that I like and a closet with plenty of choices.  That is what works for me.

3 – two Bible studies.  I joined two different groups back in the fall.  If I love one study…doing two could only be twice as fun and helpful, right?  It proved too (or two) much for me.  Both studies had a fair amount of homework and by the end of the semester, I was just not able to keep up the way I would like.  I will be doing just one starting next week.  I will miss my friends at the second study but want to be able to “be all in” if I am going to do a Bible study.

4 – giving up YouTube.  I tried it.  Perhaps I thought I would so much more productive or just an all-around better person (lol) if I refused this bit of social media enjoyment.  I was not either.  I actually enjoy YouTube.  There are several ladies that really encourage me.  Some that inspire me.  And other channels that teach me quite a bit.  I am trying to be more selective and more aware of going down the proverbial rabbit holes, but I do enjoy some YT in the evening.

5 – complaining about the weather.  This sounds silly but it is something I definitely need to remind myself.  Where I live, there are at least three, often four, months of the year with weather that I would describe as “less than ideal.”  (Even lousy.)  If you do the math, that can be one-third of the year!!  That is a lot of time to be cranky, whiny and to allow the weather to affect my attitude.  Pitiful actually.  I am really trying to let go of my cynicism over winter.  It is a work in progess but, honestly, grouching my way through last winter did absolutely nothing to change the weather.

That said, there is more winter weather in this evening’s forecast.  Ice, maybe or snow.  Ugh.  I will be over here praciticing my best smiley face.  And some extra intentional gratitude.  I hope that you have a good weekend.  Let me know one thing that really worked well for you in 2024.  I love the inspiration!!  Happy Friday:)