New Year, New Priorities!

What can I say about the last two years that no one already knows?

2020 was a mess that we’re still dealing with while 2021 was a blur of disappointment, so, how should one treat this New Year? Should we press on with a negative or bleak outlook? Or should we have an open mind and try for a fresh start?

Personally, I’m going for the latter.

For the most part, I try to be an optimistic person but the last couple of months have been extremely stressful—to the point that it’s taken a toll on my inner clock. On one hand, sleep and me have always had a massive battle of wills. It’s been a problem of mine for years and the older I get, the less time I’ve had to regulate it and that’s mainly because, as they say: “time flies”.

So, before I knew it, I was thirty and still incredibly sleep-deprived, but lately, it’s gotten worse.

Nowadays, I’d be lucky to get four hours a night!

It was getting so ridiculous and bad for me that I decided, a few days before the 1st, that the foundation of my 2022 Resolution will be these three things: 1) to regulate my sleeping pattern into something more reasonable, 2) to always find some time, in the day, to relax and 3) to keep exercising on a daily basis.

Simple? Possibly. Necessary? Absolutely.

In any case, I figured that there has to be something I can naturally do to fix my mind and body without using drastic measures because I refuse to just keep on suffering. Usually, I would stay up for a whole day, tire myself out at night via some gentle exercises or a bout of cleaning, then go to bed around midnight, in order to fix my broken clock; however, I don’t really want to do that anymore.

I’m getting older and I really don’t want to compromise my health anymore.

I shouldn’t have to.

But, if I do this, I already know that the sleeping portion is going to be difficult for me to do and that’s mainly because of how I already function. You see…I’m a night owl by trade—more like an exhausted pigeon—who doesn’t really like to take naps and is very used to staying up to the crack of dawn, thanks to a previous job, but despite all of that…I believe that it’s time to make a permanent change.

One that will benefit me in the long run.

So, here we go 2022!

Spanning the first ten days of this month, I tried going to bed around midnight but I wasn’t even sleepy until 5am. I tossed and turned and only managed to get a good 4-5h, which left me completely drowsy, lethargic and moody. However, I will report that everything shifted and brightened when I managed to find the time to meditate and exercise at the end of all those days. So, thankfully, instead of my lack of sleep making me feel how I normally would, I felt more balanced during the gentle cardio and the deep, expanding breathing—I settled for something low energy because my goal is ultimately to relax.

Sadly, the next two days weren’t as good but there was some progress made.

Again, instead of my usual time, I managed to fall asleep around 4am, which, for me…isn’t terrible but it’s also not the timeframe that I desire. On the other hand though…I know that I’m not going to improve if I push myself too hard.

I need the patience and positivity to temper my stress if I’m going to achieve this attainable goal, which I know I’ll be able to do. I have no intention of giving up my resolution but I also need to be more mindful of my limits and my surroundings as well as being able to adapt to any given situation that will, no doubt, come my way.

Positivity and simply trying are my keys to having a better, restful year!

Furthermore, I have to listen to my body by prioritizing my health and I can’t wait to see how everything will go in the following months! I’ve also decided to write everything down in a journal to track my progress, my failures and my habitual patterns in order to use them as a future learning tool—or to just use as a guide so I can better understand myself.

Oh, and I should add that for the last couple of nights…I went to bed at around 2am! Proving that I am definitely changing my habits with the effective methods that I have at my disposal, which thrills me to the core.

I just have to remember that success doesn’t happen all at once. Sometimes, it takes one day at a time and that’s more than enough for me!