I am a check-things-off-my-list kind of girl. It’s the way I have functioned for so many years. Find that piece of paper, jot down the long list of things I need to do, and cross my fingers hoping to check something off. Sometimes I consolidate personal and work lists; other times I keep them separate; most times I misplace them; and all too often, I just keep creating list after list filled with the same, unfinished, items on it.
Here I sit, the first Sunday of the new year, and my list is n the table in front of me. Honestly, the list looks a lot like last year’s — and the year before – simply because I let my day-to-day lists get in the way.
I’m tired of the same old list, so instead my resolve for 2022 is to have a new mindset. To throw away the Resolutions List, and to focus on what makes me feel good.
Grounding Myself in Simplicity
For so many of us, the new year resolutions typically include some sort of ‘healthy’ resolution — lose weight, workout more, eat healthier, and so on. I, too, am similar, having the desire to eat healthier, find less stress when it comes to ‘what’s for dinner’ and to exercise with greater regularity. But, there are also other ‘goals’ that seem to be lurking in the background, prompting me to ask myself, “What makes me happy?’
And my answer to that is:
To find more joy and simplicity in my life.
To do this, I need to slow down, be more mindful, and get back to basics. I need to pay attention to myself in order to give more fully to my family, to share times with my friends, and to feel fulfilled.
As I sit here at 6:30 am on the first Sunday of the year, I find myself content. The house is quiet (except for the cats begging to be fed), and I take the time to brew a delicious cup of coffee in my Chemex, connecting with the process and slowing down a bit.
The only list I’m making today is my grocery list – after all, food and family are at the center of our lives, and time spent with my family, slowing down and connecting around the table at least once a day, is exactly what I need to fuel me through the year.
I hope you’ll join me in 2022, as we seek to live more simply with mindfulness while we are “Reconnecting with the food we eat and the family we love.”
Happy New Year
Laura
