Happy New Year friends! As I sit her writing this post I am sipping on a dandelion tea latte reflecting on 2016. I have to say that personally 2016 was a really good year for me. So I started to ponder what exactly it was about 2016 that made it a great year. I narrowed it down to one major reason…I did more of what made me happy. In 2015 I felt as if I was just going through the motions of life. I had gone to university and got a degree, landed a full time, got engaged, and bought a house. Yet, I didn’t feel as happy as I should. I mean from an outside perspective everything was going great in my life and I too recognized that I should be happier.
After some searching I realized that the reason I wasn’t feeling as good as I should was because I was doing what I thought was expected of me. I would wake up go to work, come home make dinner, do some more work and then watch tv and go to bed. On the weekends I cleaned my house, did laundry, went grocery shopping and prepared for the upcoming work week.I realized that I wasn’t doing enough of what made me happy on a regular basis. So in 2016 I decided to ask myself what makes me happy? After work what would make me happy? On Saturday what would make me happy? The answers to those questions surprised me. They weren’t something life changing. They were simple and I had be ignoring my own happiness. So I decided to write down what would make me happy.
It made me happy to go for a walk with a friend after work or have tea and visit
It made me happy to stay in my pajamas for the entire day on Saturdays
It made me happy to talk to others about the autoimmune protocol on Instagram and share food inspiration
It made me happy to drink pumpkin spice latte’s even if it’s not October
It made me happy to read a book that wasn’t related to anything important…just to read a great story.
So that is what I did last year, I simply did more of what makes me happy. Don’t get me wrong there are times when you have to get things done. Life has deadlines. But in general, we can make the time to prioritize ourselves. The dishes can wait, the work will still be there tomorrow and nobody needs to know you stayed in your pj’s all day unless you want them to. This simple change in my daily habits really changed how happy I felt with my life.
I then started thinking about what would make me happy in the future, what did I want my life to look like in the next few years? It led to me discovering that I wanted to start working with people to heal their bodies through holistic nutrition. So I enrolled to become a holistic nutritionist. I am 1/4 finished my two year program and even though I have a long way to go I feel more motivated than ever. I know I am working towards something that will make me happy.
I have a rule: Do at least one thing each day for yourself. Read a magazine, make your favourite AIP cookies, meditate, get a pedicure, visit with a friend.
So how can you too have your best year yet? It’s easy, just follow these simple steps!
- Ask yourself what makes you happy? Then write those things down
- Pick one thing off your list that you could implement right now and go do it
- Then pick something off the list for tomorrow. Commit to doing it, make the time for it! You deserve it! Continue until you have implemented all the things on your list, then keep it up.* Once you have started to implement these small changes you will start to feel better overall. Now you can pick something that is going to take some hard work but will be worth it in the end.
- Ask yourself what would make you happy in the future? (a new career, a vacation, feeling healthier?) Write it down.
- Then make a list of small things you can do right now to get yourself closer to your future happy. Pick one and do it. Don’t forget to keep doing small things everyday that make you happy right now. That will keep you motivated to keep going on your future happy goal.
Oh and follow this one rule: Do at least one thing each day for yourself. Read a magazine, make your favourite AIP cookies, meditate, get a pedicure, visit with a friend.
While this was not a traditional New Years resolutions post, it will bring you closer to living the life YOU want. If I learned anything from 2016, it’s that life is short but it can be pretty amazing.
YOU can make your life great.
YOU are in charge of your life even if it doesn’t feel that way.
Start small but start today.
Next year at this time think of how far you will have come!
I hope this has inspired you in some way to look forward to the year ahead. Say it with me, “2017 is going to be our best year yet!”
XO Meagen Ashley
Beautiful post Meagen, I really enjoyed reading it and I am absolutely with you: to do what makes you happy is the best definition of self love.
Thank you, Ambra! It has taken me a long time to get to this place but the climb was well worth it. I now hope together we can help others also reach this level of self love.