Merry Christmas and a very happy holiday to each of you! Best wishes for 2024!
Tips for setting helpful resolutions
1. Set specific goals. Instead of resolving to take better care of your health, decide to swim twice per week, or cut excess sugar and junk food from your diet.
2. Replacement resolutions are better than saying don’t or no, say, to junk food. Think about what you'd really like to be eating instead. Look up quick and delicious recipes for Mediterranean salads and veggie dishes. It's easy to add cinnamon, grated turmeric or ginger for a delicious change of pace. Replace sugar with honey.
3. Set an alarm to remind you to work on a resolution at the same time each day or week. Track your progress and bask in your sense of accomplishment.
Resolution Ideas for 2024
[ ] Read or listen to at least 1 book or audio-book per month. If time is short, read or watch video book reviews to keep abreast of new books.
[ ] Watch more high quality documentaries. Many are free on YouTube and tubitv.com.
[ ] Go to more plays and art museums. Make music a part of your day, including waking up to, say, beautiful cello music.
[ ] Try to go to bed and wake up at roughly the same times daily. Traditional Eastern medicine recommends changing your bedtime according to the seasons; in the fall it’s best to go to sleep at sundown in preparation for the winter. Bedtime is later in the spring and summer. Listen to your own body to find what works best for you. Can’t find a reference for this, but here’s an explanation of the importance of sleep: https://www.turningpointeacu.com/blog/2017/2/19/waking-up-at-the-same-time-each-night-the-chinese-medicine-body-clock-explains-why
[ ] Replace over-priced coffee runs with your own coffee bar at home. Some milk, pumpkin spice or chai or vanilla, syrups or sweetener, and some great coffee beans go a long way. A very good thermos is helpful too. No coffee maker needed if you use a French Press (look up mistakes to avoid with this method on YouTube) or finely ground Turkish coffee. Demitasse spoons optional.
[ ] Unplug from T.V. or social media (or all technology) for a week. A technology fast can be very refreshing and helpful.
[ ] Set your intention at night for the next day. Based on it make a to do list.
What resolutions are you setting this year?
Post Scripts from the Attic
Did you know Christmas festivities were illegal for nearly 20 years starting in the 1640s in colonial Massachusetts, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland under Puritan rule? Even baking Yule bread was a criminal act. Why? Because it smacked of Catholicism and lent itself to debauchery. Only in 1958 was Christmas made a national holiday in the UK.
This video is filled with so much info I had to share it. (Grenades are no longer made exclusively in the shape of pomegranates (granadas in Spanish) ?! (Can this man possibly be Putin?)
I'm writing my 2024 resolutions using your advice—it's the best I've found, hands down.
A post to save and come back to again and again - thank you so much, Laura! I really appreciate your goal guidance. 😊