It’s a New Year and You Are Ever Changing
Happy new year! Here’s to more connection with the ones we love, new goals to achieve, new experiences to share and the resilience to handle all of the curve balls life will throw our way.
What do you want this year to FEEL like? Society loves to focus on what it will LOOK like, but the key is how we want to feel day in and day out, and then we can reverse engineer what we need to put in place in order to achieve those feelings day in and day out.
Most midlife women I talk with daily tell me that they want to FEEL:
- Less rushed
- Less tired
- Less overwhelmed
- Less pulled in different directions
- Less disrespected by family, work, social connections
- Less stressed
The answer to feel less of anything is not to do more for others, it is to ADD IN more you and what you need. If you need less overwhelm, stop doing for others in your household what they are capable of doing themselves. No, it may not be perfect to start. Give them room to practice and get better at doing it. The kids can make their beds, pack their lunches and get their backpacks to the door. Your partner can plan groceries, cook and clean up as well as learn new skills that take the load off you. Work can find someone else to check a box on the wellness committee, social liaison person or fundraising representative. Your friends can clean, cook and host girls’ night and you can step back from the PTA of your kids’ school. You don’t always have to go hard in the paint with everything- especially when you are dealing with the hormonal changes of perimenopause that cause sleepless nights, vasomotor symptoms, erratic periods, digestive issues and killer migraines.
Start the year softer. Focus on your emotional bandwidth, delegate! Step back and let someone else take the lead. You are ever changing and that means all of you – emotionally, mentally and psychologically. Honour what these changes need from you.
Carol Peat is a woman's health advocate, Mum of three, wife to one, Nana of two and dog Mum to Piper, a golden retriever. She is passionate about you feeling your best, brave in your body.
