Pardon me, Shrinkers. I am looking for 2013. Have you seen it? Rumor has it its Sell By date is coming up in FOUR flippin days! Where did the year go?
As the last page of the calendar gets set to turn, we tend to get mighty reflective, don’t we? It’s a tricky time of year actually. Part nostalgic. Part humbling. Part defeating. Raise your hand if you find yourself looking back at the days in the rear view mirror while also downing a few doses of “should-a, could-a, would-a” and a few “why didn’t I?” for good measure.
I entered – and finished – my first half marathon in 2013, to me the year’s single biggest achievement in terms of stifling the voices inside my head that said I could not do it. I have a medal. I earned that darn thing. The other part of me that reflects on the year thinks the number on the scale should be far more south than where it currently resides. And the reality also is is that I have let my running progress lapse in the months following my big race. Not something I am proud of.
I have a proposition for all of us who want to look fondly back at our accomplishments this time next year and quiet the rest of the noise: make a Memory Jar. In particular, a Memory Jar geared toward YOUR health and wellness. I started the Memory Jar pictured above in January 2013. Throughout the year, we have jotted down on Post-It notes things that we wanted to remember, whether it was a weekend trip we took, company coming to visit, a particularly great day at work, a date night at a new restaurant. You get the idea. On New Year’s Eve we are going to open this jar up and smile and laugh as we read through the slips of paper.
What if all of us Shrinkers made a similar Memory Jar but geared it specifically toward health and wellness? You finish a race? Jot it down and put it in the jar. Feeling great in a smaller size pair of pants? Put it in the jar. Ran around the block for the first time without stopping? Put it in the jar. Try a new class at the gym you were nervous about? Put it in the jar. Make a new recipe that had your family showing you thumbs up-orama? Put it in the jar. When the end of 2014 rolls around, you will be showered with all sorts of accomplishments, some may seem small and some will seem huge, but you will be reminded of the fantastic memories created BY you FOR you and your health and well being. Not to mention, who says you couldn’t dip into the jar to read them at any time at all when you find your mojo is MIA and your spirits have sunk a bit? Call it a Pep Talk on Paper.
So, get out those mason jars, people! Or empty mayonnaise jars, pickle jars. Doesn’t matter! Just be sure to keep it where you can see it every day!
Who’s in?
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