I’m pretty good at planning things that I want to do. My magical list of dreams, wishes and goals is pretty complete. (Which I sincerely need and require to function in my life) But I’ve never really made a fancy list of things that I am going to STOP doing. But, what if stopping was actually what I really needed to do in my life?
So I thought about it and I came up with a new list. It’s called the “No More” list. Fancy right? I know the things I’ve decided to work on this year, and now I’ve thought about what I’m stopping.
Here are the top 5 that popped into my head:
- No more apologizing for who I am. I’m pretty sure I even apologize to doors that I walk into. But I’m going to stop. (Sorry doors. See, I just apologized again!) I generally feel like I’m not qualified for most things I do, and I assume I need to apologize to the masses of the world for that. But I’m stopping this. I am going to be “no-apologies needed me.” I’m qualified. Created by my Maker for his purpose. I’m not a freak chance accident of nature. I don’t have to justify myself, I’m no longer sorry for who I am. (This is a hard one, I already want to apologize, because that sounded kinda harsh.)
- No more eating candy in bed from a mason jar. Self-Explanatory. Causes heartburn and love handles, despite the adorable jar.
- No more saying I am a horrible person. In my over-dramatic moments I like to throw out the, “I’m sorry I’m such a horrible person” line. It usually has to do with laundry failure, meal planning inadequacies or adventures in mothering teenagers but I need to stop. Self-depricating talk is not where it is at. I’m not a horrible person, I have nothing to be sorry for.
- No more caring so much about what people think about me. Now, this one is tricky. I do care about what people think of me, I’d be devastated if people thought I was a troll. I want to live a kind life, but there needs to be healthy balance. I spend way too much time imagining what is going on in the minds of people who are likely not even giving a second thought to anything I do. It’s wasted time and mental energy, and actually quite vain. Unless I go back to my clowning days and do something super embarrassing that goes viral, I’m just going to try not to care so much.
- No more missing real life. I long for 3D living. I need to put my phone away. Break my screen addictions. I have living, breathing, adorable, loving humans around me that need eye contact. There are sunsets to see. Trails to walk. Tears to cry. Words to write. Coffee to drink. Conversations to have. Dishes to wash. Books to read. Laughing bellyache moments to live. I’ve been sucked into the validation that I often feel through social media, and that easily turns into addictive behaviour. But it’s not real life. It’s part of life, and it has importance – but it’s not meant to define my life. Letting go of online #FOMO to make sure I don’t miss out on real life living.
So, there it is.
New Year’s Un-Resolutions.
5 things.
My list of No More.
Is there anything you’d put on your list?
#mylistofnomore