A Different Monthly Review

monthlyreview_SeeingThyself.pdf

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Look, everyone I have spoken to (and I bartend- I talk to a lot of people) all agree that this year so far is not it. Shit’s expensive, work sucks, everyone’s getting laid off, and at the end of the day the constant influx of news and stress leaves you so tired all you can do is order takeout and rot to Vampire Diaries. Again.

(but who doesn't love 2010s Ian Somerhalder?? No? Just me? Ok.)

I’m determined to make this year go better than it has so far. As far as I am concerned, we may not be at rock bottom yet, but we’re close enough for a solid foundation. 

So we’re going to look at the last month, and do what all health and wellness girlies tell you to do: A Monthly Review.

But I don’t want you to tell me what’s gone wrong, what you would do differently, what challenges you faced, because we are intimately aware of everything that is wrong, and we cannot get away from it.

✨UNTIL NOW✨

Tell me what went right. I don’t care how minute you have to go. Your sheets smelled nice after you washed them. Your takeout PadThai slapped for the fourth day in a row. Starbucks actually made your brown sugar shaken espresso right, and it didn’t taste like pond water. I want you to tell me the good things, we’re getting into a happy mindset. 

Then, I want you to make up some shit to be excited about next month. I don’t care if it’s just the previous list reformatted: My sheets will smell great after I wash them. My Pad Thai will be delicious when I get it, because it always is. Or it could be something cool coming up: St. Patricks Day Bar Crawl, a Saturday with sunny 70 degree weather, a trip to the bookstore. We aren’t reaching for the stars here- we’re reaching for the bar, which is in hell. 

Finally, you’re going to pick a singular thing that you are going to intentionally do differently. Make it attainable. We’re trying to build some self trust here, and some belief in yourself. I’m going to intentionally not look at my phone while I drink my coffee. I’m going to intentionally get 10 minutes of sunshine everyday. I’m going to intentionally play with my dogs without distraction when I get home from work to help me decompress. 

The goal of what we are trying to do here is a Mindset Shift™️. This is a hot topic these days, has been for several years, but it’s been all “think more positively!” and “just take a bath and think about what you’re grateful for!” Which I find both unhelpful and moderately irritating, so we won’t do that here. 

Baby steps. Because if this year is treating you as badly as it’s treating me, the idea of a complete overhaul makes me want to overly haul myself into my bed. But one thing? One thing I can do, and one thing is something you can do too. You got this, I believe in you.