A No-Resolution Resolution

Now that we've reached 2024, you may wonder if I've made any resolutions or chosen a thematic word for the year or any other practice that starts on January 1st. The answer is no, as I'm pretty much done with all that.

At the moment we have a lot going on. After we finish the kitchen renovation (which I hope will be done by the time this post publishes) we have to start picking out materials for the guest bathroom shower rebuild. My favorite person arrives for a visit in a few weeks, too. I also have to continue to step up my exercise and make more changes to what I eat; I'm trying a low-carb version of the Mediterranean Diet. Both efforts are to help improve some health issues, and I started them back in November, so they have nothing to do with the start of 2024. I would like to spend less this year and save more, but that's always a goal for a frugal person.

Thanks to thrifting last year, I certainly don't need any crochet materials. I have a new set of crochet hooks coming in that were a Christmas gift, thanks to a wonderful friend.

It's great to be able to make my annual daily mood project entirely out of thrifted yarn, too.

Same goes for fabric for quilting. I'm good.

Anyway, this need to make ourselves feel like we have so much to improve at the beginning of every new year has always been a burden for me. For many legitimate reasons I've felt inadequate most of my life. Yet I never allowed those feelings to hold me back or make me give up my dreams. I believed that if you want something badly enough, and you're willing to work at it for however long it takes, you can make a dream come true. I did.

Realizing that is why while I no longer feel a need to improve myself in some way. I've accepted that I am good enough exactly as I am. Every new year is simply a gift now.

Here's my thought if you're contemplating making a New Year's Resolution: resolve to love yourself for who you are, right now. Accept that you are good enough just as you are. That would be a wonderful thing.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Journal Find

This is a page from my 2010 poetry journal. My handwriting isn't the best, so I'll transcribe it: If my heart survives to tell all the secrets kept inside it will be an abalone shell in which the beauty did reside. But I think I will always be lost to the tides that rage in me . . . humbling and polishing . . . I don't write many self-portrait poems, but this one isn't too embarrassing. A bit overly dramatic, but the girl I was eleven years ago went through some tough times. I'm in a much more peaceful place today.

The Numbers

Back in March my diabetes doctor changed my medication and encouraged me to alter my diet and exercise more in order to bring down my A1C, which at the time tested out at a dismal 8.3 (normal is 5.8.) So for the next two months I dealt with the increased meds, stuck to my decidedly grim diet and added a lot more walking to my exercise regime. P.S., it's never fun to be a diabetic, but over the last couple of months I've really tried to keep a good attitude about it. Attitude isn't everything, but it helps a lot when you have to make significant changes while battling a disease like this. Yesterday I performed a home A1C test, and I'm currently at 6.5. That's pretty amazing results, even for me. If I can get it down another half point before I see the doctor in July I'd be over the moon, but I feel like I've already done great. Image credit: Image by Daniele Liberatori from Pixabay

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