No New Year’s Resolutions
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach
My birthday and Christmas are three days apart and I always reflect on the past year. Overall, I can say that I laughed more than I did in 2020…. so I’m winning lol. But honestly, this year has thrown me a few curveballs, but I feel like I handled them the best that I could. This is the second year that I haven’t made New Year’s Resolutions and ironically I accomplish more things over the past two years without them.
So, no more New Year’s Resolutions for me. If I want to do something or start it I’m not waiting until a specific time to do it. I signed up to start working out with a personal trainer during my finals week. Some would say that wasn’t the best time to do it, but it was on my mind and something that I wanted to do. I managed to workout 3 times throughout my finals week, which was beneficial to my studying.
Basically, what I’m saying is that you can start something or make new goals for yourself anytime. You can start or stop something anytime that you want. I wanted to stop telling myself that I don’t have time to workout with my course load. I proved to myself that I can do it. I’m going into 2022 with the same goals:
to continue to learn more about myself
to continue with counseling
to continue to exercising
to continue to grow my photography skills
The only new goal that I have for myself is to start my etsy shop for my prints other than that I’m on the same journey for now.
Don’t feel pressured to make new goals if you are already working each day towards what you want.
As always,
Thank you for reading
~Janay
A sign
I feel like I’m waiting for something. I feel like I am waiting for the lightbulb to go off and tell me what I’m supposed to do. But, I know what I need to do. I need to follow my heart, but I want to make a rational and wise decision.
Lately, I have been having such a huge urge to create. All I can think about is photography and how much my heart just wants to go outside, explore, and take pictures. I noticed that I don’t talk about medicine as enthusiastically as I do photography. Am I passionate about medicine? I guess I am rambling here. What I want to ask is:
How do you know you are passionate about something? Does it mean something if your mind continues to constantly go back to it? Does it mean that you are being called to it? Is there a sign?
As always,
Thank you for reading
~Janay
The mind of an anxious person: Navigating friendships and relationships
Be patient, Be loving, Be kind, Be gentle
Stoneleigh: a natural garden
In today’s society I believe that many people suffer with anxiety, especially since the pandemic began. But, there are some people who don’t struggle with anxiety and don’t know how to properly navigate a relationship with an anxious person. The goal of this blog post is to provide tips (from my personal experience as an anxious) to help others get a better understanding of an anxious mind.
Sometimes you may think that your friend doesn’t care about you because they haven’t talked to you in a while
Trust me your anxious friend has thought about you several times. They thought about texting/calling you, but got nervous and decided not to. Don’t jump to conclusions. Just ask. Reach out first. They will have such a sigh of relief and may not be as hesitant to reach out the next time they are thinking about you. Be patient.
Words of Support! (This one is very important to me)
When your anxious friend is triggered and feeling down, the worst things to say (again in my opinion) is “you’ll be fine”, “you’re overreacting”, “it’s not that bad”. These statements are very dismissive. It just sounds as though you aren’t taking the time to hear them. In these moments, I would suggest statements like
“I see you.
“I’m proud of you.”
“I hear you”
“I understand”
“No matter what happens. I am here.”
“I support you and your decisions”
These are more encouraging and sound less dismissive.
An anxious mind is always running with scenarios
Be patient. Be open-minded. My face tends to show when my mind is racing with thoughts. Sometimes when people ask me what’s wrong or why my mood kind of changed, I don’t want to completely spill all the thoughts in my head because it’s a lot. But if you are patient, welcoming, and open to understanding, your friend will feel more comfortable sharing some of their thoughts. You may be able to help take their mind off of those thoughts.
I have been taking a medication to help with my anxiety and can say that I don’t have as many thoughts racing through my mind as I did before. The anxious thoughts are not gone, but it’s a bit quieter in my head and has allowed me to focus. I feel as though having less anxious thoughts in my head have allowed me focus better on my school work. This has been my best quarter.
I hope these are helpful when navigating your relationships with friends and family.
As always,
Thank you for reading,
~Janay