It’s time to take a long, hard look at ourselves and our life. New Year’s eve doesn’t always end with a bang, because there’s a much more important celebration awaiting everyone—the celebration of the self and, with it, life!
Here are some of the more popular resolutions, and how they can help you for good.
1. I will eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow, I diet! I will indulge today, because tomorrow I will not eat. This is clearly a justification by the lazy and the undisciplined. The idea of indulging already reveals an underlying streak of deprivation. People who indulge are motivated by guilt.
The reason why some need to indulge themselves on certain days is because on other days, they withhold calories by depriving themselves of food. This is the see-saw mortality, swinging from zero to plenty, from lack to overload. Dieting today and overindulging tomorrow will wreak havoc on our internal system. For one, the blood sugar levels will not remain stable. Already, health experts maintain that the best indicator of good health is steady blood sugar.
Here’s the scenario: When you deprive yourself of food through dieting and your body has hunger pangs, your blood sugar crashes, the stress hormone cortisol climbs and your body goes into survival mode. The brain sends signals to the body to survive on fewer calories. And that is why diet without exercise is not the best way to be slim and sexy.
2. I promise to exercise everyday starting tomorrow. Postponing your exercise day is the worst thing you can do. Your delaying tactics will only contribute to weight gain. Every day that passes without any regular form of activity encourages your body to slow down and store fat. The result: added bulges and pounds.
Exercise is one of the best ways to enhance your detoxification. Toxins are expelled through your sweat glands. So, no exercise, no sweat, no detox. It really costs nothing to simply put on your shoes and start walking. Begin with a 20-minute walk and work your way up to 45 minutes.
Exercise promotes increased stamina and neuromuscular (nerve and muscle) strength and coordination; may help prevent heart disease, prevents osteoporosis cortisols, high blood pressure, cholesterol and high blood sugar; strengthens the immune system, decreases the risk of colon cancer, improves sexual performance, stimulates mental sharpness, improves the quality of sleep, reduces stress and improves IQ. What more do you want?
3. I will learn to control my temper. Taming your temper is like subduing the beast within. It’s only human to get angry, right? But if it has become a bad habit, you can become ill. It is widely known that chronic anger does more damage to the body than you think.
Chronic disease
Here’s the trick: If you get angry and learn to deal with it quickly, then the damage it causes is minimal. However, if you stay angry for a prolonged period of time, then it can cause chronic disease. So don’t wonder why you suddenly develop hypertension or heart disease. Look into the possibility of your uncontrolled temper as the culprit.
To do:
1. Enroll in anger-management class.
2. Learn to chill out. Get physical when you get angry by exercising, dancing, cooking, cleaning your closet, etc. Better yet, go to a spa or the movies to de-stress. Since anger makes you go into fight or flight mode, there is always exercise to burn off the excess adrenaline in your body.
3. Take a break from the pressure of work. In a situation where you cannot exercise, try to find a quiet place in the corner of your office.
4. Set your limits. What’s the use of losing your temper over traffic when you are powerless to manage it? Flying off the handle for uncontrollable reasons is futile, if not senseless.
5. Learn to channel your emotions—by diverting energies from negative to positive, your temper gets dissipated. Introduce music, books and laughter in your life.
Notice that all these resolutions begin with “I.” Everything originates from the self—with you. Begin by loving yourself a little better each day. How can you love others if you don’t have enough love inside? It’s like a bank; you need to deposit in order to withdraw. Bank on yourself this new year, so you can also bank on a life charged with well-being.
Affirm today: “New Year, New Me!”
Love and Light!