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Dear Martha: Top 10 List To Make January and February Not Suck

These sleepy months can be some of the best.

It has not been a boring few months. The angst among my friends is high and we all seem to need a bit of re-focusing. With angst comes questions, worries, stresses, etc. etc. etc. Needless to say there are way too many thoughtful questions to answer so I've decided to put together a Top 10 list of "Little Things to Make January and February Fantastic."

Here goes: 

  1. Save Money and Be Entertained - Get a library card. Did you know the libraries on island, all of them, have better DVD and TV Box Set collections than you might have time to indulge in. Oh, and if they don't have your choice movie or show in-house, they'll find it for you, for free. You might even think about suspending your NetFlix or Hulu memberships for a bit, save some money. 
  2. Throw Away the "Shoulds" - We all have a laundry list of health, fitness, and nutrition goals.  At the end of the day most of us just want to shed a few pounds. All day long we hear, "You should go to the gym," "You should eat less," and "You should take this supplement." I hate the word "should," can one word be more belittling? Do what feels right. Do what you find joy in. And if you find something that works, don't push your new "should" on someone else. 
  3. Make a List Your Favorite People - I found myself in the stacks of the Oak Bluffs Library the other day. I was kind of in a funk. I was procrastinating big time. I picked up a few books, all biographies from my Uber List - Kathering Hepburn, Jack Welch, Roald Dahl and Herman Melville. I read a few pages of each and all the sudden my day turned around. Something about vibrating alongside my muses made the day feel more inspired. Non-fiction has a strange ability to drive motivation. Try it out. 
  4. It's not about Addition, It's about Subtraction - We don't get anywhere by adding on more, and doing all things just OK.  We don't gain anything from having negative people in our life. It's the perfect time to step back and observe your own life. A few red flags will come up and those are just the things to subtract. 
  5. Plan a Wheel Dinner Party - A gathering where all the people people only have you in common, who don't know each other.  It's an easy way to bring your friends together and allow them the opportunity to meet new people. At the end of the day you've probably single-handedly facilitated a few expanded networks, and a few potential freindships. Oh, and the conversation isn't boring. 
  6. Go on a Date! - Who wants to be alone in these cold months? You're not proving anything to anyone by being too cool to date. If you're married set up a weekly date, it's beyond important. You might even, have a good time. Think about it.
  7. Catch more ZZZZ's - It's your chance, before all the chaos starts up again in late March/April. Take it upon yourself to stay in bed an extra half hour, you deserve it.  Train the poeple in your life to know you are starting your day a bit later. It's your chance to catch up. 
  8. Mend Any Burned Bridges - Don't go another day without making a plan to mend anything that might be broken.  Life's too short. It's self-explanatory, do it now.  If you can't mend them in the end, at least you tried. 
  9. Obsess Over Your Blogs - Drive creativity, feast on stunning images, read original work, and escape into your favorite online worlds. Real-time quick-bursts of inspiration are invaluable. 
  10. Go Off Island Now and Then - It will rev up your spirit and remind you why you live on our perfect 20 square miles of paradise. You can't really know what something is, without first knowing what it is not. Drinks are cheaper, toilet paper is a steal, and fast food is plentiful (you do crave it just admit it).

 

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And you should probably throw away all the above "shoulds" and start from scratch. Ha!

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