Yeah, I’m leaving it a bit late for the whole New Year Resolution thing. After all, most people give up their resolutions by now, not start them. But, as of now, I’m making a decision to focus on making SMART goals for myself and this blog. What does that mean, you ask? Well, TONS of planning, for one… and a whole lot more.
But first, let’s look at what happened and how I’m going to fix it!
Well, Halloween is done and you and I both know we’ve crammed as much candy down as we could. After all, this begins the season of tasty treats. Next up: Thanksgiving! Oh, goodie… Crowds of people, hours of travel, days of cooking, and a week of cleaning that kitchen afterward. Actually, scratch that last one… I’m using paper plates.
All in all, there’s a lot to do this month and only a month to do it all in! Not going to panic, right?
But before we get too far, let’s take a second to reflect back on our goals for last month and start thinking about our goals for next month!
September sure blasted by for me. Admittedly, there was a lot of chaos in this house. For one, I left my job…finally. It was a painful choice because I seriously loved working with everyone, but at the same time, it was clearly necessary. No one should be having panic attacks over going to work. For two, there’s a bit of transitioning going on in my house as far as relationships and what our future as a family might look like. Between those two things, well, I’ve been a bit absent. I apologize for that.
Plus side to me not working right now, though: I can crank up the heat when it comes to getting this blog going! To that end, I figured I should actually write out my goals post for the month. So, without further ado…
Let’s recap!
Well, August started strong and then kinda crept out the door when I wasn’t looking. So, I guess that means it’s time to look at my August goals and see just how I did! Let’s be honest, I started really strong, but the last two weeks have been a wash for me. There are totally reasons (which I’ll probably write about later), but the ultimate point is that I didn’t do quite as much I might have hoped for the end of August. Still, I did something. So! Let’s review!
Whoa, looks like July is done and gone! Which means, it’s time to review how we did on our goals. Hopefully you guys followed along and set yourself your own July goals. If you did, leave a comment below letting us know what your goal was and how you did.
And now: time to recap last month’s quest!
Okay, it’s a weird title, but it gets the point across. I’m here to talk about goals. I’ve mentioned before on my review of Stuff That Sucks that ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) is one of my favorite therapies because it speaks to my heart. In it you learn to accept that things sometimes hurt, embrace it, be kind to it, and move on to pursue those things you value. It’s important to set yourself goals and go for them!
That said, I’m really not a master at it.
Let’s be honest here…life with mental illness is a full time job. Some days are not bad, some are even good, but some are completely horrendous. For myself, most days fall into the “not bad” category, where I can function and even have good moments, but they’re still colored by an underlying depression. The good days are a treasure. The bad days, though… The bad days can be really bad. On those days I lie in bed, watch TV, and pray it ends soon. On those days, it feels like the only way to keep going is by distracting myself, but that leaves me with a question. Is distraction a healthy way to cope, or am I making things worse?
I have a confession to make. I’m one of those “trendy” folks currently riding high on the bullet journal train. Admittedly, I didn’t get started with it out of any great desire to fit in. I had just gotten frustrated by the lack of adaptability of traditional planners. My needs tend to change based on the time of year, so a published planner ends up only being useful for a short time. Enter the bullet journal.
Here’s the deal. I’ve been in and out of therapy for years. When you’ve got a mom that’s crazy (as much as I love her, she and I will both own that title), and then you start showing signs of the same disorder, you end up straight into the therapist.
Actually, to be fair, I ended up at the therapist because my parents were divorced and they were pretty sure we kids were gonna be scarred, but that’s neither here nor there.
In my time in therapy, I learned a lot of different coping skills. Most of those have gone out the window now, as science is always evolving as we learn new things. Some of them are tried and true, though. For instance, when you’re angry, you’ve probably heard that you can punch a pillow. That one’s been a standard for a really long time, and I’ll admit it, I’ve used it way more than once. Or, another anger fighter is to shred a piece of paper into the tiniest pieces you can manage. To start with, you’re burning rage, but by the end you end up so focused on the task that most of the anger has drained away. Bonus: you’ve now got confetti (which will likely make your mom angry when you throw it….heads up).
My favorite by far, however, was a love/hate list.