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If you happen to follow Opulent Blends on Facebook, you might have seen my New Year’s Resolution post. I am happy to say that I have been following through with my commitment for the most part. I consider posting nineteen videos in January a success. I haven’t replayed any of them to view my progression because I don’t find it necessary. I can “feel” the difference in my emotional stability as I record myself now versus that first video I made weeks ago. I am much more relaxed and comfortable.
I happened to come across a quote last month by Jim Morrison, “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” I instantly thought of the resolution I made on January 1st and how true that statement is. I have only created nineteen videos and already I would hardly consider myself camera shy, anymore. In fact, I have surprised myself at how long I can ramble (kind of like I do in my blogs), haha. It probably helped doing my first one in what I felt was my least flattering of conditions (makeup free and pjs). Pretty easy to improve from there ;).
But, is it really “that” easy? As a psychology major, I have read numerous studies on those types of “beliefs” and/or “cures”. I can’t say with affirmation whether they are true or not. As I stated in my first video, I do NOT like facing my fears. Therefore, I can hardly consider myself a good candidate. But, my little project has good correlation results for sure. Should you happen to be curious, you can check out my progression here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFloxItbsVoMkR1TG_IKm0g/featured?view_as=subscriber
I think I will try to add a new commitment each month. I have so many goals/”to dos” that I more often than not become discouraged before I even start. Which do I choose first? Am I going to follow through this time?? It is the “right” thing to focus on??? Ugh…
Anyway, February’s goal was to start running again. I got a later start than I would have preferred, but decided a mid-month start was better than not starting at all (that is where I usually just “give up” or put it off because I become disappointed in myself for slacking, already. But, I fought those demons and laced up for the first time last Monday, the 11th, since July of 2018.
The first run is always the hardest... just committing to it and DOING it is a challenge for me. Was thrilled to run one mile without stopping and managed to actually run a total of the 1.65/3 miles. I did it in just under forty minutes. What I like about running is the challenge quickly becomes addicting. My legs were pretty sore the following two days so I had to be careful not to overdo it, despite my eagerness. Due to my competitive personality, I tend to push myself too quickly and cause self-injury. For me, running is probably equally a mental activity as a physical one…it’s annoying.
Another reason I love running is because it’s a great form of therapy for me. I just get to be in my own zone for a half hour. Sure, my thoughts race through several subjects. But, I am able to focus on them better in that environment for some reason. Or, I experience the complete opposite and don’t think about anything. I just run. Under very few situations am I able to just freaking RELAX. I’m sure that was my motivating factor for Saturday morning’s run. I just wanted to have a quiet moment to myself before experiencing the chaos of having three teenagers. I happily beat my previous three miles by over four minutes. Even better, two morning later I am not even sore….woot.
What about you? Did you make any resolutions/commitments of sorts? If so, how are they going? I haven’t decided on my March goal yet, but I think I have an idea.
My next blog is going to be about answering some questions from comments on previous blogs. For some reason, it doesn’t allow me to answer them right below the comments. So, if you have written a question or feedback, I will be acknowledging those soon.
