Happy Mondays: Festive blues? Why not start loving yourself just the way you are right now
GETTY Who relishes the prospect of getting back into shape after the festive period
In the coldest and bleakest season of the year now is not a time for hardship and self-recrimination. Let’s be honest: there’s a cheese and chocolate mountain to get through before diets and fitness regimes can be contemplated. There is so much to change and knock into shape – and frankly who relishes such a prospect?
So here’s a radical thought – why not start loving yourself just the way you are right now?
A simple mantra such as 'I am good enough' or upscale it to 'I am more than good enough'
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it, especially coming from a personal development expert? But try it on. What if nothing was missing and improvements, though beneficial, are not always necessary? Instead of hitching your dreams to the year ahead think about what has gone before and what you have been doing well.
GETTY Think about what has gone before and what you have been doing well
Keeping going when things got tough or supporting an unhappy or sick friend or relative over a period of time deserves a medal. Maybe you kept your accounts in the black, bit your tongue instead of lashing someone with it and found that, what seemed at times against the odds, you’re still here and holding it all together. You stuck with dull and dispiriting work and chores out of duty and debt and now is surely the time to acknowledge your industry and steadfastness. Forgive yourself for the times you slipped or did not use the best choice of words or judgment. None of us are perfect. Write down the good things that you did to keep going over the past 12 months, what really worked and allow yourself the luxury of a “I did my best” glow. So often we are seeking something more, something other than reality and chasing a sense of perfection or completion that – even if arrived at – may not deliver the promise we thought it would. Take stock of now. A simple mantra such as “I am good enough” or upscale it to “I am more than good enough” can give you the quiet spur that everything within is sufficient and in order to create what you do desire.
GETTY Write down the good things that you did to keep going over the past 12 months
Don’t compare yourself to others unless you want an instant feel-bad fix. Compare and despair, we say as coaches, and none of us know the journey others we resent or envy have had. We all have knockbacks, disappointments, losses, rejections and hardships. Yes, even the most famous and successful among us. Few of us escape those blues and blahs days where all seems dull and colourless and it takes an effort of will and a wave of a mascara wand to face the world. Sometimes a bit of creative wallowing is what is called for. Alan Bennett talking on TV over Christmas about his diaries confessed to times of self pity and alienation but when looking back he could not recall the cause. Bad days pass and new beginnings are out there for us to claim. As we know the bulbs are lying and waiting under the cold frosty soil for their moment to spring into life, so happier times and joyful moments will unfold, once again, when dark times pass. So here’s to you for surviving another year, enduring the struggles and enjoying your you-niqueness. Happy new you – like the old you but even wiser. -------------------------------------------------------
GETTY Cheryl has decided to keep it simple and has dropped all her surnames