Anybody else charging ahead at full steam into the New Year?  🙂  The holidays are behind us, decorations are boxed up, new toys are in play, and its past time to embrace 2013 with its 365 days of possibilities.

My new year got started with an old lesson. You see, right before Christmas, I caught a flu virus that had me off work for 3 days and in bed for 5. Then my car was stolen, and we had to make replacement arrangements (which included an unexpected family visit), and then I topped off New Years with a secondary bacterial infection in my throat. All this with a proposal still due and family activities cropping up left and right.

So my first lesson of the year 2013 was: It’s okay to rest.

I talked about this late last year, but I’m obviously a slow learner. This knowledge hit me hard. I was battling illness and a boatload of stress, and still felt obligated to press on as if everything was normal. Needless to say, that got old quick. I realized it wasn’t the end of the world if I had to bow out of something. People usually understand.

After a full day and work and still being sick, I just couldn’t push myself to attend my husband’s family’s Christmas Eve party — one of my favorite parts of our Christmas celebrations. I stayed home and dozed on the couch, so I had more energy for our Christmas day plans. Then my daughter got to play my part in the adult dirty Santa game — something she’d been trying to sneak into for several years.

I definitely learned my creative brain does not function well while sick! I spent several nights simply staring at my computer screen, unable to get any words. Still, I persisted. In this case, all I did was increase my frustration and uncertainty about my story. If I’d waited until my brain came back online (know that feeling?), I would have progressed faster without all that angst (great for stories, not so great for creating).

So I cut myself some mental slack. This is one of the hardest things for me to do! Even when my body won’t go anymore, my brain is still in “you should be…” mode. I’m practicing my new comeback: Yes, but it will still be there when I get to it. 🙂 Works most… okay, some… of the time. But practice will hopefully make perfect.

So today I’m celebrating once again being healthy and life settling into some sort of normalcy. I’m celebrating rest and relaxation. This will be a GOOD year! What are you celebrating at the start of this new year?

Dani