Happy New Year!
Recently, I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself, thinking about all the things I can’t do right now. Sometime over this last long weekend I told myself to snap out of it! While I don’t always listen to me, I knew I had to do something to change my current mindset.
First thing I did was to think about the things I most enjoy doing. Camping, cooking (and eating), going out for dinner with friends, baseball…
Okay, so some of those things are not realistic right now. But I found in that mix some things I can do.
Last summer our camping season started very late due to this pandemic. But beginning this week, we can start making reservations at our favorite campgrounds. We’ve made a list, and that gives us something to look forward to.
I’ve been doing lots of cooking (and eating), and now thinking of new things we can try. As always with the start of a new year, we are bombarded with commercials to achieve our goals, make resolutions, new-year-new-you. Been there, done that.
Then I remembered I have at my fingertips a resource to help me make some decisions. I went to campusforcreativeaging.org and found “Classes.” The list of classes coming up is awesome. I’m personally excited about one of the cooking classes, but there is a great variety of classes, from food to computers and much more. I encourage you to take a look.
Write it down and hang it up somewhere you will see it often.
Amy Nichols, Campus Coordinator for the Campus for Creative Aging, asked me to share some New Year news from the Campus.
“I hope that the New Year finds you all safe and happy. While thinking about my own New Year resolutions, I was reminded by a friend that maybe we shouldn’t set another hollow resolution that we will inevitably give up on. Instead, we should just set a goal or two to strive for throughout the year. Write it down and hang it up somewhere you will see it often.
“If one of your goals is to learn something new, we can help with that! Just visit our website for an extensive class listing: campusforcreativeaging.org. This week’s offerings include our popular cooking class, Healthy Cooking with Chris, where she will teach you some new sheet pan recipes that are not only healthy, they mean only one dirty dish to wash! We call that a win-win!”
Also happening through the Campus for Creative Aging is a Caregiver Support Group, offered by The Caring Circle Hospice of Spectrum Lakeland.
You don’t have to do this alone. Caring for a loved one can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. At times it can also be overwhelming, challenging, or lonely. The goal of this support groups is to provide participants with the opportunity to talk with others who are experiencing the same joys and challenges that caregivers face, to cope with the demands of caregiving, to give and receive encouragement, and to be empowered and strengthened as a caregiver.
Meetings are every third Tuesday, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm offered online via Zoom, and there is no cost. To register, call Amy at 269-982-7748. The link will be sent to you upon registration.
So, take a little time to select your goals. Big or small, focus on reaching them one step at a time. Share your goals with someone and ask that someone to hold you accountable. When you need help, reach out to someone. When you realize a goal, celebrate!
I’m probably not done with occasionally feeling sorry for myself. This is a difficult time, and we all need to do our best to take care of ourselves. But I am looking forward to some things now and feel better equipped to find ways to stay positive. Take this first step in doing something for yourself, by writing down some goals. Then, a step at a time, move toward each of them.
Let’s make the very best of this new year.