3 cheers for the usual things!

If you're at all like me, you've walked through New Year’s Day applauding your efforts at everything, finding a resurgence of hope in things that may have appeared pretty much normal only a few days ago.  On my day off, I made breakfast and coffee, which I served to myself in bed, finished my progress reports for work, delved into the planning stages for the upcoming high school tennis team season, and watched the news - all before noon!  I reveled in my productivity.  As the day went on, my pedestal got higher and higher - I'm teaching a tennis lesson! I'm making a healthy dinner!  I'm reading articles that interest me!  I'm giving my dog her medicine and she's not spitting it out! I was phenomenal all day; 2015 was going to be the year I got my sh#$ together!  

And then I sat down to write and I realized that if you change the name and the date, I wasn't that far off from any other day.  

Balloon heart shriveling.  

But.  Why cant I be proud of myself for these things?  Why can't I let my self-esteem raise up a notch or two?  The thing is - I can.  We all can.   We will all go back to work tomorrow or the next day, and we will all gather under the canopy, put on our makeup, grab our unicycles, and begin our juggling routine across the tight rope.  It's what we do; new year or not, we all have a million responsibilities.  

My new theory is this:  instead of making new year's (insert word of choice i.e. resolution, goals, etc) with the intention of doing something bigger, better, and/or newer - literally out of no where, (ex: run a marathon, start a new hobby, eat healthier, be a better friend) make the choice to celebrate and honor the hard things we all do every single day, first.   By noticing and applauding what seems to be our monotonous routine efforts at being an adult, we can find out what we're actually good at doing and where our strengths lay.  Then, and only then, can we decide where to add on, where to push ourselves, and what new, exciting things can be fostered by our skill set - because it is a skill to sit down and plan out healthy meals for a week.  I do this just as a means to eat well and to nourish myself, but I could build onto those skills by taking a cooking class - thus exposing myself to a new hobby.   

I’m not saying that we shouldn't look for ways to improve on things we're not good at  - my bank account can attest to my need to improve on my budgeting and financial skills.  But it's such a leap to think all of a sudden I will just be great at dealing with my money.  What I am good at is making lists, reading, researching on the Internet, and being creative.  If I really want to learn how to be better with my money, I can try that 52 week money saving challenge I found online   (http://diycozyhome.com/52-week-money-saving-challenge-for-2015/) and creatively make some kind of pretty jar to help motivate me to put money inside of it.  I can use my advanced researching skills to find free online classes (oh hey, I’m good at school and learning!) to find ways to help me save money.  

The trick to all of this is simple:  by noticing and celebrating the things we do all the time that we don’t even bother to notice that we’re good at, we can find tiny bridges to guide us over unknown waters.  The confidence we bring with us from honoring those skills/qualities we already possess will only benefit us when we try something new.  It’s like an extra layer of armor, a bigger sword, or a mightier pen.

So continue seeking joy out of the things you're doing on the first day of the new year. Even if you've done them a million times before - give yourself credit.  Bathe in your boldness.  Take those things you do well and build your tiny bridges all over the place.