Pat Taub
When someone wishes me “Happy New Year” I’m tempted to respond, “What’s to be happy about given all the bad news in the country?” We’re faced with a government shutdown, record numbers of migrant families held in cages, a mustached war hawk Presidential advisor and massive social and income inequality.
Once I settle down I realize that the gloomy headlines don’t have to control my life or yours if we develop survival tips for facing 2019.
Surviving 2019 is dependent on converting your perspective into a more positive one
For starters, go on a news diet where you limit your news intake to an hour a day, or every other day or, as my youngest son does, take a week off from time to time. News overload contributes to anxiety.
Augment your news habit with non-news reading like an absorbing novel, uplifting material like Anne Lamott’s inspirational books or the affirming poetry of Mary Oliver. Better yet add a poem to your daily reading for more soulful living.
Break out of your addiction to reading the news by reading novels or other non-news sources
Exercise a few times a week to drain off tension. Stop thinking of exercise as competitive where you check your Fitbit compulsively. Treat your walks, biking, or swimming as a way to keep your life in balance and to make your head and heart happy.
Let nature restore you: walk the beach; engage in forest bathing, the Japanese name for being in the woods. Indoors, take short meditative breaks to calm your mind.
Daily short meditation breaks are a positive tool for surviving 2019
Find a way to engage in social change to feel empowered as you do your part for a better world. Pick a cause that moves you. Write letters to the editor; join a local climate change group like 350.org, or an anti-war organization. If you have the time volunteer on a weekly basis to a needy group like “Meals on Wheels,” or participate in your church or synagogue’s community service programs.
Keep a gratitude journal. Commit to just ten minutes a day to record what you were grateful for in the day that just ended. Gratitude before turning down the covers has been found to improve sleep.
The benefits of practicing gratitude
Make a practice of sending love messages to family and friends. A short text or email telling someone how much they mean to you or thanking them for an act of kindness adds light to the world. It also encourages the likelihood of receiving positive messages in return, as in the saying, “What goes around, comes around.”
Subscribe to a daily email service that delivers an affirmation to your morning inbox. A favorite of mine is “A Network for Graceful Living.” Today’s reading is “Attending to life is an act of love.”
Make an inventory of your close relationships to identify troubling ones that can benefit from a forgiveness practice
Take an inventory of your close relationships to determine where you hold anger or resentment. Work on a forgiveness practice towards that irritating relative or hurtful friend and then let go of expectations towards them. You may not be able to heal a broken relationship, but forgiving and letting go can usher in a more peaceful new year.
Last but not least, build fun into your life. Allow time for play with your kids or grandkids or with fun-loving friends. Choose activities that make you laugh like silly movies.
To enhance well-being make having fun with friends a priority in 2019
Keep a list of inspiriting quotes for when your spirits sink. I’m always brightened by these lines from Mary Oliver which are posted on the bulletin board opposite my laptop:
When it is over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
