New Year and Same 'Auld' Me!

Here we are welcoming a new year and with that a new opportunity to right the wrongs of the past year and make ourselves thinner, de-clutter our homes and enlighten our spiritual selves. Well you know how the saying about good intentions goes! Yup!

I was all set and ready to re-organize my pantry. It’s one of those scenarios where you find the can of cannellini beans that you need for supper but discover they have expired in 2005! Each time I go in there the broom comes careening down on my head while the 40 pound bag of dog food topples over. Yikes! 

I went out the other day and bought multi-tier shelf units, hooks for brooms and other organizer gadgets that are still sitting in the Bed Bath & Beyond bag on my couch.  Somehow I am not mentally prepared to do this. I guess I am avoiding dealing with what I will discover in there (C-rations from WWII?) What do I do with all that old the stuff? Suffering the guilt about throwing out food while hearing the voice of my mother cry about the starving children in the Ozarks is not my way of starting a pleasurable new year!

I also had decided for 2012 that I was going to stop and smell the roses. You know, slow down a bit and take time to relax and ponder the mysteries of life. I thought that maybe I could achieve this with some at home Yoga videos. A definite “two-for” since it may help me keep in shape as well.  

I rolled out my new mat, and with myself adorned in too tight Yoga pants I plopped in the DVD. The instructor was in a beautiful tropic setting, on the beach with the bluest water and the most serene skies. In the background, music played providing the most calming melody. She demonstrated the first pose called the Corpse pose. You literally lie on your back as if you had been laid out for the 2:00 - 4:00 viewing at the funeral home.

She then instructed to breathe deeply letting the breaths come from your abdomen. I started to inhale and exhale slowly and felt really relaxed when the next thing I knew I woke up to my dog, Ozzie, sniffing my face. “Darn it, I must have dozed off! I don’t feel like getting back to the beginning of this video now. Yoga class will have to go on without me!” Well needless to say the yoga mat hasn’t seen the light of day in over a week!

So here I am sitting on the couch watching reruns of New Jersey Housewives while devouring a bowl of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey with a double helping of chocolate sauce. Things around here could be improved upon but it’s only January, I have the whole year to work on it. Plenty of time to do it right! Unless you believe in the Mayan calendar then you might as well get going and party like its 1999!

Happy and Healthy 2012 to all!