Happy New Year! 2020 is here! It is a year with brand new adventures and untapped potential. For Alfred’s Thriving Health and Sunny Cove Farm, it is the year of launching a podcast! Kristina Snyder and I are bringing our community Real Life with Maria and Kristina. It is a weekly conversation about farming, nutrition, lifestyle, and more! To kick things off, episode one will be concerning our new year’s resolutions. So, I am giving you a sneak peak of mine! To hear the full conversation, you can find us on iTunes, Google podcasts and Spotify. Links to both are on our business Facebook pages.[1] .
Rather than a large bucket list, I am focusing on 5 simple habits to develop in 2020. None of these habits are overly time consuming-- it’s just a matter to plan, prioritize, and remember to do them until they become a natural rhythm in my lifestyle.
1. Set aside time for myself.
I am going to grow in this are by taking a relaxing bath once a month. This seems almost silly to put down; however, it is something I always intend to “get around to,” but never execute. To prevent this habit from just remaining an intention, I am going to schedule it quarterly on my calendar for the first half of each month. If something comes up the night of my bath date, I have the cushion to bump it to the second half of the month.
2. Give thanks every day.
The very first thing to do every morning, even before getting out of bed, will be to praise God for something...perhaps many things. It’s not a planned prayer but a conversation in the presence of Jesus. I have done this before for short seasons, and it was such a dynamic habit which transformed my day.
3. Take collagen every day.
I have talked about this health protein in many of my classes. It is fantastic for digestive and joint health as well as hair, skin, nails, and weight management. You can buy it from health stores as a powder or consume it through homemade bone broth. I ingest it on a weekly basis now, but not daily. To make it a daily habit I will create a little checklist of my daily supplement routine and include collagen..
4. More random acts of kindness.
This summer, I had the privilege to go through a leadership course offered by Lighthouse Christian Fellowship. Part of our daily assignment was to do a “random act of kindness.” It could be a note, a cup of coffee for a stranger, etc. It was an amazing time and joyful experience as it caused me to be more thoughtful and attentive. I’ll be honest, it was not a habit that stuck after the completion of the class. But it’s impact has not left me. Thus, I am coming back to it! I am planning to do 2-3 random acts of kindness a week. I will journal the “game plan” before and then record how the execution played out.
5. Drink more herbal teas.
The year 2019 reminded me of the medicinal power of herbs, particularly through collaborating with Mark Tulk, Alfred’s Clinical Herbalist. This habit will be fun as it entails trying new teasI I plan to try 1-2 new teas a month, drinking them daily for that month. Then, on to the next tea!
Kristina and I will be checking in on each other throughout the year to see how our habits are coming! I hope you enjoy following us and consider developing your own habits with specific strategies and a level of accountability. I would love to hear the habits and goals you have for 2020!
I also don’t want to forget 2019’s resolutions. It was an exciting year for Thriving Health. Stay tuned for an upcoming article reflecting on how my resolutions were executed, and what I learned and developed from them.
[1] facebook.com/thrivinghealthNY and facebook.com/sunnycovefarm