| On the last day of 2008, I posted a blog titled Let | | | | can't expect to function properly if you're tired. |
| This New Year Be Your New Beginning, and | | | | There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the |
| suggested that if you'd been having a tough time | | | | tryptophan in warm milk (or any carbs - like |
| in the previous twelve months, or were facing | | | | pasta, again) increases the serotonin in the brain |
| hard times as the New Year dawned, you might | | | | which induces feelings of sleepiness. |
| try a writing exercise. Exercise was probably the | | | | - EXERCISE WELL. Dreary, isn't it? All the things |
| wrong word to describe what I proposed. It was | | | | your mother told you were so good for you are |
| more of a free association of ideas that I had in | | | | - good for you! I make myself get out every |
| mind: a cathartic experience when you indulged in | | | | day, by not having a newspaper delivered. I then |
| an outpouring of yourself, your disappointments | | | | have to walk downhill and back up again to buy |
| and angst, your hopes and aspirations. | | | | one. And in case I should cop out, I pay for the |
| FREE ASSOCIATION WRITING | | | | paper upfront on an annual basis. It has the added |
| The idea is that we are all stuck in denial, to some | | | | bonus of being much, much cheaper, too. |
| extent or other. So whether it's our fantasies or | | | | INCOME BOOSTERS |
| our fears, we tend to push them deep down into | | | | - GIVE YOUR INCOME A BOOST by taking in a |
| our subconscious, rather than admit to them and | | | | lodger; setting up a cottage industry like making |
| express them. Writing - what is known as free | | | | greetings cards, sweets or cakes (you'll need a |
| association writing, without thought of direction, | | | | Health and Safety check for the last two; |
| syntax or connectivity - can free those thoughts | | | | advertising your services for babysitting, help with |
| and send you on a journey of discovery about | | | | book-keeping, letter-writing, dog-walking, |
| yourself: a Self which you may have hidden for | | | | house-sitting etc. |
| years, not only from others, but from your own | | | | - REDUCE WATER RATES by asking to be put |
| mind. | | | | on a meter. (Check first to see if this will be |
| THE JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY | | | | beneficial. It almost certainly will if there are only |
| You may learn, for instance, that you're an | | | | two of you, or if you all work away from home |
| introvert working in an extrovert environment | | | | during the week). |
| (see my post Creative Writing: Creativity In | | | | - REDUCE COOKING COSTS by using a slow |
| Conflict) and that you've felt bitterly unhappy for | | | | cooker for large batch meals, then freeze down |
| years without knowing why. Although my article | | | | in portions. |
| was to do with creating characters in a Creative | | | | FEEL-GOOD BOOSTERS |
| Writing project, the methodology it uses is | | | | - ACHIEVE SOMETHING manageable. Clear out |
| infinitely useful in discerning Character, | | | | the attic / cellar; empty the ironing basket; put |
| Compatibility and Conflict in your day to day | | | | your printed photos in albums and your digital |
| relationships. | | | | ones in electronic folders. |
| INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT | | | | - JOIN A NIGHT CLASS: learn a new language; |
| From your free association narrative, you may | | | | take a couple of GCSE's (or equivalent in your |
| learn that you are stuck in an administrative job | | | | part of the world); take a carpentry course, or |
| when, in fact, you are uncomfortable dealing with | | | | car mechanics. |
| facts, and long to fulfil yourself in something more | | | | - TAKE UP A NEW SPORT: bowls, badminton, |
| spontaneous and creative. Or it may be that | | | | squash, swimming, athletics. |
| you've had the misfortune to lose your job and | | | | - JOIN A CHOIR. Singing - especially with others - |
| that that is putting pressure on your family | | | | is extremely therapeutic. Remember the BBC |
| relationships. Don't - whatever you do - allow this | | | | program, Last Choir Standing? Alternatively, take |
| to get you down. With a little ingenuity, there is | | | | up ballroom dancing. |
| always a way ahead. Here are my twelve points | | | | LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF |
| to give you a boost and lift you out of the blues | | | | - LOVE yourself by taking on any of the above, |
| in addition to undertaking your free association | | | | and love others by committing to some voluntary |
| narrative. | | | | / charitable work; or simply by making a promise |
| PHYSICAL BOOSTERS | | | | to visit / shop for / provide hospitality for |
| - EAT WELL. If you'll permit me a Bible story, | | | | someone elderly or shut-in. Helping someone else |
| when Elijah was in despair, the first thing God | | | | is one of the best ways I know to lift your own |
| advised was that he look after himself physically. | | | | morale. |
| Eating well doesn't have to be expensive. Make | | | | OVER TO YOU |
| soup made from left overs; fill up on low density | | | | - I'm leaving this one blank for you to fill in. How |
| foods like pasta. Low density foods are those | | | | do you go about boosting your own morale and |
| that have low calories in relation to the large | | | | that of others? |
| quantity you can consume. High density foods (like | | | | Do leave a comment to encourage us all. It may |
| cheese) provide high calories for very little | | | | be too late to Let This New Year Be Your New |
| quantity. | | | | Beginning, but it's never too late to turn this new |
| - SLEEP WELL. According to the experts, | | | | day over to a new start. Give it a try. |
| anywhere between 7-9 hours is the norm. You | | | | |