Ozark Living

a good fit that you can volunteer for maybe once a month. 5 Learn a new hobby or skill - We can spend our whole life wishing to play the guitar or learn to knit, or we can just do it. Join a mahjong or gaming group that is foreign. Search online for tutorials in fields you're interested in. Invite a friend to go hiking at Hawksbill Crag with you, just because you've heard so much about it but don't want to go alone. Don't let fear of change keep you debilitated in the same old, same old. Try something new in small doses, and if it isn't a fit, at least you can say you tried. We must push ourselves out of our own way sometimes to see the best things for us around the corner. 6 Be kind to yourself - Ok, ok, it's kind of a buzzword: mindfulness, kindness, self-healing. But seriously, we are oen our own worst critics and enemies when it comes to self-affirmation. Sometimes in life's chapters, we find ourselves alone or in a global pandemic with few people speaking kindness into our lives. Do this: write a kind letter to yourself. Pretend you are a best friend who loves you, speaking gentle and upliing words into your situation to encourage you. en read that back to yourself, believe it and hang it on the bathroom mirror or fridge for a month so you see it! 7 Declutter & make a cleaning schedule - We overlook the effect of messy tables and countertops inhibiting us from wanting to cook all the time. It stands to reason that laundry always in piles and an endless closet monster of stuff to take to goodwill taking over our shelves. Get rid of anything you haven't used in a year. Start with your closet and take it back a room at a time. Make a cleaning schedule…that works. Put it on your calendar and break it into parts if that's easier then tackling the WHOLE house on Saturday. 8 Sleep healthier - So much research is still ongoing about going to bed at a certain time, and with your partner if you have one, to increase sleep health. Setting a time to turn off phones (at least an hour before) also helps. Some research has found that making your bed daily will also give you a better sense of well being, early morning accomplishment, and increased likelihood of looking forward to sleep when the time comes. 9 Be a bookworm - With technology always staring us in the face, it's easy to always be looking at a screen, be it a phone, laptop or TV. en we wonder where all our free time went. It's easy to get sucked into the vortex (guilty as charged!) but that doesn't have to be your constant reality for 2023. Remember those things called books, with pages? Well, as easy as it is to read a book online, the feel of an actual book may help you lesson screen time and be a bit more enriching overall. ey're easy to carry anywhere and never run out of battery, plus they support the author who wrote them when purchased. 10 Head outside - Whether it's working out or doing yoga on your back patio, to taking a walk or bike ride with friends, the benefits of fresh air, sunshine or natural scenery can't be overlooked. Improved mood and vitamin D as well as affirmed beauty can all be seen through the lens of the outside world. If it's cold, you bundle up and maybe just walk or drive around your neighborhood with the windows down. Find a new place to explore & ask a friend to join you. Winter can be tough, and so can the new year, but if you put some resolutions in place to make your life better, then you might just be building a whole new life, with one change at a time, for 2023. OZarK LIVInG • January 2023 • 13

• Cover