be kind to yourself

It has now been about a week since I drank my last glass of wine, so time to make the first balance. Am I missing that wine? Well, actually not. It suits me great. I had thought I would have more sense in my Chardonnay, but that sentence is a bit lacking. Only last Wednesday, after a tough day at work, I had wine thoughts (yes, a self-made word). I was suffering from earaches and my colleague and I, in addition to arguing with our camera, had been lugging furniture in and to our photo studio a lot (instead of selling furniture, I now photograph them). At the end of the day we were exhausted. In the car home I thought; ooooh, in the mood for wine….just along the Appie. In that same moment I immediately know; I will NOT do that!

When I get home I have to switch immediately. I look after my daughter's cat who is on vacation, my nephew invited me to dinner and in the evening there is a Teams meeting of the photo club I am a member of. I quickly feed my cats, then I drive to my babysitting cat, give the animal food, attention and secretly an extra candy (ssst…..don't tell anyone). Then I drive on to my brother where I eat delicious food, and I fall from my chair laughing at my funny nephews. Far too soon I have to go home and promise to visit again soon. At home I quickly put a wash in the machine and walk to the neighbor across the street, fellow member of the photo club, for our Teams meeting. She took me into account. Normally we would certainly have had a glass of wine, but she made me tea, takes a cup of coffee herself and presents delicious chocolates with it. How sweet!!! It will be a pleasant evening. If, later than planned, I plop on my own couch, I'm devastated. Actually, I didn't miss our wine at all. Fortunately.

To return to that balance at the beginning of my blog: I sleep reasonably well. I wake up at least once a night. Sigh… every night I have a fixed night ritual; my walk to the toilet. It makes me despondent, but if I lie stiffly and ignore my bladder, I won't sleep anyway. So I stand, my eyes narrowed, greeting my toilet every night. But where I have trouble getting back to sleep after I've had a glass of wine (ahem, say 2), I'm back in dreamland much faster now. Okay, I have to turn on my other ritual first; the rain app on my mobile phone. The monotonous sound filters out all ambient noises and therefore I relax more easily and I sleep faster; every evening and therefore every night. I often also take ritual 3; my sudoku booklet. Hardly a night goes by without me doing a sudoku. A whole, a half or sometimes even 3 digits (only to wake up hours later with the light still on and all scratching my page). I used to be a bad sleeper as a teenager. I remember my mother once bought me homeopathic drops when I was 15. I also remember how dirty they were, brrrrr. So I never really slept well. Over the years you build up your regular rituals and yes, if it helps….. what do you care about all those rituals! Just do it!

All in all I think I feel an improvement, but there is always room for improvement!! Since January 1, I have therefore started to pay more attention to my diet and exercise more. The wine often made me 'sniffy' and made me feel less in the mood to move. Now that alcohol is no longer haunting my body, I feel much less in the mood for sniffing and more energy. Two birds with one stone. I just don't buy Chardonnay and chips/cheese anymore. Can't I grab it and eat it either 😉 I do have snack tomatoes at home now. Just like bell pepper, cucumber and a lot of fruit. Delicious. Of course I hope to lose some pounds and that's why I treated myself to a scale (I didn't have one). In addition, I found it HUGE to buy a Dopper water bottle and a bracelet, both from IkPas!! Then I can show everyone that I'm participating in Dry January at any time. Very happy with it. After all, you can treat yourself every now and then. No longer with a glass of wine, but with a healthier lifestyle!