Mental Health charity, MIND, warned yesterday that New Year’s resolutions could be bad for your health – particularly when we are armed with self-improvement resolutions.
Mind chief executive Paul Farmer said focussing on problems or insecurities can lead to feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem and even mild depression.
“We chastise ourselves for our perceived shortcomings and set unrealistic goals to change our behaviour, so it’s not surprising that when we fail to keep resolutions, we end up feeling worse than when we started,” he said.
“In 2009, instead of making a New Year’s resolution, think positively about the year to come and what you can achieve.”
While I admit to increasing my exercise in recent weeks to boost my wellbeing, I have given Paul Farmer’s timely and sensible message some serious thought since yesterday. So yesterday’s observations were:
1. I make really good cheese sauce. Resolved to make more cheese sauce, or even look at some new recipes. Sometime. A small thing I know, but trying to look for assets rather than deficits… which is one of my favourite topics today.
2. I have some really amazing friends. Some of whom have sent me the most uplifting and kind messages in recent weeks. So I have resolved to communicate more with the lovely people I already know and love… and…not to rely on Twitter too much to keep a sense of connection alive, or indeed to neglect the majority of friends who aren’t even on Twitter.
I may have been inspired by reading about the correspondence patterns of Darwin and Einstein? During their lifetimes, Darwin sent at least 7,591 letters and received 6,530; Einstein sent more than 14,500 and received more than 16,200. And also by the rather beautiful concept of writing letters to the future through Douceurs (which translates to ‘sweet words’ and ‘gentleness’) designed by Lauren Currie
So perhaps rather than not resolving anything at all, we should be making them more fun and personal and less medicinal! How very Mindapples…