As we pass towards the end of the year, I am reminded how lucky I have been. This month in particular has had plenty of positivity, and my mood chart has plenty of good and great days all throughout the year. If I could live the remainder of my years in a similar manner to this one, having the goals I do now, I could be happy. But that’s not what life is for. This next season of life in my 30s will bring new challenges, and I am preparing a version of myself to meet them well.

I’m quite eager to chart my activities at the end of the year and take a look at how variances in energy, mood, time, and health affected them. Mood-wise, it appears I am most heavily impacted by complicated social interactions, and most boosted by positive social interactions and traveling. I am looking forward to the holidays as they stand so far, Thanksgiving plans are solidified, and Christmas plans are looking good as well. I’d like to get New Years plans solidified before the end of November if possible but otherwise wouldn’t be so bad.

The themes for this year so far have been establishing a sleep schedule, learning to cook good dinners, and establishing myself in my new tech career by building healthy work routines. I’m very proud of all these things I’ve accomplished, and I’m interested to find out what sorts of things I will learn this coming year (perhaps linux?). I think as far as the home front goes, I could definitely use some experience knocking down the lighter repair and maintenance jobs around the house, could work on a cleaning kit and sequences for each room type, and also perhaps spend more time outdoors working on the yard. While intimidating all together, it doesn’t feel too out of reach to choose one or two to start with for the new year.

During a conversation last week with my therapist, I said that I’d like to spend the remaining weeks this year with lightness, appreciation, and equanimity. All of these things might be improved by meditation, so I would like to spend some more time on practicing mindfulness. In between the last two sentences I meditated for 10 minutes.

Mindfulness Exercise: If I find myself reacting strongly to something. I will take a moment, even half a breath, to be aware of the emotion as energy in my body. I’ll take interest in where I am feeling the sensations, and examine it as a mere pattern of energy in the body.