Spring is the time for rejuvenation. Flowers bloom, animals start having their babies, and everything that lays dormant in the winter starts to come back to life. This cycle happens to wildlife every year, so why don’t we also follow suit? Sometimes things in our life negatively change at a pace that makes us almost oblivious to the shift.
This spring, it’s time to take inventory of our lives and rejuvenate those things. It might mean being conscious of your body and what goes into it, living in the moment, repairing the pain points, or doing more while settling less. Removing the toxic parts of our lives is always important. Once that’s done, feelings of renewal sit in its place.
First, Taking Inventory
The first step to rejuvenating your life this spring is to take inventory of your life. What are the things you’d like to change? What has been bothering you? What makes you happy? Answering these questions will help give you direction for the rest of your journey of renewal. Maybe you feel like you’re working too much, you want to spend more time with family, you are unhappy with your surroundings, or you’re putting off too many responsibilities. Write these things down and then you can start making plans for change. It’s just as important to write down what you’re happy about and make a conscious effort to keep those things up — and not just focusing on the negatives.
Being Conscious of Your Body
This doesn’t mean being body conscious but instead being focused on how your body reacts to things and making sure that every decision for your body is a good one. Feeling healthy, strong, and happy are important aspects in feeling renewed. If your anxiety is keeping you from sleeping, try a weighted blanket to help you sleep. If coffee upsets your stomach, try switching to tea. Find a way to keep your body active, even if that means going on a short walk or standing at your desk instead of sitting. These small changes can really help your body to feel better overall.
Living in the Moment
Take more time to feel connected to your life by being more present. Living in the moment doesn’t have to be as cheesy as it sounds; it just means being mindful and aware. It means feeling grounded in the world around you and not preoccupied by the distractions. Take photos of what spring looks like around you, go to a coffee date by yourself, or walk down a street you’ve never been down before. If you see someone and think of something nice about them, say it out loud to them. Do something nice. Take a calculated tech break, social media break, or work break for a small portion of each day in order to stay grounded. You’d be amazed at just how freeing it is to make the conscious decision to live in the moment.
Repairing the Pain Points
This is where your inventory comes in. What are your pain points? If you are unhappy with your surroundings, work towards getting rid of junk so that you feel lighter. Rearrange your things or buy a plant. Do you have overdue doctor appointments? Schedule them. Are you in credit card debt? Work towards a working budget to get your payments back on track in order to improve your credit. Are you behind on a project? Make a plan to get on top of it. You don’t have to do everything today, but getting organized and making a plan is the first step towards turning these pain points into successes.
Doing More, Settling Less
Sometimes the thing that is making us feel heavy or overwhelmed is that we are spending our time with the wrong things. This spring, do more — but do the things that make you feel alive and happy. Don’t do the things that drain you. Life is full of obligations, and of course we’d rather be focusing on self-love all day instead of grocery shopping, but that’s not realistic. Realistic changes are to take a weekend to hike with your dog instead of losing a weekend by settling to cover yet another shift at work, for example. Don’t feel bad about doing more things you want to do that will improve your mood and less things that others need you to do.
Removing the Toxicity
Toxicity can look different for each person. For some people it’s unhealthy food; for some it’s too much time spent with video games or on your phone; and for others its spending time with toxic people. If you have any toxicity in your life, take this spring to work on removing it. Find what is bringing you down and work to purge it from your life.
It’s also worth noting whether or not you’re the toxic thing in your own life or someone else’s life. Take an honest look at your own behavior and the behaviors of others. Do your best to be the best you can be — at everything. Expect that from others in your life. Whether it’s avoiding harmful gossip, making healthier decisions, or removing yourself from harmful people, removing the toxicity from your life with be a huge rejuvenation to your life this spring.
The seasons are changing, and the world is visibly looking a lot different. The days are longer, the weather is more welcoming, and plants are sprouting out of the earth from their hiding places. You don’t have to just be a spectator in the renewal around you — you can be a part of it as well. Nobody’s perfect, and everyone has something they can improve on. This spring, decide on what parts of your life can use some rejuvenation.
