Episode 16: Find the Delight in 2025

Description: Kick off the new year with a simple, uplifting practice to find moments of delight and embrace January in your own way.

Resources: Find 180 Days of Physical Wellness at Marzano Resources, Solution Tree, or Amazon.

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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to Self-Care for Educators. I am your host, Tina Boogren. This is episode 16 of season five, and it marks the very first episode of 2025. And so I want to start us off by saying Happy, Happy New Year. I so hope that you were able to take to heart the invitation that was offered to you in episode 15, which was to take a little bit of time or maybe hopefully a lot of time, a medium amount of time, perhaps, to rest. That over your break, that you got a moment or a few moments to slow down and catch a breath a little bit and rest before we move back into this second half of the school year. 

And I know as we move into January that, um, gosh, this is, everyone kind of moves into this month at a different place. So however you're moving into this month, know that it's normal and it's okay. So there's some people that are probably feeling on fire that they've really spent some time kind of reflecting on 2024 or letting go of 2024 and setting some real big goals or new year's resolutions or choosing a word and doing all the things, right, that mark kind of this fresh start. And that is wonderful. Oh my gosh, I love that so much. In fact, I kind of was feeling on fire for that myself this year. I created a vision board for myself. Some years I do that, some years I don't. I did it kind of digitally this year and that felt really good. I chose a couple of phrases to lead myself through 2025. That all kind of felt really good. And yeah, I've started jotting down some ideas for my 25 for 2025 list. 

All of that felt really good to me this year. I didn't put a ton of pressure on myself to do that. I just kind of decided to indulge in things that felt good. And so, yeah, that's how I approach that. So for some of you, you probably, yes, said yes to all that stuff and signed up for classes and courses and, um, challenges and that's wonderful. Now there's some of you that, no, thank you.  That does not appeal to you at all. And in fact, there's some of you that probably, ugh, feel not so great moving into January. January can be really hard. The holidays can be hard, um, for a number of reasons. And even the best holidays, the let go is hard. Um,  It's typically cold and dark and now the holidays are done and winter can be challenging for so many reasons. 

And so I just want you to know that your feelings are valid and no matter where you are, it's normal and there's nothing wrong with you. You are not doing anything the wrong way. And just because someone else is approaching January differently than you, doesn't mean that they're doing it better. No , no, no, no, no, no. I want you to know that you are okay. You are perfect. And however you are approaching this month is fantastic. 

And so in fact, what I'm gonna give you for your invitation for this week is. One of my favorite invitations, and many of you know that this is one of my favorite things to do, that I've been doing this actually for quite a few years now. Um, I want you to look for the delight. This is a twist, of course, and a variation on a theme that I return to again and again and again, because I guess for me, this is my lifeline.  It's a way to find gratitude. It's a way to find the good. It is, like I said, it's my life preserver, that when things are really hard,  and when I kind of get myself in a place of the blues, or when I feel my anxiety is high, or I just am feeling off, and I know I have to reground myself. I find myself looking for the delights.  

I love the word delight. And it feels like a small word, um, and yet a big word. It feels sparkly to me, that word.  And so if you follow me on social media at all, uh, you see a lot of my posts are photos and I will just put the word delight and underneath the photo and I will caption that picture with what about that photo is bringing me delight. And all that is, is me forcing myself to find the delight in the ordinary. In the everyday. Again, this is just a twist on the good old gratitude out in the world. It's a twist on the good things are always happening to me. It's all good. I guess it's just kind of the novelty of kind of looking at things through a different lens or a different light that can feel kind of good and fresh. And so I offer you this week, my prompt, and I want you to use it and try it out because I think it works.  

Find the delight. I think a photo is a really good way to do that. But even if you don't,  I want you to keep it as simple as possible. Remember, we can turn that dial down. I hope some of you are starting the 180 days of physical wellness book. As you move into January, it's a perfect time to start. And in that book, I really each week talk about the reminder of how we can turn the dial up when we feel like we're on fire. and we can turn the dial down when we feel like we're not on fire. And so when we look for the delight, we can turn it up by taking a photo, by sharing it, by finding multiple delights, or we can turn the dial down and we could just look for it and make a mental note of it. And maybe we find one delight each day. Maybe we find just one delight this week and we make a note of it and we find that little boost. And we recognize that at least for that moment we had that little boost as we move into January and we tell ourselves that however we're moving into January, we are perfect. We are right where we need to be. We are not going to compare ourselves to anyone else.  We are who we are. We are uniquely our own individual selves and we are wonderful. You are wonderful. You are a delight. Go find the delight this week. I'm cheering so hard for you.  

As always, I'm so grateful. We're so grateful for you, Adrienne. Thanks for helping us make this happen. You are a delight. And thank you Solution Tree and Marzano Resources for this job that I get to do again in 2025. And to you, this badass self-care squad, you are a delight. I love you. Go make it a great week. Here's to 2025. Happy New Year, lovebugs.