Courage and Creativity

I never understood why some people don’t like New Year’s resolutions, just because we’re bound to mess them up. Of course we’re going to mess them up! We mess everything up! That’s what it means to be human.

That’s why I’ve switched from teaching people to be “better” to teaching mindfulness and self-compassion. Because, unlike with the drill sergeant, who tells us that we should…, and the inner critic, who tells us that we suck, mindfulness and self-compassion tell us to believe things that are true and kind.

In this case, with respect to New Year’s resolutions, the truth is, we will mess up. And the kind thing to say is, we can set our intentions again. Over and over. And decide we will commit to living our lives this way, despite our imperfections.

These days people find it more acceptable to have key words or themes. I can get on board with that. Many of my clients have been telling me their words, and it helped me to realize what mine were.

When I started this blog, it was the morning of January 1, 2026. Nine days ago. I was going to do a podcast for a post from Normal in Training, and then a voice in my head said, no. Go ahead and start your new blog. The one that’s going to be a book. Neurospicy and Flying.

And so I spent the next 3 hours doing so. And several hours after eating lunch.

The first blog, Normal in Training, isn’t really about training to be normal. It’s 1) learning about how to take care of yourself, and 2) how to reestablish mental stability, (A.K.A. self-regulation,) after something throws you off your game. Once you’ve learned how to do these 2 things, which takes a while (hence the 380 blog posts), you can learn to thrive.

And after you learn how to thrive, you can learn how to fly.

Not coincidentally, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on manifesting and quantum physics. I wasn’t big on manifesting at first, if it’s just the power of positive thinking 2.0.

Luckily, that’s not what it is. It’s about being the person who is going to live out the vision that you have for yourself. And every time you take a step toward that vision, the universe shows you the next step.

This is exactly what happened for me after God (i.e., the Universe, Nature, Sophia, Jesus, Isis, Thor, or whoever your higher power is) told me it was time to write my book–12 years to the day I started my first blog, Normal in Training. 

That started a little over 3 months ago. Since then I’ve been showing so many steps that I love my life and look forward to enjoying every last one of them. If you don’t believe me, check out any of my social media @normalintraining. But in order to take the steps, I have to use my two words of the year. They are…

Courage and Creativity.

If you’ve been reading my blog, then you know how much I obsess about money, even though it’s completely irrational. But God told me to start working 4 days a week instead of 5 because I have lots to do, and so I did. Truly an act of courage for me.

Now, when something unexpected happens and I temporarily have a negative bank account of -$700, I tell myself that as long as I’m fulfilling my purpose, I will be taken care of. This exactly scenario has happened twice this month (and it’s only the 10th) and I am still alive to tell you about it.

Also, in order to carry out this vision, I have to utilize all of my professional talents (e.g., research, teaching, writing, speaking, and listening,) and my hobbies (e.g., knitting, crochet, singing, pickleball, tennis) and combine them to pave the way toward my new career path. Which will require the most creativity I have ever cultivates to date. Even more than knitting an aquarium during Covid or making up a quilt-like pattern for a throw with a scene from the beach (Encinitas, CA, to be exact).

How about you? Got any words you want to focus on? If you do, please share them! It always helps to make your goals public.

As a bonus, here’s a video of the aquarium and a picture of the throw.