2016 Plans & Resolutions

My plans & resolutions for 2016!


1. Raise some money for Crohn's & Colitis UK.
This has been something I have thought about for a while, but I could never decide on what to do & frankly got lazy. The past year however, I have been more aware of some of the awful things happening around the world & decided it was time to get up and actually do something worth while. After talking through things with my Mum I decided to start small(ish) & with a cause that is obviously, pretty close to my heart. I am going to take on a bit of a challenge and hopefully raise some money for Crohn's & Colitis UK.
I went through a lot of different options for what this challenge could be & decided that walking/hiking/trekking was the most up my street. I got a bit excited and spent a while looking on challenge websites - my favourite options included walking across the Alps, along the Great Wall of China or through the Sahara Desert; many of these had to be discounted as I am not able to have certain vaccines & others were either booked up or had to be booked for late 2016 or even 2017.
I began to explore the idea of a UK based challenge. Many of those listed on Charity Challenge websites involved going up. Up Ben Nevis, up Snowdon, up the Four Peaks - something which will really aggravate my knee. The pre-arranged options are also pretty regimented, with exact dates, times and an itinerary already organised for you. For some this is great but I am a complete control freak and much prefer the idea of planning & putting together my very own challenge.
I am very aware of making it 'challenging' and something worth people donating their money, it needs to be something I can work towards. A few months ago I was using crutches so frankly not much would test me at this point but I don't want it to be too easy.
My current plan is to walk Hadrian's Wall. It's a good distance, not a continuous climb up but still a challenge. I was born in Newcastle & haven't been back since I was 18 months old, so it is also a great opportunity to go back & visit! This all may change between now and May but it is going to be super exciting to organise it all & hopefully raise some money in the process.

2. Get back to exercising
For over a year I was used to going to the gym regularly, sometimes 4-5 times a week. My knee injury back in July put an abrupt stop to this & I have yet to get back in to it. Like many others, my plan for 2016 is to get my fitness levels up & back to exercising regularly. It is hard to get in to but I know it'll be worth it, it always makes me feel better both about the way I look & in controlling my anxiety.

3. Make it fun
Looking forward to 2016 I am determined to make the year fun. Spending months of 2015 house bound has inspired me to do more, try to worry less & generally have more of a good time. So far I have tickets to see Adele with my Mum, have booked to see Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall & have plans to go to Wimbledon. I want to have things to look forward to.

4. Have a whole day off a week
Now I think this one was on my list last year & I definitely didn't stick to it. My aim is to have one full day off Chroma a week. No emails, no checking orders. Working for yourself, it is really hard to not be thinking about it 24/7. I think it'll do me a lot of good to have 24 hours out every week.

5. Stay positive & keep an open mind
I often try and prepare for the worst because if I'm honest, in the past, the worst has happened. I have learnt over the years that things don't always go well or to plan even if you do everything you can - things are outside of your control. In some respects I think this has made me very resilient & I cope with the bad stuff well, in other ways, I think it has made me a bit of a control freak & quick to assume the worst. In 2016 I want to try and stay positive, always look on the bright side & keep an open mind about things which I would usually feel really anxious or worried about.

Hopefully I'll be able to stick to them all! Either way, I think 2016 is going to be a really great year!
xxx