YAY! My sister’s cat Dante came home yesterday! PHEW!  One less thing to worry about.  I also went home and got to see where my brother and dad buried our dog.  He’s got a lovely little ‘plot’ near the edge of our property, marked with a little stone angel.  I almost cried when my brother told me that he buried Smooch (dog) with his favourite toy, bunny.

I’ve recently made an effort to get back into making weekly goals.  In treatment, each week we’d make a set of goals and objectives for the week and then would report back on how we did at the following group.  I found that having to be accountable was by far the most motivating factor.  I’ve made goals before (healthy/unhealthy/whatever), but sometimes had trouble staying focused on them.  Goals always brought up thoughts of loftiness, unattainable, failing. I think it’s because, in the past, I set goals that were almost impossible to reach…setting myself up for failure.  When I entered treatment, goals and I didn’t have a very good relationship, to say the least.

But for a lack of better words, I was forced to set weekly goals in one of the groups I was a part of.  I mean, we didn’t have to…but what was the point of working on recovery if I wasn’t going to work on recovery ya know?  And so I set my goals each week and reported back on my progress the following week.  As I shared, I always felt heard and my hard work was acknowledged. I received so much support from the team and other group members, all of whom offered their insights and encouragement.  I remember the nutritionist telling me one week that “change should feel a bit uncomfortable”. That really spoke to me – if you’re not feeling a little unsure or anxious about a goal, you might not be pushing yourself as much as you need to.  But on the flip side, you can’t set goals that send your anxiety level through the roof either.  It’s all about BALANCE.

We learned to set S.M.A.R.T GOALS:

S – Specific (be CLEAR about what you want to acheive
M – Measurable (so you know when you’ve attained it)
A – Attainable (nothing too lofty)
R – Realistic (Is this really something you can do at this point in your recovery?)
T – Timely (Set a limit on when you will acheive this goal)

We would pick an ‘overarching goal’ each week (ex. to be more mindful, to learn to manage my triggers, to use my voice), and then 3 ‘objectives’ (short-term, S.M.A.R.T ways of reaching your overall goal).  SO, in order to be accountable to myself and whoever chooses to read this, here are my goals this week:

Goal: To challenge my current state of ‘Ed-head’
Obj1:  Have a complete (protein, carb, veg.) dinner 2 times this week
Obj2: Replace one workout with a hike/walk (something I actually enjoy!) this week.  And take a friend/family member!
Obj3: Complete 2 ‘thought-stopping’ worksheets (acknowlege, challenge, reframe an automatic negative thought)

So there it is.  I hope, when you are ready, you set some goals for yourself too.  It pays off!

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