Here we are bringing in another “New Year” – 2012.  Each New Year brings with it a time of optimism and fresh starts; recollections and resolutions.  For many, the start of the year is a time to rest and rejuvenate after the holiday “madness”, to put the decorations away and return life to a more normal pace.

What resolutions will you make this year?  First on many people’s list is regular exercise and weight loss; especially after the overindulgence of the holiday season.  What a wonderful start to the year and a truly “healthy” you!  

Take some time to consider what is “fun” and burns those calories. Do you like to dance? How about Zumba?  Do you miss friendly conversation time?  The Saturday morning walking group is talking a mile a minute as they pass by each Saturday for over a year now.  Would working up to a local 5K charity run make you feel like a champion? Check out the “couch to 5K” plans on the internet, iPhone or at the local gym.  Find a way to exercise with your spouse, partner or friends a few times a week to build your relationships as well as burn those calories.  Do you miss competing on a team?  Ask around, you might find a Saturday morning pick-up basketball or soccer group or Sunday afternoon volleyball gang.  

The hours you invest in exercise will be your highest yield “golden” hours of the week for your health, physical and even mental wellbeing. Take a minute to review your routine health visits. Those annual exams can become “biannual” or longer so easily in our busy lives.  Be sure to schedule time for your optical and dental exams.  Ladies, check in with your gynecologist for that annual evaluation and scheduling of mammograms, bone density studies, etc. that you may be due for. Get that annual physical exam and bloodwork from your general practitioner – that one hour a year is “golden”!  Over fifty? Schedule that colonoscopy – the life you save may be your own! Your doctors can help keep you on schedule for the one year, five year and ten year routine screenings that are recommended.

What resolutions will you make to maintain or improve your mental health?  Our daily pace has picked up to a frantic level at times with longer work hours, more responsibilities and activities.  Time to reflect and rejuvenate gets pushed aside.  Carve out a few “golden” hours for yourself and your mental and spiritual wellbeing.  Church or synagogue?  Journaling a few minutes a day?  A quiet hour of phone conversation to catch up with an old friend?  We all have periods of unresolved issues in our lives whether grief, sadness, anger or guilt, etc.  Find a counselor or a friend you trust and take the time to talk these out.  Healing follows.

What a great time of year!  Take one golden hour to ponder what changes you would like to see in the coming months and go after those special hours with all of the vigor and energy we usually reserve for the absolutely important events.  You and your health are definitely worth it.