Amelia's summer of self improvement

Welcome to the Summer of Amelia. The title is a reference to Seinfield, but that’s not what’s important here. I am talking about my journey of self improvement! Last week I mentioned that I may or may not be a workaholic. I know that, you know that - it’s old news. 

I decided to start on a challenge/journey that I have coined the Summer of Amelia. This may sound egotistical to some, but I don't care because that’s the whole point of the Summer of Amelia. Let me explain. 

In Spain, the program that I studied through offered participants free therapy. So I decided to take therapy and happened to learn a lot about myself in the process: Some good and some that need improvement, just like everybody else. I have decided that this summer provides the perfect opportunity to buckle down and work on the elements I want to improve. 

For example, my fear of missing out, or FOMO. It stems from me finding a fantastic group of friends in college and not wanting to miss out on anything or do anything to risk the friendships that I was trying to build at the time of college, freshman year, dorm living me. 

That’s just one example. I also have to work on realizing that I need to put myself first sometimes. Whether that be making sure I don’t become too much of a workaholic or whether that means making sure I eat enough, sleep enough, have enough time to be me. I’m proud to say that I got my talent of putting others first from my dad, who often works crazy hours as well, helping people as much as he can. But we all need to make sure we take care of ourselves as well. 

Not only am I trying to improve myself mentally or emotionally, but also physically. This past year, I have started going to the gym more consistently, working on becoming the healthiest version of myself. So naturally that meant I had to get a gym membership in town, something I had been debating whether or not to do for a long time (you see, Mom and Dad wanted me to use our “home gym” which, although impressive, is still not quite enough, sorry guys). 

And I started eating healthier - or trying to. Before, I would do the college thing of only maybe eating twice a day, if I had time. Now, with the Summer of Amelia, I eat three meals a day. Which I know isn’t a huge deal, but it’s really weird for me to be eating lunch, I’ll tell you that. 

There are a lot of little things that go into the Summer of Amelia, but I’m starting to learn more about myself, about what I need and how to balance my life. Like I said earlier, I know it sounds selfish. But I think everyone needs to stop and think of themselves once in a while. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating well? Are you nurturing not only your body but your mind? Are you happy? I hope everyone gets to learn to love themselves like I’m learning to love me.