For as far back as I can remember, I have always been a bit of a night owl. Even when I was very young, the 9:00 PM bedtime that my parents had set for me didn't work very well, as I would only end up lying in bed awake for hours, unable to sleep. Mind you, this was without having a smartphone, tablet, or laptop within my reach to keep me up all night; all I really had was maybe a flashlight so I could try to read a book under the covers. I had a TV in my room, but my parents would have known if I had turned the TV on, so that wasn't an option. Most nights, I would just lay in bed bored, until I was finally able to fall asleep around midnight or so. Needless to say that by 8th grade, when my bedtime was no longer enforced, and I was allowed to set my own as long as I didn't make a habit of being late for school, I did not stick to that 9:00 PM bedtime. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to sleep if I went to bed that early anyway, and it didn't take very long for my personal "lights-out" time for a school night to get moved to midnight. I am sure that there are people out there who are screaming at the very thought of that, which is actually fair given the fact that I still had a hard time falling asleep at that time. There were times that I was lying in bed, still trying to fall asleep when my alarm went off. I can't even begin to explain how good it felt to take a long nap the second I got home from school; although let's be real, that nap is probably what made it impossible to sleep at night. 

I could actually go on and on about the horrendous sleeping habits that I've had throughout my life. For the longest time, you could have sworn that I was legitimately nocturnal, and I would often half-joke that I was nocturnal. I was often going to bed when most people would be waking up on the days they chose to sleep in and waking up in the evening. With that said, I'd like to say that if you're on a similar nocturnal sleep schedule, and it works for you, I'm not about to judge you for it. Seriously, you do what works for you. However, while I am most certainly a night owl by nature, I also like mornings, believe it or not, and all my life, I've wanted to be a morning person. And, with that said, I've actually successfully found a way to be a night owl and a morning person simultaneously by going to bed at midnight and waking up at 7:00 AM. However, if I want that 7:00 AM wake-up time to work for me, and not leave me feeling tired, crabby, and unproductive all-day, I have to find a way to actually fall asleep soon after hopping into bed. And when you have a brain that seems to not be able to shut off at night, and all your thoughts start racing the second you dive under the covers, falling asleep isn't always an easy task. Especially when you get bit by the creative bug within an hour of your bedtime. There's actually a wide variety of thoughts that tend to keep me up that I can go on and on about, as you can probably tell. But, that's enough of my sleepy-time woes.

Embarking upon a new fitness journey can undoubtedly be exciting, but at the same time, if it can also be a bit daunting, especially if your fitness journey is a rather drastic lifestyle change from what you're used to. I can also tell you from my own personal experiences that when you start a fitness journey, it can be rather frustrating at times; and sometimes a bit confusing. Although I knew going into my fitness journey that it wasn't aways going to be easy, especially not in the beginning, there were quite a few things that I didn't really anticipate as I progressed in my fitness journey. There were also quite a few things that, although I had heard them before, I didn't really grasp them until after I had progressed into my fitness journey, or until after I had temporarily fallen off the workout wagon. Let me be honest for a second, I've actually learned quite a lot about embarking on a fitness journey through the many times that I've "rage quit" on my own fitness journey out of frustration or when my motivation was lacking. Although for me, frustration and a lack of motivation tend to go hand in hand. I tend to lose my enthusiasm for my fitness journey when I get frustrated with myself or with the journey itself. Then I get frustrated when my motivation is lacking. Then I would end up skipping my workout because I'm frustrated and unmotivated, and I just don't want to keep going, even though I feel guilty about stopping.

All of that being said, I am not telling you this to discourage you from embarking upon or continuing your own fitness journey; as a matter of fact, it's quite the opposite. My whole reason for telling you these things is so that you know that it's normal to get frustrated and lose some of your motivation when you're on your fitness journey. It's not only normal if you end up falling off the wagon, but it's okay; it actually happens to everyone. I am telling you these things because I don't see a lot of fitness or motivational blogs talking about these things enough. I'm telling you these things so that you'll be ready for them when they arise, and they won't discourage you or catch you by complete surprise. I am also telling you some of these things so you don't end up standing in your own way and hindering your own progress on your fitness journey due to any misconceptions or beliefs you may have about living an active lifestyle. Because let me tell you, I have quite a few misconceptions about this lifestyle when I first started. There were also a few things that I had just wished someone told me when I was getting started on my journey.

New Year's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. Some years, I think that I look forward to New Year's Day more then I look forward to Christmas. 2020 is already proving to be one of those years, but let's be real, I think a lot of us are ready for 2020 to end. I suppose that is something that many of us say almost every year, but 2020 has been, erm, interesting, to say the least. But the fact that 2020 has been quite a dumpster fire of a year, at least thus far, isn't the only reason that I'm looking forward to 2021. Honestly, the thing that excites me the most about New Year's Day is the motivating energy that comes along with the beginning of January, and the fact that a new year makes for the perfect opportunity to refocus and begin again. So needless to say, for as far back as I can remember, I have always been the type to set New Year's resolutions virtually every single year, and 2021 will be no exception. As a matter of fact, I've already thought of some of my New Year's resolutions for 2021. Actually, to tell you the truth, I've already begun working on a few of my New Year's resolutions for next year.

Now, you may be wondering why I have decided to start my New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year when the current year still has a few months left in it. You may also be wondering why I am even calling them New Year's resolutions when I already started them months before New Year's Day. Well, aside from the fact that I am done allowing 2020s negative and bizarre vibes to bring me down, I have found that there are actually quite a lot of benefits of setting and starting your New Year's resolutions early. As for why I'm still calling them New Year's resolutions, even though I instituted some of them as early as August of this year, well, to put it simply, these are my New Year's resolutions going into 2021. Meaning that just because we are months out from the new year, it doesn't mean that I can't start getting ready for the new year. This was actually something I started doing last year, and I found that starting my 2020 New Year's resolutions in the final two months of 2019 helped me to adhere to my 2020 New Year's resolutions for a lot longer. At least, until the pandemic threw me for a loop. I think that's excusable though, none of us were expecting any shit quite like that.

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, and it is undeniably one of my favorite things about Autumn. I honestly can't even imagine someone not liking Halloween, as it's a holiday that can be fun for people of all ages, and for both introverts and extraverts. Seriously, it's not just a children's holiday, nor is it just a partiers holiday. Halloween is a fun holiday for anyone who likes to have a little bit of fun, get creative, and who appreciate a good scare every now and then. Although, as someone who has a slightly "emo" or "gothic" side, and who happens to have an October birthday, I may be a little bit biased. I suppose there are some people out there who wouldn't take any pleasure in the festivities of Halloween and don't find it fun, but I am most certainly not one of those people. I absolutely love Halloween, and I always like to do at least a little something to celebrate it every year, even if I'll be celebrating it entirely on my own. That being said, as an introverted homebody, I often do end up celebrating it on my own at home, so I know quite a few ways to enjoy Halloween to it's fullest potential right from home.

Although I may have some mixed feelings about Autumn, it is a beautiful and wonderful season, and I certainly look forward to it. But honestly, who doesn't (at least somewhat) look forward to the Fall time? Even as a Summertime girl, I look forward to all of the marvelous things that Autumn has to offer; the aesthetic, the sweaters, the food, the hot drinks, the festivities, just to name a few things. Summer might be my favorite season, but I love Autumn too, especially as an introvert who (mostly) prefers to stay home, even under normal, non-2020, types of circumstances. It seems to be a lot more socially acceptable to stay in during the Fall than it is during the Summer. Or at least, it seems that way to me. I don't even know how many times I've heard some version of "get outside and enjoy the lovely weather" during the Summertime in pre-2020 years. Plus, many people tend to associate Summer with going to theme parks, beaches, festivals, parties, or purely getting out of the house more, in general. Autumn, however, typically offers a lot for both introverts and extroverts alike.

I'm not going to lie to you; I was looking forward to stepping outside of my comfort zone partaking in some Autumnal activities outside the house this year. I sincerely wanted to visit my local apple orchard and check out their Autumnal festival, as I have never really checked it out, even though it's within easy walking distance of where I live, but 2020 is proving to not be the year for that. Even if the government does give the thumbs up for Autumnal festivals to go on, I wouldn't feel great about going this year, even though Fall festivals are primarily outdoor events. It just doesn't seem necessary (or responsible) to go to any type of event this year, indoor or outdoor, even if I wore a mask. So needless to say, I'll once again be enjoying the Fall time from home this year.