Few things I want to do, and few that I don't

Post date: 2022-05-13 04:58:12

Hi, this was me. After some delays, I'm all set to move to the new place. I'm looking to build some positive habits concurrently, and also not do certain things, as much as possible. And an additional thing that shouldn't have been a surprise...but is. Help me sort this out?

Things I want to do:
The place I'm moving out from was in a terrible part of the city, and very far from my workplace. I'd locked into the habit of delaying my return home to avoid rush hour and then indulged in revenge procrastination (by Friday I had slits for eyes and the patience of a hungry crocodile), and a lot of comfort eating, especially when WFO resumed. While the late returns home reduced somewhat once I got my cats, the snacking and procrastination didn't. I need better sleep hygiene/discipline, more consistent physical activity, and better food choices, and it would be so cool to use this move as a reset button as I now would have more time and access to calm/beautiful public spaces. How do I build these habits? All at once? Stack one by one? How do you ensure you sleep enough to feel rested/eat sensibly most of the time/incorporate enough movement?
Things I don't want to do:
The cost of living in this part of the city is significantly higher. It's well worth it in the general sense, but I would like to be careful about my budget since there is no corresponding increase in my pay. How should I rebalance my budget? (The main increase would be transport costs and utilities).
I'm also moving much closer to a guy I dated for a bit. I felt much more strongly than he did, and while we fell apart romantically we remained very good friends - which sometimes means I still have moments of sadness about 'if only' scenarios in my head. He's said he's looking forward to hanging out much more often and it sounds both awesome and horrible. He's one of the very few people I know in that area. I love spending time with him. It's easy and fun. I don't want to torture myself thinking of all the ways it would be so great to be together. It's not meant to be. How do I protect my heart?
And lastly, the thing that's throwing me for a loop -
I made a huge mistake when I picked current apartment (this was seven years back) - I followed someone to this city and chose basis physical proximity to them. This worked out badly, to put it mildly. They abandoned me early on, and the last few years has been a terrible slog, both physically and mentally, some of it irreversible. I am ecstatic about moving...and yet, I'm hit by a strange sense of grief. I built a home for myself. I adopted my rescue cats. I made local friends. I had haunts and favourite coffeeshops. I learnt that my sense of humour would (and did) carry me through some pretty bad stuff. I weathered big bad events alone, including the worst of the pandemic. I've always been the sort of person who acutely misses cities and old homes and familiar faces. How do I honour this stuff before I move out? I want to.
This is a grab-bag of a question but since everything is centred around the move I put it all together. Any and all inputs appreciated!

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