Spring is here! As is typical for March here in southern Ontario, we experienced a taste of all four seasons during the month—sometimes within a single day. I have faith that consistently warmer temperatures are just around the corner. But first, it’s time for my March 2025 roundup.

In addition to my goals update, my March 2025 roundup has a terrific post on the harmful side of toxic positivity, an inspirational piece about an ordinary person doing extraordinary things, and a post full of inspiration and wisdom for these difficult times.

Happy reading!

Cool things I read in March

Since publishing my first monthly roundup at the end of 2020, it has been an honour to introduce you to some of my favourite bloggers. I started the roundup to say thank you to the blogging community and bring attention to talented writers who create inspiring and informative content.

Here are three pieces that captured my attention in March.

“Good Vibes Only”: The Harmful Side of Toxic Positivity – Unwanted Life

One of things I hated to hear following my cancer diagnosis was that a positive attitude would cure my cancer. (If you missed my post on things you should never say to someone with cancer, you can find it here.) I didn’t have a label for it at the time, but it was an excellent example of toxic positivity.

This terrific post from Unwanted Life discusses the downside of failing to acknowledge our negative feelings, and offers alternative coping strategies.  

Toxic positivity can and will stop us from processing important emotions, like sadness, anger, fear, and grief, which can be important for our healing process.

Unwanted Life, “Good Vibes Only”: The Harmful Side of Toxic Positivity

The Bus Driver Who Became an Angel for New York’s Hungry – Aspiring Blog

In this inspiring post, Deepak tells the story of  Jorge Muñoz, a humble immigrant and a true testimonial to the power that is within each of us to make a difference in the world. Stories like this demonstrate why we need to fight against discrimination and hatred. We cannot allow hate to win!

Jorge didn’t care about legal status, nationality, or circumstances. He only saw that hungry people needed some help.

Aspiring Blog, The Bus Driver Who Became an Angel for New York’s Hungry

What I Know, Not What I Think – Surprised by Joy

This post from Wynne was exactly what I needed to end March on a high note. It truly is a bundle of inspiration and wisdom. If you need to be uplifted today, take a few minutes to read and ponder it. You’ll be glad you did!

People working together can accomplish great things.Pitting people against each other can lead to temporary gains but comes at a cost.

Wynne Leon, What I Know, Not What I Think

Sharing of authentic stories is transformative. Opinions rarely brings us together. Swapping stories often does.

Wynne Leon, What I Know, Not What I Think

What I wrote in March

In case you missed any of them, here are the new posts I published in March here on Boomer Eco Crusader.

• The Sunday Spark – Giving up social media for Lent
• The Sunday Spark – In praise of the strong women in my life
• What you need to know about groundwater
• The Sunday Spark – Pandemic life lessons we should have learned
• How you can fight back against planned obsolescence
• Four tips for saving money on your next eco-travel break (Guest post)
• The Sunday Spark – Make a difference with purpose moments
• Is this the year I get serious(ish) about spring cleaning?
• The Sunday Spark – Why I’m escaping the busyness

Plus, I refreshed and republished these posts.

• 25 easy ways to have fun at work today
• Time management tips to help you get more done today

And on my retirement coaching site Second Life Vision, I published Working in retirement growing in popularity featuring an article about age-friendly workplaces that I wrote for an industry publication.

---

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

---

March goals update

The up and down weather I mentioned earlier, combined with general busyness, made it difficult to stay focused on my goals at times during the month. Let’s look at how things went.

Fitness goals

Have I mentioned the crazy weather we saw in March? It made it harder for me to follow through on my plans to get out and walk more, so I fell just short of my goal of 325 minutes of physical activity a week. Even so, I averaged 319 minutes a week. I did, however, keep up with my goal of 2 strength training and 3 balance/flexibility sessions every week.

Reading

I met my goal of reading 5 books in March. Here’s what I read this month:

• The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden
• Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle by Lloyd Alter
• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
• Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
• Rest, Refocus, Recharge by Greg Wells

Intentional living

I successfully gave up my my personal social media when Lent started on March 5. And I didn’t miss it at all! Watch for an update post on that later this month.

Writing

I made excellent progress on my first writing goal for March. Not only did I create a plan and timeline for my book of memoirs, but I got inspired and wrote a first draft of the first section. And, while I didn’t get the first draft of my piece for a collaboration I’m working on written, I did write a solid outline that I can build on.

My April goals

Here are my goals for this month.

• Fitness goals: I fell just short of my goal in March, so I’ll try again. As I build toward 400 minutes a week I’m keeping the same 325 minute goal for April. And I’ll continue with 2 strength training and 3 balance/flexibility sessions every week.
• Reading: Recognizing that I’ll be travelling to B.C. to visit my daughter Laura at the end of the month, I’ve lowered my reading goal to 4 books.
• Intentional living: My Lenten break from my personal social media will continue until Easter. Before then, I plan to take some time to reconsider if and how I’ll return to those platforms.  
• Writing: I have two writing goals for April. First, I plan to turn the outline of my piece for a collaboration I’m working on into a first draft. And I’ll take some time to map out and plan my writing activities for the rest of the year.

---

Thanks for dropping by to check out my March 2025 roundup. How is 2025 going for you so far? Drop me a comment below to let me know.