Thankful for progress I am

A month ago I decided to bump up my daily walking commitment by adding another half mile to my usual mile route.

As I look back at my September calendar, I see that I did indeed walk at least a mile & a half on 17 of those days.

And 7 of them were at least 1.7 

And 7 days were over 2 miles!

On this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful that I made that commitment and proud of myself for the progress.    And I’m thinking for October I might push past 2 miles several days again.

Also, I am thinking that I want to address one other wellness issue - the whole question of pausing to consider whether I am actually hungry - before putting food in my mouth.

I do love food - and I love to find as many opportunities to partake as possible.

BUT I wish I could build a habit of pausing to ask if I am hungry first.

Before eating.

What a concept; right?

I sometimes incorporate handy-dandy little TLA’s in my to-do list - because I kinda' love TLA’s.  Three-letter-acronyms.

So I’m pulling out my WFH* TLA once again.

It reminds me to Wait For Hunger by pausing to ask myself if I am actually hungry.

 

I shall re-incorporate that little directive into my to-do list - reminding myself topause and evaluate and give myself a little checkmark.  Simple; right?

There is however one more layer I sometimes add for further effectiveness.

This one came to my attention many years ago from a friend who struggled with alcohol.  

She spoke of the times when the best she could do would be to postpone her intake - by 15 minutes - maybe over & over again.  It immediately struck me that it might work for food as well as for alcohol.

So… sometimes… I realize that I’m probably not gonna’ make it all the way to stomach-growling hunger… but I can choose to wait at least 15 minutes** - and then maybe another 15…

I think that I am deciding to challenge myself to pay attention during October… to pause and honestly assess whether I am in fact hungry.  That might be enough to get my attention, to make a better decision, and maybe to turn my attention to something besides food.

’Tis a way to be intentional - with my thoughts and then my action of deciding and maybe setting that timer for 15 minutes.

I am unsure about specific goals for this, but I am deciding to at least experiment with it once again - so that I can choose to be more alert and responsible.

…

*  WFH - wait for hunger

** WFM - wait 15 minutes

One Magic Moment

Once upon a time we worked at a lighthouse with a team of six people.

One evening Bob and I found ourselves alone in the keepers’ quarters.

Alone in the whole place and the whole lonely shoreline.

I was just reminded of that evening and of how tired we were from the day’s work.

But I was also reminded that I paid attention to the potential of a magic moment and pushed myself just enough to get down the stairs and out the door to the beach - yes, in my PJs.  What a glorious memory.

How many times do I miss magical moments?

Maybe I’m too busy

Too tired

Maybe I don’t even notice the idea

Nor pause to consider the possibility

So now, today, I am reminding myself to watch for such magic.

To pause and consider the moment - and what could maybe happen.

To provide space to welcome magic moments.

Photo credit: Bob Sims

You can read more about that PJ sunset here.