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

September Challenge: Week Two Update

I turned the page from August to September with the idea of a September challenge.

I had been reminded of how effective a monthly challenge can be because of the relatively short time span. I also remember how significant September had become for me - almost thinking of it as my new year.

So I decided to challenge myself to bump up my daily walking - from my usual mile/day - to add another half-mile or maybe even more.

I am pleased to discover that I am doing well with that challenge - having walked 18 miles so far.

So yes, it’s working… 

And I am encouraged.

...

Somewhere in those transitional hours from August to September I also decided to set a writing challenge to augment my walking challenge.  

I had already been seeing my writing year as beginning in September - a time to rebuild my regular writing habits and to ponder my writing strategy for the coming months.

I chose as my main challenge to make sure that I am writing at least 300 words/day - for a minimum of 5 days/week or 20 days for the month.  So far I have succeeded every day of the first 11 days.

Early in the month I also pondered my wish of turning my monthly blogging habit into a weekly one. I decided to give it a try.  Sadly, I had begun to think I might not succeed with that one this week, but I guess I am. Right here. Right now. Taking that next step I am.

So there we go.

Small steps

Progress

Gratification

September Fitness Challenge

50 miles during August!!! * 

When my Facebook Memories remind me that I used to walk 3 miles a day I can be tempted to feel badly that I do only one mile/day lately.  

On the other hand I can choose to celebrate the fact that I AM walking at least a mile most days. 

I mostly choose to celebrate.

…

Recently I saw Leo Babauta of Zen Habits recommending a month-long fitness challenge.  He says such a challenge can be helpful for a couple reasons:

1. Because I am committed to something.  (Now there’s a novel idea.)
2. Because it is for a short time.   (A short time sounds good. Am I right?)

That’s when I went to my calendar to see how many miles I had done so far this month.

That’s also when I realized that I could maybe make it to 50 miles yet in August.

Because I had already been pushing a bit more than usual…

So I decided to start there - and I made it!

Yay!

…

So, yes, I will do a fitness challenge for September but I’m still deciding about my target numbers.  I know they must be doable - so I think I’ll start with 30 miles as my minimum commitment and then 40 or more will be bonus.  

…

* Disclaimer:

This is where I pause to clarify that not all of those 50 August miles were walking, but about a dozen of them were biking.

For September I think I will start by using only walking miles and keep the biking separate…

Keep it simple; right?

…

Sitting area finally ready for sitting

We have always called it our “sitting area” although some people remember the huge stacks of bins and boxes, etc. that were piled there on moving day.  

As the weeks turned into months a few of you may remember hearing me exclaim about how I was getting it down to like only three rows deep under those windows. 

And then how excited I was as Row Two started to disappear.

...

Well... during GoodStock at The Good Beans Cafe, my man checked out the rummage sale in the Anteroom and found a pair of cool chairs for our sitting area.  

So… it was time to tackle Row One for real. I am happy to report that I have now pared it down enough that we can actually sit there in our sitting area.  

Sitting room, library, lounge... whatever.

I call it progress!

It wasn’t until sometime later that we discovered

the lovely chairs once belonged to the amazing Sybyl Atwood. 

Focus

 2020 vision

A year ago I wrote about vision and focus and perspective… and the fact that I sometimes struggle to keep my focus on the “right” things. The important stuff.   I was referring to the fact that other things around us are constantly vying for our attention and that I am easily distracted.  I was hoping to focus on becoming more focused… or something… during 2020.  

You could say that 2020 did not go as planned; right?  We quickly found ourselves in a different world than we had ever imagined.  To say that our focus changed is a huge understatement.  

Suddenly, more than ever, so many things screamed for our attention and continue to demand our focus.  Many of them are negative.  Sad and scary and often downright frightening.  Frustrating and heartbreaking.  AND things that make us angry and that threaten to destroy our relationships and our communities.  

It has become so hard to look away…  

To pull our focus from the horrible… and toward the worthwhile.  

To seek and find the good.  

To believe the best. 

To choose to be the good.  

To contribute to that which builds and heals.

Photo by Jenna Hamra from Pexels

I admitted a year ago that I needed to get better at choosing my focus.

And now as I stand in this moment, I’m not sure it has EVER been so difficult.

Nor so important.

For all of us.

Life and health depend on it.

We must choose wisely.

The gift of un-busy

"Slow down.

Clear your calendar.

Take time to breathe deeply
and enjoy the season."

A few years ago I worked hard to get to a place of un-busy.  Sure enough, I very much enjoyed the feeling of simplicity.  I asked myself about that the other day - how I did it and why I let it slip away.

Oh, yah, it was because we were out there living on the road…

• Away from our world and our peeps
• Away from our roots.
• Away from friends and family
• Away from any kind of social life
• Away from time commitments

It was nice to not be so busy.  

To not always be scurrying or feeling behind

But it wasn’t perfect.

I missed my peeps, those little grands, our kids, and dear friends.

I missed having at least a bit of a social life.

So here we are a couple years later and we’ve again put down roots. Even though we knew hardly anyone when we moved here, we found ourselves surrounded by wonderful people who soon became friends.  Options and opportunities abound in this place so I just had to try everything.  

Until I couldn’t.

Until I remembered that I can’t do it all.

That I might have to re-teach myself how to pick and choose only the best.  I had to admit that my old tendency to over-commit had returned with a vengeance.  I needed to step back and make some changes.

For three months now I have been intentionally finding my way back toward un-busy.  Not there yet, but I am beginning to breathe easier.

This would be the perfect spot for my magical list of three easy steps to find un-busy.  Sorry; I haven’t found time to come up with a neat list all tied up with a bow.  I’m still in the trenches on this - reminding myself to notice how I’m doing and to ask the hard questions about my choices.  I’m still finding my way back to sanity.  I choose to give myself the gift of un-busy again.  To live at a healthy pace.

Maybe next month I can come up with a handy-dandy list.  

Or maybe not.

How much is enough?

Is it just me? 

Or does anybody else ever feel like you're not doing enough?

Not doing THIS enough and not doing THAT enough...?

Other people have expectations of us.

Social media sets up unrealistic standards.

It can be easy to feel like I should be doing more.

I should do this or that more often.

More frequently.

More regularly. 

More consistently.

Or I should care more.

I should be more available.

I should be better at this...

(And yes, that's a whole lot of should's but that's a subject for another time.)

What a set-up for discouragement!

What a load of guilt can get dumped on us!

...

But you know what?

We simply cannot do it all!

Certainly not all of the things that everybody wants us to do - and not even everything that we might think we ought to do.

...

One of the best things I've ever done is to stop and ask:

How much is enough?

How much should I be doing really?

What is realistic?

What is healthy?

Reasonable?

What lines up with who I am?

With the kind of person I want to be, but also with my priorities and responsibilities...

...

It's tough to be objective about whether we are doing enough - especially when other people's expectations are far different from ours.  Sometimes we have to compromise and sometimes we must experiment to see what will actually work.

One of my ongoing examples is writing.

I can easily feel like I'm not writing enough.

Oh, dear; am I writing enough?

Perhaps the more important question is:

How much is enough?

How often is appropriate?

How MUCH should I do each time?

(How many words, how many projects, how many hours...?)

How in the world

will I know if I'm doing enough

if I don't have a clue

how much I should be doing?!?

I’m happy to report that this process is helping - with my writing, with relationships, with chores, with outside commitments...

Now when I begin to feel like I'm not doing enough I can pause and think about my answers to that key question.  I can much more objectively see that "Yes, I am doing enough at this moment" or maybe admit "Oops; it is true that I need to do that one more time this week."

It was no fun to be stuck in subjectivity and always feeling like I wasn't doing enough. 

Or wasn't doing something OFTEN enough.

Or LONG enough.

Or whatever...

It feels so much more reasonable and healthy to be able to take a look at my goals and at the reality and to see whether adjustments need to be made to my schedule.  I suppose it is a type of self-accountability.

This is a tool to become a better person.

A dependable worker

A faithful friend

More consistent

More reasonable

More balanced

And definitely a healthier person

More satisfied and contented

It feels good to be consistently doing the things that are important.

I like myself a whole lot better... 

Snow day!!!

Another snow day!
Snow days are wonderful.

We’ve had lots of them so far this winter.  

Lots of opportunity to enjoy Michigan winter.

Disclaimer:  even though I am no longer a teacher or a student nor am I personally affected by snow days, I still notice them - perhaps because they were always such a wonderful part of winter.

…

During the years we lived “on the road” we were away from Michigan for four winters. Despite our fun adventures in beautiful places, I had begun to feel like something was missing.

The kids and grand-kids. Obviously. 

And friends.
And a sense of belonging and community...

And then one day I happened upon an article that grabbed my attention. 

…

I started reading it and then I stopped reading so I could write about it.
I simply had to interact with what I was reading.
I was compelled to try to capture these thoughts and feelings.

I found myself crying as I read some more and as I wrote some more.

I began to recognize some of what I was missing.  
Some of the nostalgia associated with Michigan winters for me.

…

Snow days...
  

Memories from my childhood.

The smell of fresh bread baking. 

Curled up with a good book.

Going sledding on the big hill on the dead-end road.

Clambering up onto the huge snow banks piled high by the snow plows.

Coming back inside the house chilled to the bone.
Standing over the huge floor register as the warmth rising from the furnace below spread through those cold muscles.

Maybe get out a big jigsaw puzzle.

Definitely a holiday feel.

…

And then there were the memories from our years as teachers and with our own kids...

A roaring fire in the fireplace.
Not having to do anything or go anywhere - unless we decided to walk to Grandpa and Grandma’s place.  
Or to maybe walk a little farther across the fields to the other grandparents!
Or just listen to our boots crunching the snow as we walked through the silent woods.

…

But it wasn’t just the snow days.  Even when life was moving along on a “normal” schedule, something was different about wintertime. Something special and valuable. 
A sense of coziness.  
Not really hibernation, but of feeling snug and at peace.  
Of having time to breathe. 
Time to BE and not just DO.  

Maybe I shouldn’t say this out loud, but I really loved January and February - because I felt like they offered a chance to slow down and think.  To process life.  To learn. To read and study.

…

And so on the day I read that article I remembered what I loved about Michigan winter. 

I learned that “Norwegians … have a word, koselig, that means a sense of coziness. It’s like the best parts of Christmas, without all the stress.”  

Yes!  That’s it.  Or at least, that’s part of it.

That’s what I was missing. What I was wishing for.

And so I kept writing and thinking - trying to articulate what I was feeling.  

And of course I wondered what hubby would think.

He had been the one who wanted to get out of Michigan winter.

He had suggested that we try it for at least one year and then maybe alternate - one winter in the south and the next in Michigan.  I had agreed to give it a try.  

We spent that first winter in the tropics and I was okay.  And then we got our RV and did two more winters in the south - as far south as we could drive the rig.  And then we flew to the tropics one more time. We found some great spots in each of those winters.  

So what would he think?

He quickly agreed that it was certainly my turn.  AND he even felt like he also was ready to come off the road and settle down for a bit.  So we decided to give it a try.  

And…

Not only did we survive a Michigan winter, but we found ourselves ready to buy a house and put down roots.  In fact that was his idea.  He realized that he was ready for some “projects” - as in to do some carpentry again.

…

Years earlier, when we put the tree farm up for sale we had decided to try out the life on the road and then see whether we ever felt like buying property again.

And here we are - in an old historic house with lots of projects to be done.   

And here we are - smack dab in the middle of a Michigan winter.

Granted; I have to admit that winter in the city is far different than winter in the country - but some things might actually be better.  

Like the fact that we can walk to The Local Grocer if we run out of supplies.

AND the cafe next door is still a bustling place - a community gathering spot - even on a snow day!  That’s fun.

But...
Snow days don't automatically mean a slower pace and a sense of cozy peace.
I still have my strong tendency to let my schedule get too busy - especially because there are so many fun opportunities that come with living here. Therefore I have had to make deliberate and even difficult choices to slow my life down so that I can once again bask in the glow of my Michigan winter.

And oh, yes, I readily admit that there are lots of things about Michigan winters that are NOT fun or warm and cozy.  Duh. Dealing with snow and wind and ice and sub-zero temps can be downright miserable - not to mention dangerous and unhealthy.

But still I want to make it a priority to focus on the good stuff and to celebrate the things about Michigan winter that I love.  The things that I need about this season.

So here's to snow days!

Here's to slowing down.

Here's to koselig.

Here's to the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven...
...or a pot of soup simmering on the back burner!

Here's to gazing out at the beautiful snowflakes.

And here's to shoveling them every few hours!