The Accountant and I went hiking today. We saw this warning sign next to a few rocks by a small creek. I started giggling. The poor man in the sign looked so dire especially when compared to our current surroundings of a handful of rocks and a creek that I could hop across. While I was laughing, I stepped on a loose rock and wobbled a bit. I’m fine and quickly recovered my footing. Lesson learned. Pay attention to the warning signs, even the silly ones.
I’ve been so busy with my day job the last two weeks that my blog had to take a back seat. But never fear! I am back now and ready to start my next 13 day challenge. My eighth challenge is to keep a food diary. Now, I’ve kept a food diary in the past so this one is different. Instead of writing down my food and portion size, I’m going to just write down the time of day I eat and any emotions connected to when I ate. My goal is not really to stop myself from eating ice cream ever again or to only eat carrots. Who wants to only eat carrots? My goal is to track how I feel about the food I eat. I might learn something along the way.
The Practical Reason
Many studies show that tracking helps you recognize patterns. In fact, I have read that you don’t have to track forever. You just need to track long enough to get a true picture of your habits. I think 13 days will give me a good picture.
The Philosophy Reason
The whole idea for this challenge came from this cool quote. “Freedom from obsession is not about something you do; it’s about knowing who you are. It’s about recognizing what sustains you and what exhausts you. What you love and what you think you love because you believe you can’t have it. We don’t want to EAT hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to BE hot fudge sundaes. We want to come home to ourselves –Geneen Roth.
I don’t really consider myself obsessed, but I do like the idea of being true to myself and recognizing what I really want out of life.
I have curly hair which means that I’ve had a lot of bad hair days over the years. Recently, I’ve had more good hair days than bad days. Let me tell you my story. One day, I saw a woman at the grocery store with beautiful curly hair. I followed her for ten minutes from isle to isle until I got up enough courage to ask who did her hair. I walked away with a phone number for a fancy salon. When I called to set an appointment, a woman with a European accent answered the phone. “We are running a special for new customers. It is only $100”. I’m the type of girl who clips coupons so the price seemed absolutely scandalous. I was even more shocked when the receptionist told me that in this salon your hair will be cleansed and cut by a true hair artist, but all the styling is done by the patron. “What”, I cried. “I’m paying a $100 to do my own hair”. “It is part of our philosophy”, said the receptionist. “How will you do it at home if we style it?”
My appointment took three hours at the salon. Apparently, my hair artist had to spend longer with me than the typical client, because the receptionist kept coming in to let the artist know her next appointment was here. In the end, it was the best $100 I’ve ever spent. I have been much happier with my hair and I’ve learned two life lessons.
Lesson one: When you see people who have what you want, ask them how they got it.
Lesson two: It is okay to spend $100 on yourself.
About two weeks ago, my hubby discovered that we could watch all the Star Trek episodes ever created on the internet for free. We signed up for one of those 30 days free internet streaming specials. We are determined to only do 30 days and not get stuck paying $20 a month. We kind of joked that my next challenge would be watching science-fiction. Although it sounds very enjoyable to do nothing but watch Star Trek for the next 13 days, I have a day job and a life full of other obligations. We are enjoying watching one or two episodes a day though.
We got a package in the mail. Boxes are not just fun for little kids. I just had to know how much of me would fit inside of it. After the picture was taken, I started thinking. How many times have I put myself in a box? How many times have I told myself that I couldn’t do something or say something or be something based on the box around me? Whose box is it anyway? Have I ever stopped myself from being healthy based on my thoughts and feelings? The box really got me thinking about my thinking. For my next 13 day challenge, I’m going to make a concentrated effort to analyze my thoughts related to my physical and emotional health. Here is the plan. I’m carrying a little notebook around with me. If I catch myself saying anything negative about my body, mind or path in life, I’m writing it down. I will then try to rephrase the negative thought with something more positive.
The Practical Reason
I read somewhere that the average human has 50,000 thoughts per day. If I can make some of those little thoughts more happy and positive, I’m sure it will help with my physical and emotional health.
The Philosophy Reason
“Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself”–Plato
You can’t get more philosophical than Plato.
Hi America,
How would you like to help me pick my next challenge? It won’t cost you anything either. I know that most of the music shows and dance contests charge people. I will let you vote for free. Please help me pick my next challenge.
What should I do next?
A) Track everything I eat and plan menus for the next 13 days
B) Jump rope for 13 minutes every day for the next 13 days
C) Write 13 positive affirmations about myself every day
D) Clean my house (I read a study that said people with clean houses are healthier.)
Vote now.
Have you heard the Aesop’s tale about the Turtle and the Hare (rabbit).
The Hare and Turtle are in a race. The Hare sprints off and the Turtle goes slow, because that is what Turtles do. After running for a bit, the Hare realizes that the Turtle will take all day. The Hare, who always has her list with her, starts getting things done. First, she stops at the store to do some grocery shopping. Then, it is off to visit the orphans and tutor children at her local elementary school. The Hare’s boss down at the Animal Factory calls her. The fish are swimming in circles again and need to be organized. The Hare manages to cram 12 hours of fish organizational work into an 8 hour shift. The Turtle is still no where in sight. The Hare decides it is time for some TLC. She takes a nap. The Hare only gets 15 minutes of shut eye, before she is woken up by a pesky news reporter who asks how she feels now that the Turtle is about to cross the finish line. The Hare sprints to catch up, but the Turtle’s little foot crosses the finish line before her. “Slow and steady wins the race”, the other animals cheer. The Turtle is the hero for the day and gets the big promotion at the Animal Factory. The Hare goes home and eats chocolate. The fish go back to swimming in circles. The End.
I’m eight days into my go to bed by 10:30 p.m. challenge. I’m still working on it and I am making some progress. Challenges would be a lot easier if that is all I did.
The last few days I have been very contemplative about the state of the world. I keep thinking about the children I’ve taught over the years who are the same ages as the little ones who were shot. There is so much sadness and grief in this world. There is also a lot of good and people who are saints and heroes. It is hard to know what you will get when you go outside, but outside I must go. I can’t stay inside just because there is a part of me that is afraid that I will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m not an expert on mental health issues, gun control, school safety and all of the other issue that have been brought up this weekend. I do know this though. We’ve got to ask the hard questions and find the answers that can heal our souls, homes, schools and nation.
I’m still working on my challenge to eat dinner at home. I’m on Day 7 now. 6 more days to go. The hubby and I will celebrate by going out to eat.
Once upon a time there was a girl who read a lot of self-help books. One day she realized that she had tons of books, but no progress to show for her vast knowledge. This girl is me, and I’ve decided to do something about it. I’m going to stretch myself with 13 day challenges. Why 13 days? The self-help gurus say a habit is formed in 21 days. I don’t like to do what everybody else tells me to do. You can join me on my journey by doing your own challenges.
my 13 day challenge 