I love the cheerfulness of daffodils, and also they are about one of the only flowers that the deer don't eat - this is outside my front door, a scene that is disappearing as Spring moves along!
It's funny writing these blog posts, I can see the statistics and know there are people reading, or at least looking, at the blog, but I'm not sure how many of you enjoy it. It's a very strange relationship - sort of having a diary that everyone reads but no one talks about! Do leave a comment or note on your thoughts of my posts, or even like me on Facebook, which will allow me to access all sorts of information. Thank you! Today is the last few days of April and I'm trying not to look at any of my electronic devices when I get up in the morning. A challenge I've broken because my meditations are on my computer. So I've compromised and only grab the computer for meditation purposes - I've set it up so that I go straight to the icon, and let me say - it's tough. The computer is there, maybe I can just check up on Facebook and see what's happening with family and friends or maybe I should just check my phone to ensure my kids are okay!! The excuses are great however I'm not succumbing and have now also decided that about an hour before bed, I'm turning them off. This is to try and allow me to have a better sleep which has for most nights worked! I'm really pleased with this challenge and it has made me much more aware of what was happening to my sleep patterns, having a computer/iPad, a cell phone and any other electronic item on or beside the bed. Now except for the iPad they are all out of the room. I use it as both an alarm and as access to my meditations. Again I'm going to keep this challenge going - it's healthy for me. How do you manage your devices? Have you thought about what you have in your bedroom at night, having never been one for a TV in my room, it is not a problem for me, but slowly the other items crept into my room without me even being aware - could you change this one habit? Try it, and let me know how you do!  I'm off to Eastern Canada to Ottawa, (a city I don't know at all), this week, for the last few days of my challenge, and still thinking about what May's should be. I'm continuing with my Yoga and Pilates, however I would like to incorporate some outdoor time into my routine now that Spring is here and the days are longer and brighter. So I think I'll add at least 5 days of outdoor walking/biking a week during May! This does allow for a couple of lazy days, but because writing here makes me accountable I'm much more likely to keep the resolution. Too after Ottawa, I'm off to BOSTON - a city I do like and which is so great to walk around. I'm going to my eldest's son's graduation!!!! So proud of my young man - it will be awesome, a friend is coming with me to celebrate, always fun to have a pal, we'll enjoy lots of exploring, good food and great music! So expect a few posts during the next few weeks of our Excellent Adventures!
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 March is month three of my year long challenge - if you remember I decided to add Pilates and/or Yoga to each day. Well only halfway through the month, I'd lost two days, not back to back, but in the same week and now at the end of the month I've lost 6 days, however I don't see that as a failure rather I look at it as adding at least 20 days of exercise that I may not have had. When I look back at the days I wasn't able to exercise, I see a pattern, not being a morning person, I usually exercise, meditate, write or do anything else that takes time in the evenings. My mornings are usually taken up with getting ready, interspersed with peeks at e-mail, Facebook etc... in other words electronic media - guess what next months challenge will be!
So going back to the pattern of why I lost the days of exercise - they were all evenings that I got home late, and by late usually after 9:00 pm, I was tired, bone weary and I hadn't really eaten properly during the day, so late, tired and hungry, obviously for me not a good mixture - so now for the next month I have to be more aware of later evenings and either get up earlier on those nights I know I am going to be late and do my yoga or pilates, as well as bringing something that I can eat, rather than buying a chocolate bar - being tired isn't something I can do much about other than trying to get more sleep - another months challenge option. It's fascinating to me that I find it easier to cut things from my life rather than add them, maybe I need to take a closer look at how I spend my time away from my office(s). Granted there are nights I need to bring home work, but in-between getting home and beginning this work, maybe I could fit in my exercise. I know there will always be days that I can't exercise for one reason or another, but I'm not going to beat myself up, I'm determined to continue making this a priority and that soon it will become a habit. I was reading lately about a study led by Phillippa Lally, PhD, a psychologist at University College London, that found it actually took people 66 days (9.5 weeks) for a behavious to become automatic, so I have a wee while yet. Meanwhile, from Tuesday I'm not looking at my e-mail, or any other electronic device that I have, in the morning until I'm ready to work - no more peeking at it when I awake or as I get ready! Now I'm three months into my challenge what I have found is that pressing the reset button in January and February and then adding exercise this month has allowed me to become healthier. I'm looking at this year as a total reset of bits and pieces of my life - so what next. April, cutting back on electronic devices, May - I'm not sure., if you have any ideas send them to me. What is also great is that I'm enjoying the challenges I've set - an end date in sight makes it easier to manage each change, and once I get into the mindset it's not so difficult. So what changes have you made in your life recently, how are they going? 
If one has to get up at ungodly hours, then these are the sunrises one cannot miss. This morning for me was an early one, however on coming down the hill I couldn't but stop and watch this beautiful sunrise. My meeting could wait, sometimes it pays to get up early!
I continued onto my meeting after taking a few photographs, my good feeling continuing not only throughout the meeting but throughout the day. Usually on these early morning days I leave early, stumble home and fall upon the sofa. But I have made a commitment to myself that I would leave my office early and go to the gym. No one was there to check on me, I hadn't stated my commitment out loud, so I could have easily just gone home quietly and relaxed, no one else the wiser. But like committing to family, a friend or a job, I am learning that committing to myself is equally important. What is com‧mit‧ment? Wikipedia states that 'Commitment is the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.. It is also known as a pledge or an undertaking.' I often find that while I stick to any commitment made to work, family or friends, sticking to a commitment made to me is so much more difficult to achieve. I find too that I am not alone. Clients who are trying to change or move forward, often find that while they will almost bend over backwards to ensure they meet any commitment to others, their commitment to themselves is easy to ignore. So how can we make sure when we commit something to ourselves we treat that commitment in the same manner as we would to anyone else. Speaking that commitment out loud, booking them into our calendars, making them as important, or more so, than all other commitments we make. Take something that you try to do on a weekly, or monthly basis - an hour at the gym, an early night - anything that you want to do for yourself, make a commitment to keep that commitment once a week for a month, same day, same time. See how you do. Let me know how you do - I'm curious. Oh, and by the way, the ending to my story. I keep my bike on a rack on my car, I left early, took my bike off and took it out. The bike ride was brilliant, 18 K in the sunshine! |
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