Turning a new leaf

Just entering that title the thought crossed my mind... where did that saying come from?

Anyway, I am going to try something new. I read an article a while back about making habits stick. It basically came down to: do it for 30 days without fail, by then it will be a habit and you will be used to it.

We all have the life in our mind, our life, the way we would like to live it, but I am sure there are others out there like myself who just don't seem to get that done. Either there isn't enough motivation to get that done, or we don’t have the time… etc.

Well, I’ve decided to. I’ve decided to make that change (*nod* to The Man in the Mirror). I’ve decided to give it a go, to try, for without effort there can be no change.

Last night I saw some things in myself that I did not like, and upon admitting to myself that I don’t approve, I was left with little choice but to do something about it. It reminded me of a similar situation I ran into in college, and I was able to immediately change the thing of which I did not approve. We shall see if it is so easy this time.

There are several things that I need to do more regularly, starting with the mundane. Chores around the house, watering the lawn, mowing, dishes, cleaning the cat box, walking the dog, etc.

There are things I know that I should do, that I currently do not, that I would like to start doing, such as working out, running, yoga.

There are things that I need to stop doing, such as spending so much time playing video games, watching TV, or eating unhealthy things.

I would expect to be told that it is a bad idea to try to make such a drastic change all at once. I don’t care. I am stubborn like that. I will do what I want. Now I want change.

This morning was the first day. I woke up a little earlier than usual, although not quite as early as I told myself I would (I didn’t get to sleep so easily last night with all this on my mind). I started by going for a run with the dog. This was all of almost six minutes… long enough to run around the block. While I am making a lot of different changes all at once, I am not going to go overboard with any of them, otherwise I will burn out. This morning it was around the block. Tomorrow I will run around 2 blocks. I will let it progress at it’s own pace. My goal is simply to raise my heart rate, and sweat. That’s it. I am not pushing myself too much on this, just to start and develop a new, more healthy habit.

I also worked out this morning. I have weights I purchased a while back and used for about 2 weeks, then something happened, like a trip, that broke my streak, and I never started again. Today was the end of that. I have a great (IMHO) workout routine created already, but I have found from my previous attempts at it that I push myself too hard, and I end up feeling sick, which is one of my personal phobias. Again, this time I am not going to push myself too much, so I only made it maybe a quarter of the way through the workout routine for today, but you know what? I worked out. The effort was there. The physicality was there. The road to a healthy happy habit is forming.

Tonight I will go home and walk the dog, water the lawn, do some yoga, eat dinner, do the dishes, and then relax… with no television involved. I want to dedicate more time to my new found hobby of photography, and releasing myself from mindless, uninvolved “entertainment” will allow me the time and hopefully motivation to direct my energies more where I would like them to go. On that note, I have decided to take up the Flickr 365 days project. It is a group, and the project is to take a self portrait and submit it to the group each day for an entire year. Sounds daunting, but I have found some inspiration from individuals within the group, and seeing them go through some changes, and seeing as how I am out for some change right now, what better time to start this project?

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Ahh… that was REALLY cathartic… I don’t know why…