thursday, do something . do something that feels good. do something productive. do something new. do something uncomfortable. do something creative. boxes i try to check daily, weekly.

it’s nice to check the do something that feels good box off before i get to the office. walking has been my go-to feels good for 5 years. i walk no matter what. no excuses. because living in new england means there’s a go-to excuse available 90% of the time: raining, snowing, too cold, too dark, too windy, too hot. it’s not easy to get out of bed. i am not morning person. not even close. but once i’m outside - i love the newness of morning moments. waking up feels as hard as it did 5 years ago when i made the promise to myself to start my day by moving. by moving my body & thoughts. what gets me out of bed? a few things: the first conscious inhale that clears my lungs after being on auto-pilot all night, feeling energized by step 5 or 6, saying good morning to walkers along the way & meaning it, an eventual cup of tea, great music, glowing skin & knowing that i have yet to regret getting out there & i always return home with a smile on my face - ready for the day. the smile might not last but at least i can say that i did. smile. 

a few weeks ago i combined do something that feels good with do something productive, do something new & do something uncomfortable. i started running instead of walking. it continues to feel good to get out there every morning. it’s productive because i spend 40 minutes running instead of 60 minutes walking - which leaves 20 minutes for yoga. it’s new because i am not a runner. & it’s uncomfortable because it really rattles my thoughts. physically, i run with relative ease [i said, relative]. mentally, it feels like torture. with every step the noise increases. music can match but not drown it out. & i guess that’s the point. i’m ready & willing to hear & deal with the noise. the goal: to like it a bit more & hate it a bit less each day, week, month of 2011. the whole truth: i would love to run a marathon.

learning to sew = do something creative.

if the first 13 days of 2011 are an indication of the goodness to come. my goodness - let’s do this! if i master this running thing maybe i will learn to write next year. until then, apologies [sort of].