January 5, 2011

The tree is down, the turkey leftovers consumed, gifts have been put away, and life, for the most part, has returned to normal.

My beloved has gone back to work, and so have I. Actually, my ‘vacation’ these past two weeks was primarily a vacation from driving. Everything else I do carried on as usual. Since my chauffeur duties see me drive a hundred miles each day, and consume in total about two and a half hours doing so, that was break enough.

I did continue working over the last two weeks, and yes, my beloved was very well behaved, keeping himself occupied and, as he put it, ‘out of my hair’. He did have a rather large TBR pile, which has been whittled down to the point that we have to make a book store run in the very near future.

One of the things I liked best about this “vacation” time was the lack of a schedule. I hate living by the clock. Unfortunately reality in this day and age is that we all very much do live by the clock.

I quite enjoyed staying up late, sleeping in, going for late afternoon naps, and foraging for food rather than making structured, timed and to a certain extent complicated meals.
And, as much as I love my grandchildren, I also enjoyed the break from babysitting, too.
Now that life is supposedly back to normal, I do miss my afternoon naps. That will take a couple more days to get used to. But at least I get to work from the comfort of my own home in pyjamas, and I don’t have to brave the elements unless I want to.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? I didn’t. I’ve heard that by this point in the New Year, about 65% of the people who did make them have already failed. Personally, I think that has more to do with calling the changes you want to make in your life ‘New Year’s Resolutions’. Your subconscious self perks up, says ‘we’ll just see about that’, and before you know it, you’ve become a train wreck of derailed resolutions.

Something similar happens if you tell yourself you’re going on a diet.
It’s much better to just decide that you’re going to make a small change in your life, and then do it.

Small changes are, I believe, the way to go. There’s a reason, by the way, that you see so many ads for specials for gym memberships this time of year. It’s because the desire for change is out there. The gym owners know it, and only care about making that annual membership fee from you.

I can just see it. Suppose you made a resolution to get more exercise. You sign up. You go. You meet Igor, your six-foot-five totally ripped personal trainer. He walks around you, conducting an inspection during which he makes a lot of grunting, not-happy-about-what-he’s seeing noises.
Then he introduces you to the first of ten new-to-you exercise machines. One hour later, having visited all ten torture devices, you limp for home, rethinking this whole ‘let’s get in shape’ ridiculous idea you had.

I believe it would be better do to something for just ten or fifteen minutes a day. One thing, for ten or fifteen minutes. Every day. Something. Anything. Enough that you’re moving. Not enough to discourage you from repeating the experience.

The same with changing your eating habits. Look at what you’re taking in, and cut out about 100 calories a day. Then, in a couple of weeks, see what else you can eliminate, reduce, or change.
The hardest part of doing anything different, really, is getting used to doing it. Just one small change at a time is, in my opinion, the best way to go.

We can all do that. And when we do, we’ll feel like winners, and not failures.

Love,
Morgan