Get Out of the Way!
I am reading about moving on with life. I know I get in a rut. I think that I easily bottom out rut-wise as my activities diminish to what I have to do in the next hours or day. I could be more rut worthy than someone who is dialed into work, getting the kids off to practice and play dates, or caring for ageing relatives.
If I were a rug, I would say I need a good shake and shampoo.
The theme I have been reading in recently is to make room for the "next" me. I don't want to say the new me. At my age and in my condition the new me seems a bit too optimistic. Although I just took a survey that estimated I am going to live to be 120 so, yea optimistically that makes me middle aged.
What I mean to say is getting out of my own way is, to paraphrase an 80's Icon of car manufacturing, "getting out of the way is Job 1." To start, I switch up my activities by order of when I do them. I find I have more brain mojo in the morning, so I now schedule physical activity tasks for the afternoon when brain function is falling off. Next, I track my habits and have a weekly review which takes 10 minutes on Saturday. It's the only "to-do" on my Saturday list that gives it some weight. Lastly, I am thinking bigger. What can I do that is new and bold?
T-shirt Trade Wars
Online there are all kinds of ads to try new fitness drinks shipped as little sample packages that come with shaker bottles and t-shirts. I was all over this promotion, I sent away to three companies for the only pay shipping offers. The drink mixes don't work on me. I hoped, over the years that after I had recovered from my surgeries, I would have more stamina and be able to get a buzz from caffeine. Not so much. I tried all the samples without a quiver of extra stamina at the gym.
I wanted the tee shirts.
I knew the price for shipping was a good deal just for the cool shirts. And that sets me up for the trade war. My husband and I trade clothes back and forth. To be fair, I come out on top in most of our trade wars. He buys shirts and loses weight, so I get a few fancy shirts. I on the other hand get shirts that fit me for a wash or two before they shrink up and don't stretch down past my belt loops. I am what they call Long waisted. Currently I am nursing the stretch of my one of my new drink-mix tees. First, I wore it for a couple of days right out of the box. Then I washed it and hung dried it to get a few more wears out of it before I turn it over to my husband who has already decided it's his. There is a worry I will stain it before the hand off, so my inclination is to let him have it before it shrinks. I am thinking this is an opportunity to get out of my way.