Mornings

I like to consider myself a morning person. Ever since I read about how Joshua Fields Millburn took back his mornings, I have been making an effort to be more productive in my mornings. The past few weeks have been difficult but today I accomplished a lot.

I woke up at 5:00 AM. I went to the gym upstairs from my apartment and did a short work out for 20 minutes. Then I read a little from the book I am reading (The First and Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti) and then meditated for 10 minutes. I did a set of 50 sit-ups and crunches and then sat down and wrote some prose for about 10 or 15 minutes. After that, I showered, ate breakfast, and packed my lunch before catching the bus for work. All of this before I even had my morning coffee. Starting my day like this, I feel great! This sense of accomplishment and productivity will hopefully be carried throughout my whole day. I even did my 10 minutes of writing from Sarah Selecky's writing prompts before checking any other emails at work today. Now I just have to make this a routine and stick to it as much as I can.

Exercise, meditation, and writing. If I can get these three things done in the morning before I need to do anything else, I will feel a lot better about my day. Even though I know this it can still be a difficult task to accomplish. Let;s see how the rest of the week goes.

Falling Apart

Lately I have been falling apart with my healthy living plan. I haven't written on this blog in a few weeks and I haven't gone to the gym in over a week. Also this past weekend I did not eat very healthily either. It's been difficult. Sometimes we make plans to improve our lives or our circumstances and everything seems to cave in on itself. Like this pumpkin I carved for Halloween.

I set this nicely carved pumpkin out on the balcony of my apartment. Then I forgot about it. When I went out to look at it many days later, it had caved in. This is just like my healthy living goals. I set the goals and then forgot about them, left them on their own, and did not act on them. When we let things sit outside for too long without caring for them, they break down.

I will build my new plan though. I will set new goals. I won't give up. Here's to a new beginning!

As a first step to get back into healthier habits, I signed up for Sarah Selecky's Daily Writing Prompts again. I used her prompts via email subscription a few months ago but stopped when I was getting too busy with other projects. I had started work on writing a long story last month but have since lost the momentum I had and haven't written anything in over 2 weeks. So to help get back into the habit of writing every day, I will use Sarah's ideas to get me writing for at least 10 minutes each day. If you have an interest in writing but don't have the time or the willpower to sit yourself down, you should try her writing prompts and just start with a little bit each day. Small steps are the best way to big goals.

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” - Old Chinese proverb

Accidents

Accidents happen. And sometimes they can be the key to great creativity. Take this photo for instance. Completely unintentional; totally accidental. A mistake. A failure.

And yet it is uniquely beautiful in its simplicity and its awkward composition. Sometimes the greatest works of art come from accidents. I spill a bucket of paint on my canvas; it turns into an abstract. I make a mistake in a sketch; the line moves the drawing into a new direction, turning into something new and wonderful. An actor forgets a line creating an awkward hesitation, changing the scene into something uncomfortable and tense.

These kinds of accidents can be seen as failures. Or they can be taken as opportunities to try something new, take the meaning of something in a different direction. Run with it. Don't be afraid. Uncertainty can be a guiding light.

Failure

I had a plan to not eat any junk food this past September. It's October now and I can confidently say:

I failed.

Failure isn't always a bad thing though, despite all of its negative connotations. I learned a lot about myself through this experience. I learned how my body feels physiologically when I don't feed it so much junk food. I learned what it feels like to crave junk food. I learned how it feels to not want junk food and have people frequently offer it to me. It's pretty amazing how much unhealthy foods are pushed on us in our society. Friends, family, and especially media and advertising wants us to share and partake in the consumption of junk. Just two days ago my mom brought me two jumbo sized bags of chips for me. This was my biggest failure. I ate those bags of chips.

I learned after these latest two bags of chips, that I don't really want them anymore. I wished I had declined her gift of chips. I may consume a few morsels of baked goods or a bag of chips every now and then, but through this experiment, I have learned that I want to focus even more on eating healthy. 

I'm going to make October another healthy eating month. Instead of the goal being "no junk food!", it's simply going to be "eat better".