My name is Lynne. I'm currently a stay-at-home-mother to a wonderfully creative, kind, passionate, happy 6 year-old-boy. I'm...older than I'd like to be. I had Alex late in life. It's been an awesome journey, but Alex will be 7 soon. He's becoming more independent every day. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what to do with all the free time I have these days. I've never been unemployed for this long. I've never been unsure of what my next step should be.
I saw an inspiring video on Facebook the other day. On a website with the URL doitfor100.com, a young woman named Lakeisha Shurn posted a video dairy of her gym attendance. Lakeisha had begun a weight loss journey the year before she started her video blog. She started at 348 pounds. She'd lost over 30 pounds when she decided to add a new step of going to the gym. Over the next 100 days, she lost an additional 18 pounds, but she gained so much more than that. She generously described her real battle; the one for self-love.
You can see her story here: Lakeisha Shurn's 100 Day Gym Challenge
I found Lakeisha's story and kindness SO inspiring that I spent the next two days working out a 100 day challenge for myself. I was able to come up with five separate activities I would like to engage every day for the next 100 days; starting today, January 11, 2014, to April 20, 2014.
1) Stuff Purge: I have lots and lots of stuff. Extra stuff. Stuff I don't use. Stuff I've held onto solely because it's in good condition and I "may" use it someday. It all has to go. I spend a gross amount of time every day moving this stuff, controlling this stuff and trying to find a place for this stuff. I read a great quote on this. It was about having to get rid of your old life to make room for the new one. I'm ready to let go.
Every day for the next 100 days, I will spend at least 1 hour of my day, sorting through and purging stuff.
2) Study for the GREs: I took the GREs for the first time way back when God was in High School. I was applying to an MA program in Public Communications, so I didn't worry much about my math score. It wasn't good. I went to the program but life wound up taking me down a winding path to my career goal. Along the way, I became interested in economics. Joke's on me, huh? That 560 in the math section I got wasn't going to cut it for a grad program in economics. (Not that any score from the late 80s would be valid anyway.) When Alex was 4 months old, I began taking math courses, first online and then in person. I'm at the point at which it's time to take the GREs again. I'm aiming for a 770 or higher on the math section this time.
Every day for the next 100 days, I will spend 30-60 minutes studying mathematics.
3) Meditate: During a particularly tense year, I started to do a ritual of deep breathing in a sunny spot in the backyard. After only about a week or two, I could feel the positive change of calm that it brought. I want that back. There can't be any sitting in the backyard right now, but each AM, I will start my day with 10 deep breaths. Each evening, I'll close my day the same way, after attempting some awareness work.
My guide for the awareness work is a Buddhist inspired app I've been using for a while entitled "Transform Your Life" by Cheri Huber. It delivers a daily awareness challenge.
This is Cheri's webpage: Cheri Huber
Everyday for the next 100 days, I will meditate at least once a day, preferably twice a day.
4) Do Something Creative Daily: My bookshelves are crammed with intentions. I used to keep scrapbooks on Alex. When he started school, which freed me up to take classes in person, I fell miserably behind. I also have a ton of craft projects to complete, stories to write, home improvements to make, photos to edit; many, many creative pursuits that just aren't coming to fruition.
Not only would getting to them clear so much off my shelves, it would have the double effect of restoring me to myself. When I'm creating something, I don't feel so lost and insignificant. I feel as if I've made something that will say "I was here" to the future, even if it's just future generations of my own family.
Every day for the next 100 days, I will dedicate at least 30 minutes to a creative pursuit.
5) Go to the Gym Daily: This one is my real challenge. I already do interval jogging 4 times a week. I've been doing that since May and I really enjoy it, especially when I started taking it out of the park and onto the roads around my town. I really loved setting and meeting goals on speed and duration. I loved what it was doing for my mood and that it was decreasing my stress. Then the ice and snow came and it had to stop. I was going to have to join a gym for the winter if I wanted to continue. Except, I HATE going to the gym.
I used to love going to the gym. Then Alex came and I needed babysitting in order to enjoy it as I once did. Throughout the first six years of his life, I tried three different gyms, some of them even twice - spaced years apart. All three proved horribly unreliable in their babysitting services each time I tried them. Going to the gym became associated with a ton of stress. I used to love doing yoga, but none of the gyms ever offered yoga at the same time babysitting was available. I tried it at home, but it was impossible with a child here, especially one that has ADHD as my son does. However, I know I need to return to jogging and I need strength training. Going to the gym will be the only way I'll be able to do both.
I once read that the best way to form a gym habit is to resolve to go every day. That way you'll see it just like you see any daily habit and, should you miss a day, it's no big deal. You just go tomorrow. Now that Alex is in school, I know that the gym can become an enjoyable place for me again. I just need to get there. If I resolve to go everyday, I know I can transform the experience for myself.
Every day for the next 100 days, I will go to the gym for a workout.
That's my challenge. I will undertake those five activities every day. It seems like a lot, until you recall that I can't get an outside job yet. I still have several hours to myself each day. I spend most of them doing some form of housework in a scattershot manner. Maybe this challenge will lead me out of that rut and into a better quality of life.
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