This was probably the easiest and hardest Challenge for me. I guess since it's the 24th of the the month, I probably shouldn't start talking about it completely in the past tense, BUUUUUUUUUUT ... there are only 4 days left in the month and I have definitely kicked ass and mastered one of the TWO Challenges I set up, and the other kicked my ass and mastered me.
This month was the first double Challenge and I selected (1) to eat breakfast & lunch every day and (2) to practice 30 minutes of meditation daily. Probably fair to note that about 36 hours in I moved the 30 minutes down to 15 in hopes of being able to meet the Challenge. In the end, I've eaten breakfast and lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY of the month - very proud of myself for that; and I haven't done a single formal minute of meditation. I did have a lot of quiet times or alone times where I tried to clear my head, but the truth is I was never really putting myself in the right environment to truly be meditating. It was never a purposeful thing.
I'm not sure if part of the struggle was having two Challenges going at the same time, or if the struggle was specifically with the Challenge of meditation - or more importantly - taking 15-30 minutes to myself with nothing else going on. I'm really bad at that, and I've been really bad at that for years. I can often find myself as much as an hour of alone time (and by "alone" I mean the kids are asleep) - but it's often hard to find quiet personal time versus time where I'm folding laundry, cleaning up, vegging out to turn my mind off. I rarely find quiet, solo time where there are no responsibilities ... and where I am awake.
The "where I'm awake" is probably the biggest problem I'm having these days. I've been working stooopid long hours and am so tired at the end of the day that I'm crashed out before I can even make the quiet time with which to meditate. Right now, I'm contemplating trying this Challenge again in March. This wasn't just hard for me, I really didn't even figure out how to wrap my head around the Challenge.
One of the things that was different about this months Challenges was that BOTH of them came from other people suggesting that I should do those things for myself because I'm bad at taking care of myself. Bad at eating enough, sleeping enough and taking enough time for myself to refresh.
Again, not sure if maybe part of why I struggled was that both of the Challenges were about taking care of myself. And since I'm so bad at that, maybe having two going simultaneously was just too much. Maybe I needed to ease into self-care a bit more. Maybe it was the having two in general. Maybe it was what the two were. I don't know WHAT the issue is, but I obviously didn't master this one.
As proud as I am for flawlessly eating breakfast & lunch and actually giving my body regular nutrition, in some ways, I might be more appreciative of the one I'm failing miserably at because it's showing me a real weakness in my self these days. I know for sure one of the two Challenges for March - focused around exercise which I definitely need to get back into the regular habit of - but now I need to figure out what it is I need for my second. Should I restart the meditation/self-care? Should I make it around spending? Should it be about better sleeping habits? Should I try something one of my co-workers is doing and feed my family from a food budget equivalent to food stamps ($31.50/person/week)? Should it be about fun or being outdoors?
I need to think about that - and in the meantime, I need to go get lunch planned out.
This month was the first double Challenge and I selected (1) to eat breakfast & lunch every day and (2) to practice 30 minutes of meditation daily. Probably fair to note that about 36 hours in I moved the 30 minutes down to 15 in hopes of being able to meet the Challenge. In the end, I've eaten breakfast and lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY of the month - very proud of myself for that; and I haven't done a single formal minute of meditation. I did have a lot of quiet times or alone times where I tried to clear my head, but the truth is I was never really putting myself in the right environment to truly be meditating. It was never a purposeful thing.
I'm not sure if part of the struggle was having two Challenges going at the same time, or if the struggle was specifically with the Challenge of meditation - or more importantly - taking 15-30 minutes to myself with nothing else going on. I'm really bad at that, and I've been really bad at that for years. I can often find myself as much as an hour of alone time (and by "alone" I mean the kids are asleep) - but it's often hard to find quiet personal time versus time where I'm folding laundry, cleaning up, vegging out to turn my mind off. I rarely find quiet, solo time where there are no responsibilities ... and where I am awake.
The "where I'm awake" is probably the biggest problem I'm having these days. I've been working stooopid long hours and am so tired at the end of the day that I'm crashed out before I can even make the quiet time with which to meditate. Right now, I'm contemplating trying this Challenge again in March. This wasn't just hard for me, I really didn't even figure out how to wrap my head around the Challenge.
One of the things that was different about this months Challenges was that BOTH of them came from other people suggesting that I should do those things for myself because I'm bad at taking care of myself. Bad at eating enough, sleeping enough and taking enough time for myself to refresh.
Again, not sure if maybe part of why I struggled was that both of the Challenges were about taking care of myself. And since I'm so bad at that, maybe having two going simultaneously was just too much. Maybe I needed to ease into self-care a bit more. Maybe it was the having two in general. Maybe it was what the two were. I don't know WHAT the issue is, but I obviously didn't master this one.
As proud as I am for flawlessly eating breakfast & lunch and actually giving my body regular nutrition, in some ways, I might be more appreciative of the one I'm failing miserably at because it's showing me a real weakness in my self these days. I know for sure one of the two Challenges for March - focused around exercise which I definitely need to get back into the regular habit of - but now I need to figure out what it is I need for my second. Should I restart the meditation/self-care? Should I make it around spending? Should it be about better sleeping habits? Should I try something one of my co-workers is doing and feed my family from a food budget equivalent to food stamps ($31.50/person/week)? Should it be about fun or being outdoors?
I need to think about that - and in the meantime, I need to go get lunch planned out.
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