Challenge Part 2

The Challenge for my first year was so successful, so important and integral to being not just healthy, but also happy, that in my second year I'll be doing the same thing, going even deeper.  At the beginning of the original challenge, I didn't see how it was even possible to do all these things - the guru's to-do list (meditate, exercise, eat right, sleep enough etc).  And maybe in modern American life it's not possible; maybe you have to be willing to change the life you have now to find the life you want.  I was able to do all of those things, by changing my priorities and how I spend my days, and my life is infinitely better for it.

I plan to continue to strengthen - my body, my mind, and my spirit.  Though each piece of the "list" plays a critical part in the whole, I've found that meditating, balancing, and connecting are the cornerstones.  One piece that I didn't think of last year, that I don't fully understand even now is Receiving.  Also, the importance of embracing uncertainty.

It truly is a challenge; after a year of being committed, my mind is trying to stretch what I'm doing into a lifelong thing and groaning.  It's so much easier to just go along as I have been.  Don't I feel good enough?  I notice that I seem to be treating these changes as things I've done to make myself better, like taking medicine, and now that I feel better I can stop and go back to my old ways of being.  My old ways are easier, more comfortable, more natural.  They show that I have a deeper layer of resistance to changing.

So the challenge is there.  To do these things.  Forget about the past 12 months, the years following the next 12 months.  All I have in front of me, for the next 12 months, is to try to keep doing the challenge and notice what happens.  It's still an experiment.  Still, anything can happen.

I'll be breaking the habit of my habitual thoughts, beliefs, reactions, etc - all the 'old dog, new tricks' hoopla.  I'll be examining who I appear to be, who I show up as, what old habits of thinking and being aren't serving me.  I'll be using meditation to access my subconscious and work to create habits that better reflect who I am on a soul level.

My focus remains, what can give me a net increase in energy, and promotes balance and health in my body and my mind?  What brings enthusiasm to my heart, and light to my soul?

My updated list:

• Meditate

• Sleep enough

• Exercise

• Get fresh air

• Change from coffee to green tea

• Eat more fruits and vegetables and whole grains

• Laugh

• Nourish my relationships, including with myself

• Be loving:

            Practice gratitude
            Practice forgiveness
            Practice tolerance

• Be present

• Honor the time I have with family and friends

• Slow down

• Do the hobbies that bring joy to me - cooking, skiing, camping, art

• Balance my body & mind 

I'm adding:

• Connecting
• Receiving
• Embracing uncertainty

Purpose - what I'm giving from my soul, in small and large ways, what I want to give more of, and how / in what ways doing so will provide for my needs and the needs of my family.  Ad is it even something I need to think about, or will it come about naturally?

One year's time, what will happen?