“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Mother Teresa said that, and it was the perfect reminder I needed this morning to start tackling my day.
Later…
I read that quote this morning and it did get me going. The challenge now is to keep going until it’s all finished.
Much, much later…
Well, I couldn’t get it all done before coming home, so for the first time this week I’m working late into the evening. There were just a few too many details requiring completion.
I mean, from the perspective of the present moment I’m really — and I mean really — glad that we made the decision to stay home this fall.
I say that largely because all the rest of our music team members are in the midst of flux and change and challenge right now.
From an imminent knee surgery to helping an elderly parent move to a new state, and from touring Europe with Asha to an extended visit to India…there’s going to be a whole lot of coming and going!
So, I’m grateful and content to help hold down the fort for a change.
Does Mercury retrograde also affect laundry?!? All I know is I spent hours in the laundry room today and only got one load washed.
The washing machine looks deceptively normal, but pretty much everything about the process is a challenge.
The money goes into a black box that looks like something from the last century; the coins go in and it starts, but you really have no idea what’s actually going on.
For example, I came back expecting the load to be finished, but it still looked wet even though the door was open. So, I closed the door to see if it would resume. It didn’t, but I couldn’t open the door anymore. I finally pushed some buttons in frustration and…it started up again — from the beginning! Why, I have no idea.
Then, the symbols on the machine are different, but when you try to read the instructions they’re in Italian.
I spent a lot of time studying them because the second time I came back — after setting a timer to be sure and arrive before it finished — the machine had stopped, with the door closed, and nothing I did would get it to go again.
Finally, in desperation I added another two coins — and it started…at the beginning yet again. At this point I knew I couldn’t leave; I had to stay and try to catch the moment when I would be able to open the door and take out my clothes.
Actually, the instructions are in Italian if you’re lucky — sometimes they’re only in German! (The photo below isn’t very clear but it doesn’t really matter because most of us wouldn’t be able to read it anyway.)
I won’t bore you with every detail, but I did finally figure out how to get the washing machine to complete its full cycle and let me get my clothes out.
Bottom line? I truly do love the multilingual reality that is Switzerland, but it does make things more difficult when it comes to laundry.
The break between challenges was longer this time around; I think due to the founders of the program moving from LA to Hawaii.
That’s a darn good reason and I totally support them in allowing themselves that extra time, but I could definitely tell the difference in having almost a month instead of two weeks “off”.
There are many people who just keep plugging away during the breaks, but the way I’m wired it helps me to feel a little letdown of pressure, then gearing back up to be all the way “on” again.
The good news is that I mostly maintained my routines, with just a few little “break-out” moments spaced throughout the month. And I don’t feel bad about those, either!
But right at the end I could feel a part of me wanting to really cut loose, so I’m quite happy to get back into challenge mode for the next 28 days.
Tomorrow is the end of this challenge (my third!), so today was the last of four weekly fast days.
It’s an interesting paradox. On the one hand, by week four of the challenge I’m in a flow and things don’t feel as physically hard (even the fasting!).
On the other hand, by the end of each challenge I find myself starting to get a little squirrely and somewhat restless.
Nothing too serious, but this is why I love a program that’s broken up into chunks. Even if I start to crave something different, I can easily tell myself, “No way! There’s only ___ more days in the challenge; don’t give in now!”
Plus I’m getting wiser about how I “indulge” in-between challenges, so that I allow variety and a little splurging without completely derailing the process.
Well, o-kay! I am well and truly back into high gear with my healthy new regime.
I’ve almost finished the first week of another Challenge, which means I’m wrapping up my once-a-week day of fasting.
Our power was out (PG&E was replacing a pole) so I worked from the office all day instead of at home, which I think made it a little easier. It also helped that I had time sensitive projects to complete; there’s nothing like a deadline to make time fly by!
I’m also enjoying getting back into my walking routine. I have to confess that I hardly walked at all during the two weeks between Challenges. The “daily tracker” simply works for me, big time!
Come the end of this current Challenge, I’m going to have make my own “in-between” tracker so that I can stay…well, on track. 🏃♀️
I had one of those “moments” not too long ago. You know the ones. Where you suddenly see that you absolutely must make some radical changes and — miraculously — things fall into place to help you do it!
So I’m halfway through the “challenge” that I accepted as part of making these changes and I’m staying the course. Not only can I see and feel my health improving, but even more importantly, I can feel my will reawakening. Which is huge.
I don’t know exactly how I came lose touch with so much of my will power over the past ten or fifteen years, but it feels really good to be getting it back.
