I thought this would be a good time to touch base and discuss how the resolutions are going. As we are in that dreaded two and half week zone. Three weeks to make the resolution a habit. But the "newness" factor wears off at two weeks and I have been hit by the don't wannas and fuhgedaboutit. BUT I push myself to keep on track. The best thing I ever did was to be specific. The goals where I can do a little bit every day is getting checked off my to do list. The once a month goals have been glanced at from time to time. On this HealthFULL (Finally Understanding Life by Living) Journey I have learned that I do better with deadlines. You need me to do something in a week, a day, an hour; Done and done! You need something done at my convenience or whenever; not happening it gets lost, forgotten, or buried under more pressing matters - like pinterest.com and reality tv.
To keep track of my 12 resolutions I bought a calendar date book that lists a week on two pages - starting with Monday and running through Sunday. I printed up a mini version of my resolutions for the front cover and write down the corresponding number on the calendar date. This way with a glance I see what I accomplished in a day or what got ignored during a week. It is really motivating to see a visual reminder and even more motivating to see the visual of the baby steps of completing a task. I have really enjoyed the number one resolution of being grateful every day and actually write my blessing down for the day. Most days by actually remembering my day I easily write down two or three blessings that were especially touching. Think of it as sprint journaling. Also my two other daily goals of reading the Bible in a year has been enjoyable as I skip around wherever the Spirit leads. My Bible shared the tip if you read three chapters(not verses as that wouldn't be enough and not books because that would be extremely daunting but chapters - which is completely doable!) daily Monday - Saturday and then on Sunday read five chapters. This is the pace I have been following and only one day did I miss as I wasn't feeling really well but caught up the second day. It is best to not get too far behind or these resolutions stop being goals and more like anchors! Also I like a record of when I exercise. It is easy to twist facts when they are only floating in your head. I think I exercised five times last week for an average of thirty five minutes a day. I'll count that. But in pen it holds more weight. Oh it was only four days blah blah blah. You get the message. The calendar helps me stay accountable and motivated. Great tools when you have many goals in a variety of your life.
Also we are keeping record of my favorite tradition/goal. The new produce or grain of the week. Look at the title of this post? No I didn't have a spelling mistake. This week's fruit was red currants. They were an easy pick for my hubby and me as we have heard of these berries but never really have seen them. Oh they were gorgeous in the grocery store. The red was so bright and inviting and the berries are tiny. They look like mega rubies. I must confess though as I was decieved as they looked sweet as they reminded me of champagne grapes (size-wise). I also expected the skin to be a little tough as the red was so bright with a shiny luster - I expected almost tomato skin with that bit of a bite. Nope! They are tart little bursts of juice. It was as if I was eating the pomegranate arils. Which I enjoy - but only when my taste buds are expecting that sour burst of juice. I was expecting a tough sweet berry. Alright what to do with these berries? I had so of planned on serving them with our spinach salad for dinner. However, my hubby is not the biggest fan of tart/sour flavors. So I headed to our trusty computer and searched for a recipe. Not a lot of varying recipes for the red currant. Big contenders were jellies (as the berries have a natural pectin most sites mentioned) and pies. I have never made a jelly in my life (adore buying homemade jellies from bazaars and farmers' markets but haven't invested in the canning supplies for myself. So pie it is. Not the healthiest choice but was a mighty tasty one. Really simple fruit pie which I added a little bit of blueberries and strawberries with the currants. As these are flavors we enjoy, and we didn't have a lot of currants to fill an entire pie. Even my 14 mo. old son tried a couple. Which proved to me he is truly a texture taster. Also he helped himself to the berries when we mixed the pie "together".
It is fun to feel in control of my life or at least that I am gaining back control. That I have a say in what I do and that I am making choices that create a better version of myself.
May your HealthFULL Journey bring you flavors of sweetness to soothe and sourness to motivate. 'Til we meet again. . .
"I am making choices that create a better version of myself"
ReplyDeletelove this line...and what a fun adventure you're on!