Old Habits Die Hard

It is so often said that old habits die hard. And  I'll be among the first to admit, there are habits that don't go down without a fight. 

That being said, I think that old adage is really just another excuse.  

An excuse is simply this: a plan to fail. When we make excuses we have an expectation of failure and the excuse is the justification for that failure.  An excuse is contingency plan for failure.  

But back to these old habits...if a new habit can be formed in 21 days, and a new habit can replace an old one, wouldn't it be safe to conclude that an old habit can die in 21 days?

I put this theory to the test. Today is day 22. I have had 22 days to form new habits.  So far, I am drinking a liter a day, preparing meals and clothes ahead of time, spending dedicated time alone with God, reading at least 2 books per month, etc.  Some habits I am still working on, but what I learned is this.  The habits that you could see on the outside, were nothing compared to the most important habit of all.  My pattern of thinking. I heard someone say that those who make excuses are prone to failure.  I believe that is because people who make excuses forecast failure in their minds. 

As I've said in previous blogs, there are days when excuses flow like a river. Well, for the last 22 days, I created a new habit of not using excuses.  My internal monologue no longer regards excuses as valid.  I see myself finishing strong.

 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phil 4:8

The Power of Imagination-Pt 2

This thing called imagination is far more powerful than we had ever considered.

If we are going to succeed or fail, we first imagine it.

If you consider people like Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Barbara Askins and Dr. Charles Drew, you can see that they first had an idea and imagined it into reality.   Now, please don't misunderstand, it also requires lots of hard work, and an unwillingness to quit, no matter what.  But determination and intense effort are only part of the equation.

  If I am going to finish strong this year, I cannot be what I call a firecracker.  You start out bright, then fizzle out and cannot be lit again.  So in order to avoid the fizzle out, you have to ,(as my pastor put it), retool and refuel.
Many Christians can look back at past failures and assume it was a faith failure or that they didn't hear from God correctly.  For many of us, a little imagination and perseverance has been the missing part.

Good but Not Perfect

Today was a good day.

I woke up. Read my bible, got ready, made breakfast, had fun with the girls, did some work, and went on through the list of things to get done in a day.  Now, I have been following my chore schedule and today was cleaning LT's room and the hallway.  LT has grown some, so part of cleaning his room today included putting away clothes that are too small and taking out the next size up. And taking out toys that he is now old enough to play with.

 

.  So...also on my list of resolutions was to find someway to manage my digital media and photos.  Well, I printed out some pictures to scrapbook, I bought a few scrapbooking supplies. And that is as far as I have  gotten.  Today, while I was cleaning his room, I found some empty picture frames. Then I got the idea to scrapbook a couple pages and put them in a frame.  I only had a short time to do it, so I hurried and put something together.

Then I put a scripture on his wall.  When I finished I stepped back and looked..

 

This is usually the point where I then notice that my letters aren't even, and I could have been more creative with the shadow box. Normally this would send me into a tizzy where I obsess over small details until I have spent all my time on one project and the end result is that I am still less than satisfied and also frustrated that I didn't get more done.  Then I realized, so often my motivation is killed by being a perfectionist.

Okay, so it wasn't perfect, but it was good.  

Achieving our goals is not about lowering the bar or the standard.  But sometimes, for some people, like me, who are perfectionists, you have to set standards that are doable and not dazzling.  I am often my harshest critic. 

We have to learn to let ourselves off the hook.

So today to make peace with myself, I decided that it was good, and if I still wanted to change it next week, I could do that.  I was still motivated afterward and kept moving along. 

The Power of Imagination- Pt 1

Ever since I was the age of my daughters, I can recall having a very persuasive realization that world was an incredibly big place.  In my heart, I knew that there had to be something more, something greater than what rested within the confines of my cozy little neighborhood.  And I longed to look into it.  My heart ached for things I knew nothing of, and had not seen.  When I heard stories of places far, far away they seemed more real to me than the four walls of my bedroom. 
I was quite imaginative.   Soon, as I got older, I began to overhear things on the news or things adults would discuss in my hearing that they erroneously believed I had no interest in, and just like that, my imagination developed a new dimension.  I soon discovered that just as I could imagine strange and wonderful kingdoms where princesses used pink parasols to shield themselves from sprinkles and glitter raining from the sky, I could also imagine someone breaking in during the middle of the night and hurting me and taking all of my favorite books and toys.
And for years, I had allowed my imagination to imagine more bad than good.  I imagined that right after training I would probably start to hate my job.  I imagined that a certain professor thinks I am stupid.  I even imagined probable conversations that people were having about me while they were staring at me.
Then I had my children.  From at least 18 mos, children begin to engage in pretend play.  Their imagination is evidently at work.  The more I watched them and pretended with them a light came on for me.  
I realized that first and foremost, God gave us imaginations.  A way in which to conceive ideas for the purpose of working in tandem with our faith.  But like with anything, He said "I have before you life and death."  He goes on to say that we have to choose which one we allow to operate in our lives.  For so long, I imagined death.  I would hear a sound in the middle of the night and imagine it was someone breaking in, and I would begin to imagine how I would get away or fight back.  Now, if I hear a sound, I imagine it is one of the angels that God has assigned to assist me as an heir of salvation, and that hearken unto the voice of His commands, and that bear me up in their hands lest I dash a foot against a stone.  Now in all reality, the sound was probably ice in the icemaker, or the dog on the deck.
But if our imaginations are going to run wild, make sure they are running in the right direction.  

I Feel Fat

So here I am at day 1. I am going to go down the list of my usual obstacles to motivation and excuses.

#1-I feel fat, so why bother?

About a year ago I had a day that I woke up feeling fat. And instead of giving into that feeling, I decided to do a little experiment. I weighed myself. Then the next day, I felt even fatter, so I weighed myself. I did this for about a week and a half. From day to day, there was no change at all.

So I learned then that just because I feel fat, doesn't mean that I am or that I had even gained any weight. In fact, it had more to do with what I had been eating and whether or not I had any physical activity. My guilty conscience was sending me a message. I realized then that it was a distortion on the inside and not a result of what had accumulated on the outside.

So with that in mind I am going to dig in my heels and get up and do 30 minutes of aerobics...against my will.

(Later that day...) My girls came into the room while I was working out, so I turned it into a family activity. At one of my girls' gymnastics and tumble classes I watched and took mental notes.

She had the kids pretend to be animals. So I put a Semira spin on that and developed a whole routine. We started out with some yoga stretches, where we pretended to be rays of sun and flowers growing in a field. Then we went for a walk in place, and stopped at our imaginary bikes. We layed down and "peddled" on our bikes. Fast, then slowed down to go up a hill. At the top of the hill, we stood up and bent over and up 10 x's to "pick flowers". Then we jogged in place to the zoo. At the zoo we saw, kangaroos, so we had to jump like them. We also say elephants so we walked liked them and swung our trunks. So on and so forth.

It was actually quite fun and my girls were so happy to be included in the adventure.