I haven’t quite developed a “ritual” or routine yet, but I have been getting up much earlier. I usually go day by day – sometimes I’ll do some cleaning in the morning, or sit and do some writing and contemplating. I’d like to get more into a routine as far as what I spend my morning doing, but I can’t quite decide whether that time should be spent on doing “me” stuff, or getting chores out of the way to free up my evening. Still though, at least waking up in the morning has become less of a dreadful prospect.
Kate L's Life List
-
1. follow through with things
1 entry . 14 cheers9 people -
2. be more positive
9 entries . 8 cheers2,641 people -
3. be more creative
4 entries . 5 cheers1,743 people -
4. re-gain my self-confidence
2 entries . 7 cheers7 people -
5. reach my goal weight
16 entries . 6 cheers480 people -
6. learn to ride a bicycle
7 entries . 9 cheers127 people -
7. learn to drive a manual
2 cheers61 people -
8. take more photographs
4 entries . 5 cheers1,777 people -
9. Dress better
2 entries . 1 cheer1,322 people -
10. be a tourist in my own town
6 entries89 people -
11. go to New York
4 entries . 2 cheers1,974 people -
12. go to more farmer's markets
2 entries . 3 cheers3 people -
13. Go to flea markets
1 entry . 1 cheer5 people -
14. have more friends
3 entries . 4 cheers881 people -
15. finish fixing up my house
8 entries . 2 cheers8 people -
16. Host a game night
5 cheers10 people -
17. decide what the hell I would like to do with the rest of my life
7 entries . 2 cheers7,317 people -
18. sell something on etsy
3 entries . 3 cheers41 people -
19. stop worrying about what other people think of me
1 entry . 4 cheers198 people -
20. learn about my family history
1 entry70 people -
21. train my dog
3 entries . 1 cheer505 people -
22. learn to speak french
1 cheer1,778 people -
23. learn to screenprint
1 entry . 1 cheer109 people -
24. actually do what's on my to-do list
2 entries . 3 cheers2 people -
25. send more cards
3 entries24 people -
26. take better care of my body
1 entry . 1 cheer222 people -
27. go camping
3 entries . 1 cheer2,859 people -
28. make bread from scratch
1 cheer22 people -
29. Complement others
2 cheers13 people -
30. Complete "The Artist's Way"
5 entries . 2 cheers406 people -
31. be a buff in something
1 entry1 person -
32. keep my house tidy
2 entries . 1 cheer77 people -
33. go to the movies more often
6 entries68 people -
34. Send a message in a bottle
2 cheers4,127 people -
35. meditate daily
2 entries . 1 cheer4,556 people -
36. Be more green
1 entry302 people -
37. set small weekly goals
4 entries . 1 cheer1 person -
38. create a morning ritual
2 entries4 people -
39. volunteer at an animal shelter
1 entry . 3 cheers697 people -
40. watch all movies on AFI's 100 Best movies list
2 entries444 people -
41. smoke more pot
1 entry32 people -
42. write a short story.
1 cheer1,158 people -
43. Stop being so hard on myself
1 entry . 1 cheer160 people
How I did it: I kept a running list of all the restaurants I saw or heard about that sounded good. Whenever it came time to go out and we were tempted to hit up the same old haunts, we'd consult the list. Obviously a goal like this can never truly be considered "complete" but at this point I feel like I've adopted this as a lifestyle and something I feel pretty confident that I'll keep up with. Read how I did it…
How I did it: I used to spend every last possible second in bed. My snooze hand seemed to operate independently of the rest of my body so that I barely even knew that my alarm had been going off for 45 minutes. I would wait until the last second, fall out of bed, sleepwalk through getting dressed and walk out the door, barely awake and certainly not refreshed and ready for the day ahead.A couple of months ago I started doing The Artist's Wa… Read how I did it…
How I did it: I just tried to ignore the cold as much as possible. Having a dog is helpful, because no matter how cold it is, you gotta go out there. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not joining the Polar Bear Club anytime soon, but I'm not as miserable and cranky outside as I was. Read how I did it…
See all "How I Did It" stories...
We drove down to the John Heinz refuge to practice biking today, but it was sort of doomed from the start. I guess I was feeling kind of cranky, and Greg taking forever to get ready and then giving me a hard time about what I was wearing didn’t help things. We got there and I just had a really hard time. The terrain was rougher than we’d remembered with lots of gravel and hills that, while walking are imperceptible, but riding felt like mountains. I kept stopping and starting and kind of falling and generally felt really frustrated and inept and exhausted. Halfway through I had kind of a breakdown and started crying and yelling at myself (while no one was around), and that kind of sent me off the deep end. I just feel like I’ll never really be able to do it. I’ll always feel wobbly and have to skid to a stop when I get nervous and then have a slow painful start. When I caught up with Greg and he saw that I was crying and frustrated, he kept saying we should stop and go back, etc, which kind of just made me angrier. I don’t want to just give up, I give up everything. Yes, it’s frustrating and painful and I feel like everyone in the world has mastered this stupid simple thing except me, but I can’t give up. I just needed to be pissed at myself and cry and fall and work through it, but he just didn’t seem to get that. After that I did a bit better on the ride back, going for five or so minutes at a time without stopping. When I got back to the car I was trying to explain the feeling to him, that feeling of being so frustrated because it’s this thing that almost every eight year old can do but I can’t, and he kind of didn’t get it. He sort of just brushed me off saying, “Yeah, it’s hard, but learning new things is hard” and said it was hard when he learned back when he was eight. I guess I was feeling sorry for myself, but I kind of feel like it’s different than just “learning something new.” It involves being more nervous and awkward than you probably are as a kid, and putting yourself in kind of a humiliating situation, and potentially injuring yourself, and above all it’s something that I should’ve done twenty five years ago. So yes, I’m sure learning how to swing on the trapeze and white water kayak and ride a unicycle are also difficult, but those things are kind of like a bonus. I feel like I’m a step below all of those people because I’m trying to do something that most people have been doing all their lives, and that’s almost a necessity in life at some point.
So yeah, kind of frustrating day.
I was just reading a few entries from other people on this subject, and I wanted to share my feelings about it. I made it a point a while ago to stop hiding the fact that I don’t know how to ride a bike. I used to feel embarrassed that I had never learned, but of course as you get older you feel less awkward about things like that. So I’ve just decided to own it. I figure if someone sees me – a 32 year old woman – trying to learn, they’d have to be a pretty terrible person to laugh or make fun of me. I find that people admire someone who’s courageous enough to do something like this at my age. Not to mention, once you tell people you don’t know how to ride, you’d be really surprised at how many people say the same thing – that they either never learned, or haven’t done it in years because they’re scared.
Today when I was riding around my in-laws cul de sac, a man and his little girl came outside and I said hello, and said, “I’m just learning to ride!” The man didn’t even flinch – he said, “Awww…you’ll get it, it just takes a little while. I got on a bike for the first time in years and I was wobbly at first, but I got it after a bit. You’ll be fine”
I think at this age it would be much easier for me to just say, “The hell with it, the ship has sailed on this one and I’m never going to learn.” So as long as you’re willing to laugh at yourself and be open about your nervousness, I think people will admire you for trying.
