lizonthemoon

I’m running a 5k in five weeks. Training starts tomorrow. I have been trying to get back into running, but to no avail. I will run everyday for two or three weeks, then get busy and stop for a week or two, at which point I’ve lost the base I’ve started to build up.

This time I have a concrete goal. I have already signed up for a 5k and have a motivation partner at work. We are going to check in with each other everyday about how our training is going.

I know I could run a 5k today, but I would be slow. The real impetus behind this goal is to get me to run for 5 weeks straight without quitting. That will be a huge feat for me.

I’m having a hard time being consistent about this goal. A few times this week, I pushed snooze on the alarm clock until I absolutely had to get up. I need to start fresh this week.

The week I was successful, I put my alarm clock across the room and forced myself to go to the bathroom instead of back into bed.

Instead of feeling hungover all weekend, I went hiking and got lots of things done. I went to the bar Fri night but sipped slowly and only had a couple drinks.

My desire to binge drink had diminished greatly. I am on my way.

If I make it until the end of June without another binge drinking episode, I will consider this goal achieved.

I have a flexible job where I can arrive anywhere between 9 and 10:30 a.m. without a second glance. But I hate being rushed in the morning.

My goal is to consistently wake up at 7 a.m. I was getting in the habit of waking up at 9 a.m. and rushing out the door. I am trying now to wake up 5 min earlier each day.

Today I woke up at 8:45. Tomorrow I am shooting for 8:40. Slow progress.

I did well this weekend.

I’m a self-centered 20-something trying to figure my life out. So naturally I need to work on this. Some people seem to have a knack for remembering the little things. I am a caring and sincere person, but can be a little absent minded. So my big goal is to be more thoughtful about the small things.

Here are a few things I’m working on:
calling home once a week
send my little sister notes in the mail about once a month
keeping track of birthdays in my calendar so I don’t forget

I just want to be overall better about random acts of kindness, etc.

I need more ideas!

I want a dog SO BAD.

This is a long-term goal that I don’t expect to fulfill for a few years. I graduated from college a year ago and live in a apartment that’s not conducive to animals.

I scan the local humane society website all the time but promise myself I won’t get a dog until I have a house and a stable routine for it.

I need to start doing this. I keep making up excuses to put it off. I think I want to volunteer at the local nature center. I know the lady who runs the place and it seems like they could use a helping hand. I just want a once a week commitment. Get out in the community more, meet more people, get out of my bubble, etc.

I should call her tomorrow.

I’ve been working on this for a few months now. I bring a cloth bag (or two) with me when I go shopping. I have the cashier fill it up instead of using 10 bazillion plastic bags.

I need to get better about paper. Maybe I should switch careers. I’m a writer so I live for paper… hehe. But seriously, sometimes I print stuff out frivolously or throw away cardboard boxes when then can be recycles. This should be my next goal.

I’ve kept journals on and off since I was 5 or so and learned how to write. I love looking back on them. It’s a strange feeling realizing how much you changed from that person who wrote that entry ## years ago. Looking back has made me realize how things that consumed me at one point in my life (a break up, a fight with my parents) are almost completley forgotten now.

Sometimes I use my journal to write poetry and write does ideas and observations about life and beauty. Sometimes my journal is my secret confidant, a place to record my fears and frustrations.

I am making this a goal because I want to be more consistent and basically write something, however short, everyday. I want to have my pen and paper on me everywhere I go.

I just graduated college. I love my parents but I”m not a big phone talker and can be inconsistent about calling home. But I know they really like to hear from me, even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes.

So this goal is about calling home, every week on Sunday. Consistency is important.

I did it yesterday. Let’s make it a trend.

I’ve wasted hours of my life on f-book, just looking at pics and seeing what’s new on my friends profiles. It’s unhealthy.

My new rule is I can only log in if I get a message or wall post. Can’t go on for “no reason” more than once a day, 5 mins tops.

Last week I rounded up the home addresses of good buddies from college and high school. I bought awesome/ugly stamps of “Famous American Scientists” and sent out 8 postcards/letters. It felt good to drop them in the mailbox.

More memorable than leaving a facebook message.

It’s been a year since I’ve graduated college and I still haven’t cut out the binge drinking. To my credit, I’ve gotten a lot better. I’ve slowed down, big time. Cut out drinking during the work week entirely. Most weekends, I will only have one or two beers when I go out. This has been the norm for several months.

Until last night.

Right now I am suffering from a bad headache from having too many glasses of wine at a dinner party last night. I said some things I regret and I was hungover all day instead of enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

I don’t want to cut drinking completely. I enjoy a good microbrew every now and then. But it is scary when I drink too much and don’t remember things from the night before. Plus, I know some scary alcoholics and I don’t want that to be me. I don’t want to live my life in a blur.

My goal is to never binge drink again. I have to be absolute about it. I can’t have “exceptions” for holidays or birthdays. I want to get it in control all the time.

I have to be intentional EVERY time I drink. Last night I had my guard done. (Granted the fact you’re supposed to drink four glasses of wine during passover seder didn’t help my cause). But there were people drinking grape juice.

This is going to be one of my hardest goals to achieve. But I believe I can do it.

I’ve only done simple scarf. I have a nice pattern and I started the shawl a few months ago, but it’s just been sitting in a basket every since.

Also, I want to crochet more because it is catartic.

I’ve been down lately. When I got down, I crawl into my turtle shell and that only compounds my loneliness.

At my best, I am vibrant, creative, fun-loving, warm, a good listener. I notice beauty in unlikely places, an abandoned building, a dandelion, a old man sitting on a park bench. I feel filled up with joy like in that scene from American Beauty.

But when I lose sight of balance in my life I get sad and anxious and down.

My main goal is to get more “healthy” habits to keep me in check. I’m a directionless 20-something right now. Floating along. I need to find some love and community and an outlet for my wild spirit.

All of my other things are working toward this big goal.

I purposely made this goal “live life” rather than “be happy” because you can’t be happy all the time. You need to feel pain, sadness and loss. But I do want to feel content and full.